[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 80 (Thursday, June 18, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6635-S6636]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PROGRESS IN NIGERIA?

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise for the second time in 
less than two weeks to comment on the extraordinary events taking place 
in Nigeria.
  Earlier this week, Nigeria's new leader, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, 
released nine of the country's best known political prisoners. I 
welcome this step, with the hope that the release of these individuals 
demonstrates a commitment to enact true democratic reform in this 
troubled West African country.
  These individuals include some of Nigeria's top political, labor and 
human rights leaders. For the record, I will list their names here.
  General Olusegun Obassanjo (rt.), a former head of state and the only 
military leader to turn over power to a democratically elected civilian 
government and who has played a prominent role on the international 
stage as an advocate of peace and reconciliation. He had been sentenced 
following a secret trial that failed to meet international standard of 
due process over an alleged coup plot that has never been proven to 
exist.
  Frank Kokori, Secretary General of the National Union of Petroleum 
and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). He was arrested in August 1994, 
although charges have never been filed.
  Chris Anyanwu, Editor-in-Chief and publisher of The Sunday Magazine.
  Human rights activist Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti.
  Milton Dabibi, Secretary General of the Petroleum and Natural Gas 
Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), who was arrested in January 1996 
for leading demonstrations against the canceled 1993 elections and 
against government efforts to control the labor unions.
  Politician Olabiyi Durojaye.
  Former Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki.
  Former state governor Bola Ige.
  Uwen Udoh, democracy campaigner.
  Mr. President, these individuals have all played an important role in 
Nigeria, and were all arrested under circumstances that confirm our 
worst fears of the overarching power of the military in Nigeria. Their 
release is significant.
  That said, I do not want to become overly enthusiastic about the 
situation in Nigeria. For despite this great gesture, hundreds of other 
political prisoners remain in detention--often without charge. 
Prominent among these remaining prisoners, is, of course Chief Moshood 
Abiola, presumed winner of the 1993 presidential election, who was 
thrown in jail on charges of treason. Whatever his role might be in any 
upcoming transition process, his release and some meaningful 
acknowledgment of his annulled mandate is key to that process.
  On top of that, numerous repressive decrees remain in force, 
including the infamous State Security [Detention of Persons] Decree #2, 
which gives the military sweeping powers of arrest and detention. The 
existence of such decrees would allow the military to rearrest any of 
the prisoners released this week at any time.
  Mr. President, I recently introduced S. 2102, The Nigerian Democracy 
and Civil Society Empowerment Act of 1998, which calls on the United 
States to encourage the political, economic and legal reforms necessary 
to ensure the rule of law and respect for human rights in Nigeria and 
to aggressively support a timely and effective transition to 
democratic, civilian government for the people of Nigeria.
  Among other policy initiatives, this bill establishes a set of 
benchmarks regarding the transition to democracy. These benchmarks 
include a call for

[[Page S6636]]

the release of ``individuals who have been imprisoned without due 
process or for political reasons.''
  The release this week of nine prisoners is a start. Let's hope 
Nigeria's new leader continues to implement policies that move the 
country in the right direction.
  Nigeria's people deserve no less.
  Mr. President, I ask to have printed in the Record a New York Times 
piece from June 17, 1998, that presents an excellent overview of the 
reaction inside Nigeria over Abubakar's actions.
  The article follows:

                [From the New York Times, June 17, 1998]

           For Nigeria's Leader, Offense is the Best Defense

                         (By Howard W. French)

