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LEADERS

OVERVIEW FACTS LEADERS MEDIA

President: Umaru Yar’Adua

Umaru Yar’Adua of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won the presidency following the April 2007 elections which were condemned by local and foreign observers, who alleged widespread vote-rigging.

Umaru Yar’Adua

He had served as governor of the remote northern Katsina state since May 1999. A little-known figure in national politics, he was chosen by outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo as his successor.

He comes from a prominent political family. His father was a minister in the first government after independence and his late elder brother was an army general who served as deputy to President Olusegun Obasanjo when he was Nigeria’s military ruler during the 1970s.

When he was elected governor of Katsina in 1999, he immediately declared his assets. In his bid for the presidency he promised to fight corruption.

Mr Yar’Adua’s health has been the subject of media speculation and during the election campaign he travelled to Germany for treatment.

He was born in 1951 and was a chemistry teacher until he went into business, then politics, in the 1980s.

Mr Yar’Adua took over from Olusegun Obasanjo, whose election in 1999 came at the end of a period of military rule. He won a second term in 2003. A bid to keep him in office for a third term was blocked by parliament.

He began his first leadership stint in 1976 after the assassination of Brigadier Murtala Mohamed in a failed coup. In 1979 he earned the distinction of becoming Africa’s first modern military leader to hand over power to civilian rule.

MEDIA

OVERVIEW FACTS LEADERS MEDIA

Nigeria’s media scene is one of the most vibrant in Africa. State-run radio and TV services reach virtually all parts of the country and operate at a federal and regional level. All 36 states run their own radio stations, and most of them operate TV services.

A lively press includes influential dailes and popular tabloids

The media regulator reported in 2005 that more than 280 radio and TV licences had been granted to private operators.

But TV stations in particular are dogged by high costs and scarce advertising revenues.

Radio is the key source of information for many Nigerians. Television viewing tends to be centred more in urban areas, and among the affluent. International radio broadcasters, including the BBC, are widely listened to.

There are more than 100 national and local newspapers and publications, some of them state-owned. They include well-respected dailies, popular tabloids and publications which champion the interests of ethnic groups. The lively private press is often critical of the government.

Media freedom improved under President Obasanjo. But restrictive decrees remain in force; in 2004 rebroadcasts of foreign radio stations were banned and concern was expressed over a proposed media law.

Citing high levels of violence, the media rights body Reporters Without Borders has said Nigerian journalists operate amid a “prevailing culture of brutality”.

The press