WHY NIGERIA MATTERS:

Throughout the Sahel, the semi-desert stretch below the Sahara, various militias and jihadist groups are trading huge amounts of weapons and supplies to each other. This booming terrorist corridor is shaking the foundation of the all too unsteady nations in the region. France is once again fighting Islamists in Mali, while also lending support to a number of its other former colonies in the region. The ruins of the Libyan state have become a convenient arms depot and shelter for militants from many countries; since a re-stabilization of the country looks at best unlikely, it will be so for quite some time.

In and below this region lies Nigeria, now the largest economy in Africa, a longtime friend and even proxy of the United States on the continent, and a country beset by its own Islamic Caliph-aspirants: Boko Haram. It is worth considering what America can do to make sure this useful and often promising country doesn’t fall into chaos. . . .

Nigeria’s problems aren’t easily solved, and it is still possible that Boko Haram will get its religious kingdom in the North. But a stable Nigeria is important to Africa, and it is important to us—not only for our interests on the continent but for the longterm global war on terror. The weak states of Africa could be incubators of “boondock jihadists”, as we’ve called them, for decades. While these militants, like Boko Haram, may be far more inclined to terrorize and subjugate locals than attack the West, they can still provide materiel, training, and moral support to jihadists in Syria, Iraq, and perhaps Europe. The prospects for containing this threat, and likely for saving thousands of lives in Africa, will be much dimmer if the Nigerian state falters, let alone fails.

The Emir of Kano seems to have been good about resisting Boko Haram. We should help him out. Frankly, the traditional rulers like him may have more skills than the Nigerian federal government.