Nigerians are the happiest people in the world. Or at least that was the view of social science researcher World Values in its 2008 survey of global happiness. It cited humour, openness and can-do spirit as attributes that kept the populace of Africa's second biggest economy cheerful. Nigerians will need all three attributes in abundance if they are to top the happiness league again for 2009.
In the past 12 months, Nigeria's economy has been severely undermined by a tumbling stock market and collapsing oil prices. As the credit crisis in developed countries began to take hold, risk-averse foreign investors fled the Nigerian market, causing panic on the exchange and leading to a selling frenzy that eventually wiped N8000bn ($53.7m) off the value of stocks.
