| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
ABUJA, 28 May (IRIN) - Civil society leaders are demanding a radical restructuring of Nigeria by the new civilian administration.
They are calling for a national sovereign conference to chart that transformation, and for accountability from the military for the corruption and human rights abuses that has characterised recent regimes.
This is an agenda, analysts say, that is not viewed favourably by Nigeria's top brass.
Nigeria's lively media are currently linking key military officials to a succession of alleged major frauds. They are asking for explanations of what happened to US $767 million reportedly recovered from relatives and associates of the late General Sani Abacha. They are wondering about the reasons behind the shrinking of the country's foreign reserves from US $6 billion to US $3 billion (US $4 billion, according to the military government) in just 10 months. They are querying the tendering procedures for a series of dubious oil deals in the dying days of General Abdulsalami Abubakar's administration.
On the human rights front, attention has been focussed on a host of issues ranging from the need to scrap repressive military decrees to the plight of ethnic minorities in the explosive Delta Region.
Obasanjo's electoral campaign emphasised that the ex-military leader, who handed over to Nigeria's last democratically elected government in 1979, is uniquely suited to handle the challenge of leading the country. "He is somebody who understands the military and civil society," his campaign manager Onyema Ugochukwu told IRIN.
Obasanjo has repeatedly stated he will probe corruption allegations against previous regimes and that there will be no statute of limitations. But, Ugochukwu explains: "We have to be careful how we handle them. If we make the military desperate, they may take desperate measures. The military we have now is not the military we are used to. It is a very politicised army."
However, critics point out that several wealthy generals turned businessmen backed Obasanjo's presidential candidature. He is therefore unlikely, they argue, to turn against those interests, particularly as he would need all the support he can get within a potentially restless military.
Ugochukwu stresses that the country has to face up to political reality, that change is not going to come overnight, but that Obasanjo is the man for the job. "Success will come gradually. I hope Nigerians can understand that the rot that has set in over 20 years will take time to clear."
[ENDS]
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Item: irin-english-908
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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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