Nigeria president-elect faces vote doubts, poverty, violence

The newly elected president of Nigeria is the first person chosen to lead the country with less than 50% of the vote. And his rivals have yet to signal that they accept the legitimacy of the election.

Suffice to say, the glass is not looking half full as Bola Tinubu, a former accountant and politician for more than 30 years, prepares to take the reins of Africa’s largest economy, a nation of more than 200 million that is suffering from widespread poverty, violent crime and religious extremism.

There are questions about how the 70-year-old Tinubu — one of Nigeria’s richest politicians — became so wealthy. And many younger Nigerians doubt his ability to improve economic opportunities for all, let alone reduce violence and corruption, in a country that is one of the world’s leading suppliers of oil.

“Despite how long Tinubu has been in the political area, there is very little known about