For nearly two decades, Nigeria has been struggling to reform its congested prison system. Courts grapple with huge backlogs of cases, compounding delays in the delivery of justice and contributing to prison overcrowding.

On June 12, Eritrean authorities closed all 22 of the nation’s church-run health care facilities.

A combination of a rapidly growing population, extreme poverty, unemployment and armed conflict push people to cross Nigeria’s porous borders in search of a better life.

Just one other African head of state, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, was seen at the inauguration after the African Union and others in the international community expressed reservations about the election.

The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has decimated villages in northern Nigeria, but Catholic parishioners remain faithful and courageous.

Benue State is in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. This region, a hotbed of sectarian unrest, has suffered particularly because of clashes between largely Muslim Fulani cattle herders and mostly Christian farming communities.

Using pastoral letters and circulars with exhortations on civic duty, as well as pulpit and parish bulletin announcements, the church has been informing voters on the importance of exercising their right to vote.

On university campuses in Nigeria, the competition for souls can be fierce.