Guinea, Guinea, Guinea

Located on the swampy Western corner of Africa, Guinea-Bissau is something of a non-entity in world affairs. This small former Portuguese colony is wedged between Guinea-Conakry and Senegal and its pluriethnic population speak a variety of languages, with the Portuguese-based Kriol serving as a lingua franca. Its lack of notoriety is not helped by the fact it shares a name with three other sovereign states worldwide, as well as a beloved family pet.

With sky-high levels of crime, danger and poverty, Guinea-Bissau receives fewer tourists per year than North Korea. The few functioning hotels in the capital are likely to be filled with aid workers or diplomats who drew the short straw when it came to postings. In the 40 years since independence from the Portuguese, no President has fulfilled a term of office, with civil war and coups d’etat aplenty in the nation’s short history.

But economic woes have led to the emergence of an alternative industry. Drugs. According to a UN report, Guinea-Bissau is in danger of becoming the world’s first ‘narco-state’, as drug traffickers use its multitude of isolated islets as a transit point for cocaine on its way to the streets of London and Lisbon. In a country where a majority live on less than a dollar a day, the police and army are easily bought, allowing the drug importers to operate with impunity.

But all is not lost. Some efforts are being made to modernise the economy, and its unspoilt beaches and islets could become home to an eco-tourism industry, whilst a large diaspora sends healthy remittances from Europe and Brazil. The past four decades have seen one setback after another in Guinea-Bissau, and recent elections will provide hope that a new government will kickstart the economy, impose law and order and instill the nation with the values and ideals of liberation laid down by the national icon, Amilcar Cabral.

Nigeria's Conflict

The shocking kidnap of over 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state demonstrates the challenges which the Nigerian government face in their fight against Boko Haram. The terrorist group, whose name means 'Western education is sinful', have been conducting a guerrilla war against the country's military since 2009, and this conflict rages in the impenetrable jungle of one of Africa's most complex states.

Nigeria is perhaps the archetypal colonial invention. A Muslim north and a Christian south were joined into one nation by British authorities in 1914 in a process mirrored across the continent, as different tribes and ethnicities were joined together by people who drew lines on a map from thousands of miles away, often having never visited the land in question. Emerging from British rule in 1960, Nigeria's development has been hampered by coups, rebellions and civil war from the outset, caused partly by the difficult demographics of the country.

 So what is Boko Haram's ideology? Islamic fundamentalists who advocate the implementation of Sharia law across Nigeria. the organisation is estimated to be made up of hundreds of young men who are lured by the prospect of money, glory and power by the barrel of a gun. Boko Haram have been responsible for dozens of hijackings, carbombings and kidnappings since their inception, and the Nigerian military has waged a largely unsuccessful campaign against them. Hampered by poor maps, inadequate training and shoddy weaponry, Nigerian troops often find their biggest enemy to be local government in the north of the country. Provincial politicians are often suspected of being in Boko Haram's thrall, both militarily and financially, evincing Nigeria's reputation as one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

At 174 million strong and with a flourishing diaspora, the Nigerian population should have a bright future, with oil from the Niger Delta playing a large role in recent development. However, it is crucial that the government engage the provincial governors under whose noses Boko Haram act with relative impunity. Otherwise, it will not be too long before there is another Chibok.