Hobbled by foreign interventions, political instability, and natural disasters, the former French colony is paralyzed by multiple crises.

In Nigeria, causation of arrests and release are murky, and the rumor mill operates overtime. Some Nigerians are suggesting that Omoyele Sowore was released because authorities are aware of the stronger human rights emphasis of the Biden administration.

In Lagos, "security services" have fired on "peaceful protesters." This on top of COVID-19, low oil prices, and radical Islamist groups bent on destroying the state—Nigeria was in trouble even before the SARS demonstrations.

Trust in the U.S.-led economic and geopolitical order has been eroding. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. response to it, whatever its merits, may be the last straw for the global monopoly…