President Umaru Yar'Adua, halfway through his presidential mandate, has undermined the country's foremost anti-corruption body, done little to rein in an abusive police force, and failed to address the root causes of the escalating crisis in the Niger Delta. Human Rights Watch is concerned about the slow rate of progress, and indeed significant setbacks, in addressing crucial human rights problems in Nigeria under the Yar'Adua administration.

Nigeria has long suffered from endemic government corruption and mismanagement, which, among other things, rob ordinary Nigerians of their basic economic and social rights to health and education. In addition, the country faces ongoing political violence and state-sponsored abuses by the security forces, including extrajudicial killings and torture; civilian fallout from clashes between the military and armed militants in the Niger Delta; and outbreaks of sectarian violence that have claimed hundreds of lives over the past two years.

The Yar'Adua administration can and should take concrete and meaningful steps now both to tackle the impunity that allows these human rights problems to persist, and to address their root causes.

Related Material:

- Ten Steps the Yar'Adua Administration Can Immediately Take to Improve Nigeria's Poor Human Rights Record
- Letter to Nigerian President Yar'Adua Marking His Two Years in Office
- Nigeria: Abusers Reign at Midterm (press release)