Nigeria is a huge, strategically important state in Africa that is one of the top six oil producers in the world. Its churning political unrest regularly rocks world oil prices, but we rarely hear any in—depth coverage of this country from the mainstream media. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that the worst is yet to come.

Professor Jeffrey Herbst of Princeton University writes that Nigeria has such weak political institutions that it's a frontline battleground for Osama bin Laden's al—Qaida, with growing parts of the country independently adopting Islamofascism in the north. That's not all. The oil—rich south is on the verge of anarchy, and the whole country is engulfed in corruption. The professor warns that it could all go up in flames, because in Africa, good states can become failed states very fast. This is one area that deserves a closer look.

A.M. Mora y Leon  03 01 05