Since its independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria has seesawed between civilian and military rule, enduring a brutal civil war and decades of misrule that siphoned billions of dollars from the country's oil wealth.

No previous civilian government in Nigeria has handed power to another civilian government, making April's election a watershed.

Further complicating Nigeria's march toward democracy is the unrest in the Niger Delta, where militants, seeing more of the country's oil wealth for the impoverished residents of the oil-rich delta, have carried out kidnappings and bombings that have harmed the oil industry.