"I think, once a dictator, always a dictator," said Sonnie Ekwowusi, a columnist for Nigeria's This Day newspaper. "Many people are afraid that if (Muhammadu Buhari) wins, they will go to prison."

Well, Buhari did win the presidential election, and there are many people in Nigeria who really should go to prison, mainly for corruption while in political office. Quite a lot of them worked with or for the outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan, whose six years in office were marked by corruption that was impressive even by Nigeria's demanding standards.

The problem is that the last time Muhammadu Buhari was president, from 1984 to 1985, he was a general who seized the office in a military coup and jailed not only the elected president, Shehu Shagari, but some 500 politicians, officials and businessmen. Many of them undoubtedly deserved it, but legal norms were not observed — and many other people whose only offense was criticizing Buhari (like famed musician Fela Kuti) also ended up behind bars.