The world’s attention is focused on ongoing revolutions in the Arab World, and the possible role that Islamic movements may play.
This is mostly so with regard to transitions from authoritarian regimes. Debates rage on how to curb Sharia law in Western European capitals and the American Mid-West, places where the imposition of such laws is far from a realistic possibility.
But in Nigeria, the country with Africa’s greatest number of Muslims and home to more Muslims than any single Arab country, including Egypt, Sharia is already a reality. Nigeria has become one of the largest constituencies of Islamic Law: over 70 million Nigerians are now partly governed according to Sharia in 13 of Nigeria’s 36 states.