Had previously posted about the mystery of Nigeria’s missing president.  See link.  That mystery continues since President Umaru Yar’Adua has still not given a video interview. But for now the limbo in Africa’s giant has been alleviated with parliament elevating Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to acting President.  See link.  Political tensions still run high and Muslim power brokers are unhappy that President Yar’Adua’s illness caused them to lose power before their turn was up.  In someways the Presidential system of government chosen by Nigeria is ill suited for the delicate sharing of power that its competing ethnicities and religions need.  The theoretical stability of tenure also relies heavily on the wisdom of the man of top.  It is not clear whether a man chosen (in a fashion similar to American practice) to balance a Presidential ticket will be up to the job of balancing the various tensions in the country.

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