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IRIN-WA Update 475 of events in West Africa (Monday 31 May)
NIGERIA: Obasanjo's vow to smash corruption welcomed
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's pledge in his inaugural address to stamp out corruption and ensure good governance was welcomed by many, but civil society leaders said they would try to make sure he remembered his promise.
It was "a very bold speech", Nimi Walson-Jack,
executive director of the Port Harcourt-based Centre
for Responsive Politics, told IRIN on Monday. Nevertheless,
he said, "We are going to remind him at every
turn of what he has promised."
Obasanjo told 120 million Nigerians and a host of foreign
dignitaries at Saturday's swearing-in that he would
move quickly to restore public confidence in government.
"I will give the forthright, purposeful, committed,
honest, and transparent leadership that the situation
demands," he said.
Promising to tackle corruption head-on at all levels,
Obasanjo said there would be "no sacred cows"
and that he would restore and enforce all regulations
designed to help honesty and transparency in government
and public administration.
[See separate item headlined "Obasanjo's vow to
smash corruption welcomed"]
The Niger Delta test
Among the critical tests for the new government is how it handles the simmering resentment in the oil-producing Niger Delta over the regionís neglect and impoverishment.
Demands for greater autonomy and a larger slice of the oil revenues that flow from the six underdeveloped southern states have been backed by attacks on oil installations, demonstrations, and clashes between communities in land ownership disputes.
[See separate item headlined "Delta problem key issue for new government"]
Religion
Another key factor is religion. In the north, for example, the level of support for militant Islamic leader Ibrahim Zakzaky and his Muslim Brotherhood is anything but negligible if the amount of graffiti in the city of Kaduna demanding his freedom is any gauge.
The graffiti are a little dated now. Zakzaky was released in December after his latest brush with the authorities, when the government dropped charges stemming from his proclamation: "There is no government except that of Islam".
However, his freedom has not brought the release of
many of his disciples, nor has it tempered his rejection
of secularism and his demand for an Islamic state in
multi-denominational Nigeria.
[See separate item: irin-english-917, headlined "Islamic
leader stresses importance of religion"]
SIERRA LEONE: Religious groups welcome move to free Sankoh
Representatives of religious communities in Sierra Leone have "warmly embraced" a move to pardon rebel chief Foday Sankoh, a church leader told IRIN on Monday.
News organisations reported that, in a compromise deal reached at peace talks in Lome, Togo, the Sierra Leonean government has promised to take legal steps to pardon Sankoh.
Albert Kanu, deputy secretary-general of the Council for Churches in Sierra Leone, said the news was welcomed by representatives of Muslim and Christian groups attending a meeting of the executive committee of Sierra Leone's Inter-Religious Council.
The breakthrough came on Saturday when the head of the
government delegation, Solomon Berewa, said in a statement
that the government "reaffirms that it has taken
the decision that if the release of Foday Sankoh is
the price to be paid to bring lasting peace to Sierra
Leone, it will take appropriate legal steps to grant
him absolute and free pardon".
[See separate item headlined "Religious groups
welcome move to free Sankoh"]
Solidarity march called off in Freetown
Meanwhile, the presidential spokesman, Septimus Kaikai, confirmed that the Sierra Leone government cancelled a solidarity march in Freetown that was to have coincided with Saturday's inauguration of Nigeria's new civilian president.
"I believe that the proper papers were not applied for by the civil society movement responsible for organising the march and so it was unable to proceed," Kaikai told IRIN on Monday. He said a similar march held to celebrate the restoration of democracy in Nigeria went ahead in Bo, some 170 km southeast of Freetown.
Reacting to a news report that the march had been disallowed because of fears by the security forces that rebels might use it to infiltrate the capital, Kaikai said that the rebels might possibly have tried to enter Freetown, but as far as he knew the cancellation was "due to the lack of appropriate papers".
Rebel forces infiltrated and attacked the capital in January before being driven out by West African peacekeepers.
SENEGAL: Fresh Fighting in Casamance
Heavy weapons fire erupted over the weekend near Ziguinchor, capital of the southern area of Casamance, where government troops have been battling separatist guerillas for years, sources told IRIN on Monday.
A representative of the Conseil des Organisations non-gouvernmentales d'Appui au Developpement (CONGAD), a coalition of international and national NGOs in Senegal, told IRIN that two civilians were killed and around 15 people were wounded in the fighting.
The clashes between the army and the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) occurred in the districts of Tilene and Nema-Kador, and each side accused the other of starting the hostilities, according to the CONGAD source.
A spokesperson from Rencontre Africaine pour la defense des droits de l'homme (RADDHO), a human rights group, told IRIN that the situation was calm on Monday morning.
The upsurge in violence followed a recent sweep by Senegalese forces near the border with Guinea Bissau, southwest of Ziguinchor, according to news organisations.
CHAD: Troops return home from DRC
Most of the troops Chad sent last year to the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) to back the government of President
Laurent Kabila have returned home, Chadian Communication
Minister Moussa Dago told IRIN on Monday.
"The bulk of the contingent arrived in Sahr (south-western Chad) since yesterday," Dago said, adding that the rest had left Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), on Sunday night and were expected to arrive in Chad between Monday night and Tuesday.
Dago said the number of troops was about 2,000.
[See separate item headlined "Troops return home"]
//Corrections//
1. The first sentence of the penultimate paragraph of Item: irin-english-917 titled "NIGERIA: Islamic leader stresses importance of religion" should read as follows: <<Okoye describes Zakzaky as a moderate, who has had to contend with a "lot of radical elements" thrown up by the movement during his four stretches in detention, dating back to 1981. >> Note the change from "seven" to "four" in the first sentence.
2. The figure in line one, paragraph three of separate item headlined "NIGERIA: Obasanjo's vow to smash corruption welcomed" should be 120 million and not 128 million.
Abidjan, 31 May 1999, 20:00 GMT
[ENDS]
[IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 217366 Fax: +225 216335 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org ]
Item: irin-english-924
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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