The political temperature in Nigeria is heating up in advance of its 2015 elections, with eight Nigerian states facing major threats to security, according to a risk assessment conducted by the MacArthur-supported CLEEN Foundation. The report lists many factors that contribute to security risk, including poverty, ethnic and religious contention, unemployment and youth exclusion, merger of opposition parties, likely violent disagreement over leadership and candidates, and activities of militant youth groups. The report sets forth recommendations for mitigating risk, including coordination among election security stakeholders, training for journalists on conflict-sensitive reporting, and prosecution of electoral offenders.
