Muhammadu Buhari

Twenty-one Nigerian school girls were reunited with their parents Sunday after two years in captivity. They say Boko Haram is still holding some of their classmates.

April 14 will mark one year since Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from Chibok, in northeastern Nigeria. Now some Nigerians hope their president-elect might be in a better position to take on the extremist threat.

In becoming the first Nigerian to defeat a sitting president through the ballot box yesterday, Muhammadu Buhari’s victory turned into a political flashpoint for African hopefuls determined to set the same precedent in their country.

For the first time in Nigerian history, an incumbent president lost during democratic election. But the real history was made when Goodluck Jonathan conceded to his rival, ensuring that the country will enjoy its first peaceful transition of power and possibly new hope in the fight against Boko Haram

Nigeria’s presidential election is the most hotly contested in the country since the end of military rule in 1999. Nigerian author Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani says the election is being fought online, where legions of paid staff are inundating sites with fabricated postings and comments.