Things fall further apart as Nigeria’s security crises give cause for alarm

Ever since Chinua Achebe borrowed from WB Yates’ lines, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” for his ground-breaking novel of late colonial Nigeria, the phrase ‘things fall apart’ has been used to describe episodes in Nigerian politics. It is again relevant to ask whether the embattled Nigerian state can hold when confronted by a dizzying range of crises, writes Marc Howard.