Who speaks for Africa? Kofi Annan or Boutros Ghali at the head of the United Nations? Nelson Mandela, the moral voice of the continent? A Ghanaian, an Egyptian, a South African?
Nigeria has by far the biggest population on the continent. One in four black Africans is Nigerian.
Nigeria has the biggest oil industry in Africa, and an economy third only to South Africa and Egypt.
Why has Nigeria been so slow to exercise a leadership role?
What happened when it did try to flex its political and military muscle?
Elizabeth Blunt has been to Liberia to investigate and analyse the scene of the most dramatic Nigerian intervention and to find the answers to some of these questions.
Producer: Dan McMillan
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