As former head of a military government in the 1970s and a retired general since, Nigeria’s new president, Olusegun Obasanjo, knows better than most people what ails his country. But he also knows equally well that the men in uniform, universally held responsible for the mess Nigeria’s troubles...
He is not a new face; he is not a civilian: he is General Olusegun Obasanjo who ruled Nigeria from 1976-79. Obasanjo was declared winner of Nigeria’s February 27 elections with 63 percent of the vote, well ahead of Olu Falae, the only other candidate.
From Nigeria through Pakistan to Indonesia, there is talk of tracing the billions of Muslim money salted away by the corrupt regimes that have taken turns to send their countries to the cleaners.
When general Abdulsalam Abubakar took over as Nigerian head of State in June, following the sudden death of his predecessor general Sani Abacha, he promised to reform the country’s political system, re-introduce democracy, and ‘withdraw all charges against political offenders.’
Nigeria’s president Abdulsalami Abubakar appears to have convinced doubters that he is indeed prepared to vacate Aso Rock, the presidential palace in the capital Abuja, as soon as a successor is elected on May 29, 1999 - a date the general insists is ‘sacrosanct.’
All the five registered political parties in Nigeria have adopted general Sani Abacha, the military ruler, as their candidate for the August presidential elections.
Nigerian authorities last month arrested and imprisoned the wives and children of two senior Islamic activists already under arrest. Zeenah Ibrahim, wife of imprisoned Muslim leader Mu’allim Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky, was arrested in the northern town of Zaria on April 17...
The Developing Eight (D-8) economic cooperation group got off to a shaky start on June 15 in Istanbul as its most passionate advocate, prime minister Necmettin Erbakan of Turkey struggled with his hawkish generals to hang on to power.
What do Indonesia, Nigeria and Sudan have in common? They are huge countries, in terms of area and population, which are overwhelmingly Muslim but with Christian minorities and ethnic diversity that the west uses to destabilize these potentially rich and powerful States.
