The leader of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau and Nigeria’s President-elect, Mohammadu Buhari have been listed among the 100 Most Influential People in the world by Time Magazine.
TIME magazine unveiled it’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2015.
In a release on Thursday by the magazine, Buhari was named under the leaders category and described as a new choice for Nigeria, written by TIME’s Africa bureau chief,Aryn Baker.
A new choice for Nigeria
Muhammadu Buhari made history in March by becoming the first candidate to oust a sitting Nigerian President through the ballot box. Now he has to live up to voters’ expectations.
From battling the Boko Haram insurgency to tackling endemic corruption, Buhari has many challenges ahead. The greatest may be overcoming his past as a military ruler who seized power in 1983. Already the born-again democrat is demonstrating the inclusivity necessary to lead a nation riven by ethnic and religious tensions. “We must begin to heal the wounds and work toward a better future,” he said in his April 1 victory speech.
“We do this first by extending a hand of friendship and conciliation across the political divide.” It’s a promising start for a President-to-be who wants to leave a legacy to match the historic conditions of his election.
On Shekau, “Most Americans do not yet recognize his name, but the citizens of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, know Abubakar Shekau all too well: he is the most violent killer their country has ever seen. Shekau took over the terrorist organization Boko Haram in 2009 after the group had been weakened by Nigerian government forces.
Shekau, who is believed to be in his 30s, began to stage increasingly daring kidnapping and killing raids on schools, churches and mosques thought by Boko Haram to be violating their interpretation of Islam. The taking of over 200 schoolgirls in April 2014 brought Boko Haram into the international spotlight,” an honorary essay about the terrorist, written by General Carter Ham (U.S. Army, retired) reads.
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