       From the moment Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar was selected last 
     week to succeed the late ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha, Nigerians 
     began speculating whether a reformist era might be at hand 
     after years of ruinous dictatorship. After all, General 
     Abubakar was long reputed to be a prim professional among 
     Nigeria's politicized and immensely rich generals.
       With his order on Monday to release a core group of the 
     country's best-known political prisoners, including an 
     internationally respected former head of state, General 
     Abubakar sent the first clear signal of his intention to 
     bring about an overhaul in the way his country is run, and 
     more than that, conveyed a sense of urgency in the matter.
       Though the general's position is precarious, Western 
     diplomats and Nigerian analysts say he has decided to move 
     decisively and not wait to consolidate his power. To delay, 
     the say, would risk falling victim to powerful enemies at 
     opposite extremes of his country's no-holds-barred politics.
       ``General Abubakar had no choice but to move forward if he 
     wanted to salvage his country and protect himself,'' said one 
     Western diplomat. ``To have postponed making difficult 
     decisions about democracy and prisoners, or to defer the 
     issue of a transition to civilian rule, would have been to 
     play the game of his enemies. The army would have devoured 
     him itself, and failing that there would have been a major 
     risk of a civilian uprising.''
       On one side, General Abubakar faces his own army, an 
     institution whose top officers have grown fat on years of 
     power, and many of whose younger leaders have climbed the 
     rungs of power awaiting their turn at the trough.
       As army chief of staff, General Abubakar had no direct 
     command over the mechanized units that typically determine 
     who holds or takes power in the country. Moreover, the new 
     head of state had none of the huge personal wealth of his 
     predecessors, having avoided the kinds of army jobs that 
     allow top brass to dole out lucrative contracts to other 
     officers, siphoning off kickbacks and purchasing staff 
     loyalty.
       On the other side, Nigeria's large and well-developed 
     opposition was emboldened by the death of General Abachar, 
     who had a reputation as the most iron-fisted leader his 
     country of 105 million people had ever known.
       And because General Abacha and his military predecessors 
     had so regularly flouted their pledges to restore democracy 
     or arrange a transition to civilian rule, General Abubakar 
     could promise little that would make a dent in the distrust 
     of a hardened political class.
       For many veterans of Nigeria's democracy movement, the only 
     acceptable tactic is to take on the army head on, and with 
     the army divided, they feel the future is now.
       People both inside the army and out say that General 
     Abubakar's best hope--and decisive test--of engineering a 
     transition to civilian rule is to work with the man believed 
     to have won the country's only democratic election, in 1993, 
     Moshood K. O. Abiola. The last military Government annulled 
     the vote and threw Mr. Abiola in jail, where he remains.
       In this scenario, General Abubakar would involve Mr. Abiola 
     in negotiations aimed at easing the military out of power, in 
     much the same way Nelson Mandela helped work out a soft 
     landing for South Africa's apartheid rulers before his 
     release from prison in 1990.
       It is too early to say whether this hope will come about in 
     Nigeria, and many hurdles remain.
       General Abubakar's first gesture upon taking power, in an 
     unusual post-midnight swearing in ceremony less than 24 hours 
     after General Abacha's death, was to commit himself to his 
     predecessor's previously declared but widely discounted 
     deadline for an Oct. 1 handover to an elected civilian 
     government.
       Experts on the Nigerian military say that this pledge was 
     intended more as a bid to outflank the army, whose powerful 
     factions are known to oppose any democratic change, than as 
     an effort to placate a deeply skeptical civilian opposition.
       The new leader's second hurdle, these experts say, was to 
     prevent a showdown with pro-democracy groups sworn to carry 
     out a series of protests linked to the fifth anniversary last 
     Friday of the elections apparently won by Mr. Abiola, a 
     millionaire businessman from the south.
       The opposition ignored calls to cancel Friday's 
     demonstrations, but security forces were relatively 
     restrained in putting the protests down, marking a sharp turn 
     from the wanton brutality of the Abacha years.
       With the threat of strife defused, General Abubakar then 
     freed the former head of state--a retired general, Olusegun 
     Obasanjo--and seven other prominent prisoners, buying 
     international praise and a more forgiving attitude from the 
     opposition.
       ``A clash between an overzealous army and the June 12 
     protesters would have badly undercut Abubakar,'' said Walter 
     Carrington, a former American ambassador to Nigeria. ``The 
     restraint that the army showed and the subsequent release of 
     the prisoners suggests strongly that the new leadership has 
     gained control over hard-liners in the army. What we will 
     likely see now is a progressive release of more and more 
     political prisoners.''
       By far the country's most important political prisoner is 
     Mr. Abiola, the jailed presidential candidate. And 
     ultimately, both the opposition and much of the outside 
     world's judgment of General Abubakar will depend on his 
     handling of Mr. Abiola, whose claim to the presidency is 
     considered by most to be legitimate.
       Whatever the opposition demands now, almost no one in 
     Nigeria expects the military to simply surrender power. For 
     one thing, Nigeria's military high command is dominated by 
     northerners, including the new head of state himself, who 
     after years of control are wary of an outright takeover by 
     southerners.
       Still, for many in the south, and beyond, no credible 
     election in Nigeria can be organized until the nation comes 
     to terms with the cancellation of Mr. Abiola's mandate.
       Regional and ethnic antagonisms like these could scuttle 
     any negotiated arrangements with Mr. Abiola. But many 
     Nigerians suspect that discussions may already be under way 
     to secure his release in a negotiated framework, providing 
     him some recognition and perhaps a large role in transitional 
     arrangements while keeping the field open for other 
     candidates in a fresh election.
       ``There is no point in pretending that Abiola didn't win an 
     election any longer,'' said one senior Nigerian military 
     adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity. ``What will have 
     to be worked out is an arrangement with Abiola that allows 
     the country to move forward.''

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