Equally impressive, the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, became the first Nigerian leader in 55 years to democratically cede power to his rival.

President-elect Buhari, a dour, ascetic, unsmiling former general, proclaimed his primary goal is to attack all-pervasive corruption and crush the Boko Haram uprising in the north. Interestingly, Buhari, a Muslim, received substantial support in the Christian south in this normally religiously-divided nation of 177 million.

Nigeria is one of the world's most corrupt nations. The rating site Transparency International puts it 144 out of 177 most corrupt nations,  just ahead of DR Congo and Haiti. But I disagree. I think Nigeria may be the most corrupt nation in Africa and likely on earth.

Since independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria has received over $400 billion in aid from Europe and the US, six times the post-WWII Marshall Plan that helped rebuild western Europe.