Nigeria Loves Us!

In the new (and newly redesigned) issue of TIME, we run a poll graphic that hasn’t been posted on the site yet that caught my eye. It’s drawn from a BBC World Service poll in which people around the globe were asked to rate the influence of other nations. No surprise — as the item says, “the U.S. has fallen sharply in world esteem over the past three years.” But what did have me scratching my head was the handful of countries where the U.S. still has a very positive rating — led by Nigeria, where 72% of the respondents view U.S. influence positively. I have no idea what explains this. Besides the fact that it’s an oil-producing nation — and one of the most corrupt countries in the world — I know very little about Nigeria. Anyone else able to explain what makes America so unusually popular there? (Filipinos and Kenyans also have very positive feelings about the U.S.)