Nigeria - Goodluck Jonathan.

Elected Vice-President in April 2007, Jonathan was previously the governor of the oil-rich state of Bayelsa. His elevation along-side Yar'Adua by the ruling PDP was aimed at rallying support from voters and local civil rights groups in the southern states of Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa, which together account for most of Nigeria's 3m b/d crude oil production capacity.

Jonathan belongs to the Christian Ijaw ethnic community. His choice as VP secured for Yar'Adua the backing of the Ijaw National Congress (INC). In return, Yar'Adua and Jonathan in April 2007 committed themselves to revitalising the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The NDDC had been heavily criticised for its failure to tackle the region's poverty, environmental disaster and local government corruption. Jonathan oversees NDDC's work. But he has been attacked at least twice by delta militants, including Ijaw rebels and the MEND, since being elected. These militants have blown up oil pipelines, burned down police stations and dared the federal government to go after them. Under Obasanjo, the central government never quite figured how to deal effectively with the militants who have recorded huge successes in disrupting oil production and scaring foreign workers out of the region. But Yar'Adua and Jonathan have worked out a new plan for the region.

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