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Sound familiar? - Nigeria still learning to walk 39 years after independence.
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vapor
Oct 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM10/7/99
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LAGOS, Sept 30 (AFP) - Nigeria, the world's most populous black
nation, marks the 39th anniversary of its independence from Britain
on Friday, but according to its new civilian president it is still
"learning to walk."
Friday is the first independence anniversary under civilian rule
in 16 years, following the swearing in on May 29 of President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
Speaking at a church service in Abuja earlier this week,
Obasanjo said that although "learning to walk" at 39 "looks
abnormal," there "is hope that we are still alive."
Home to more than 108 million people, Nigeria has experienced
only 10 years of democratic rule since independence.
The regime of Obasanjo follows more than 15 years of military
rule. Since the first military coup on January 15, 1966, the nation
has produced eight military heads of state.
Many Nigerians are currently trying to adjust to the new
democracy.
"It is not easy for wounds sustained under military jackboots to
heal. We all seem to have been militarised to a state of paranoia
beyond description," said a teacher in political science at the
University of Lagos, who asked not to be named.
The Nigerian economy, which relies heavily on oil revenue,
nosedived in the past 16 years, a fall blamed by economists on
government corruption, mismanagement and a fall in the price of
crude oil.
Nigeria, under the military, accumulated foreign debts amounting
to about 30 billion dollars.
Corruption in official circle also attained an all-time high,
especially in the past 15 years, and several billions of dollars
stolen from the country are stashed away in foreign accounts
belonging to some past Nigerian leaders.
Following the breakdown of the nation's four oil refineries,
Nigeria, the world's seventh largest crude oil producer, in 1993
began importing petroleum products from abroad to meet local
demand.
Unrest of ethnic or religious origin still percolates the
nation's social life.
Almost 30 years after the end of Nigeria's "Biafran" civil war,
in which more than one million people died, the Ibo, one of the
three major ethnic groups in the country, still complain of
"marginalisation" by authorities.
Most social services, such as electricity, communications,
roads, water have either almost collapsed or were suffering from
serious strangulation before the present regime took over.
The oil-producing communities in the southern region of the
country, have resorted to many forms of violence, including
vandalisation of oil installations and kidnapping of oil workers, to
press for compensation for environmental degradation.
An environmentalist and minority rights campaigner, Ken
Saro-Wiwa, and eight of his companions in the Movement for the
Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), were hanged in 1995 following
their conviction by a special tribunal.
They were convicted of the murder of four Ogoni personalities
opposed to the MOSOP campaign.
The international community condemned the trial, conviction and
execution describing the government action as "judicial murder."
Obasanjo, released from prison last year, after serving four
years after being convicted of involvement in an aborted coup in
1995, assured Nigerians that there is hope.
He promised that most of the problems facing the nation would
have been tackled by the time it marked its 40th independence
anniversary.
nation, marks the 39th anniversary of its independence from Britain
on Friday, but according to its new civilian president it is still
"learning to walk."
Friday is the first independence anniversary under civilian rule
in 16 years, following the swearing in on May 29 of President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
Speaking at a church service in Abuja earlier this week,
Obasanjo said that although "learning to walk" at 39 "looks
abnormal," there "is hope that we are still alive."
Home to more than 108 million people, Nigeria has experienced
only 10 years of democratic rule since independence.
The regime of Obasanjo follows more than 15 years of military
rule. Since the first military coup on January 15, 1966, the nation
has produced eight military heads of state.
Many Nigerians are currently trying to adjust to the new
democracy.
"It is not easy for wounds sustained under military jackboots to
heal. We all seem to have been militarised to a state of paranoia
beyond description," said a teacher in political science at the
University of Lagos, who asked not to be named.
The Nigerian economy, which relies heavily on oil revenue,
nosedived in the past 16 years, a fall blamed by economists on
government corruption, mismanagement and a fall in the price of
crude oil.
Nigeria, under the military, accumulated foreign debts amounting
to about 30 billion dollars.
Corruption in official circle also attained an all-time high,
especially in the past 15 years, and several billions of dollars
stolen from the country are stashed away in foreign accounts
belonging to some past Nigerian leaders.
Following the breakdown of the nation's four oil refineries,
Nigeria, the world's seventh largest crude oil producer, in 1993
began importing petroleum products from abroad to meet local
demand.
Unrest of ethnic or religious origin still percolates the
nation's social life.
Almost 30 years after the end of Nigeria's "Biafran" civil war,
in which more than one million people died, the Ibo, one of the
three major ethnic groups in the country, still complain of
"marginalisation" by authorities.
Most social services, such as electricity, communications,
roads, water have either almost collapsed or were suffering from
serious strangulation before the present regime took over.
The oil-producing communities in the southern region of the
country, have resorted to many forms of violence, including
vandalisation of oil installations and kidnapping of oil workers, to
press for compensation for environmental degradation.
An environmentalist and minority rights campaigner, Ken
Saro-Wiwa, and eight of his companions in the Movement for the
Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), were hanged in 1995 following
their conviction by a special tribunal.
They were convicted of the murder of four Ogoni personalities
opposed to the MOSOP campaign.
The international community condemned the trial, conviction and
execution describing the government action as "judicial murder."
Obasanjo, released from prison last year, after serving four
years after being convicted of involvement in an aborted coup in
1995, assured Nigerians that there is hope.
He promised that most of the problems facing the nation would
have been tackled by the time it marked its 40th independence
anniversary.
Loki Farbautisson
Oct 11, 1999, 3:00:00 AM10/11/99
to
In article <3806e3c5....@news.alt.net>,
ant...@yahoo.com (vapor) wrote - no, copied:
<and therefore: snip>
That was a real short sentence for raping using drugs. Did you get
some Rohypnol delivered to you inside too or were you just the other
inmates' girl all the time?
ant...@yahoo.com (vapor) wrote - no, copied:
<and therefore: snip>
That was a real short sentence for raping using drugs. Did you get
some Rohypnol delivered to you inside too or were you just the other
inmates' girl all the time?
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
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