UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Nigeria: Recent Documents, 02/08/'96

Nigeria: Recent Documents, 02/08/'96

Nigeria: Recent Documents Date Distributed (ymd): 960208

An Open Letter to President Clinton and Members of Congress

December 27, 1995

On November 10, we were all shocked by the executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni activists in Nigeria. Since that time, despite worldwide condemnation, the military government of General Sani Abacha has remained unbending in the face of internal and international protest. While we appreciate and applaud the efforts taken by the Clinton Administration and individual members of Congress to isolate the Nigerian government, the situation demands more clear and forceful action.

Many prominent Nigerians who have stood up against human rights abuses and environmental degradation remain in prison awaiting dire fates, while the Nigerian people continue to live in fear. The multinational oil companies, in particular Royal Dutch Shell, continue their business as usual at the expense of the environment, human rights, community stability, and democracy in Nigeria. Oil is central to the Nigerian regime, accounting for over 90% of its exports. Oil wealth gives General Abacha the means to remain intransigent and to continue his reign of terror.

We, the undersigned, representing the millions of Americans in the human rights, Africa-American, labor, church, progressive investment, socially responsible business, and environmental communities, urgently call on you to institute sanctions targeted at the Nigerian oil economy, up to and including a ban on new investments, a ban on US exports targeted at replacement parts for the energy sector, and an oil embargo.

The United States has a special moral responsibility for the continuing oppression and pollution in Nigeria. We consume more than 40% of Nigeria's oil and we are Nigeria's largest customer of oil. However, Nigerian oil imports make up only a fraction of total US oil consumption. Eight percent of our imports, which is only 3.5% of our total oil consumption, comes from Nigeria. It is both economically possible and morally imperative that we stop the consumption of the oil that fuels the current regime.

President Nelson Mandela of South Africa has called for a multilateral oil embargo. We urge you to support that call through any number of avenues, including support for Senate Bill 1419, the Nigerian Democracy Act sponsored by Senators Kassebaum, Leahy, Feingold, Simon, Pell and Jeffords. Further, we urge you to take the lead internationally to see that an oil embargo is agreed to multilaterally.

These sanctions should remain in effect until the Nigerian government releases political prisoners, repeals repressive laws, adopts a six-month timetable for transition to a freely elected civilian government, and guarantees freedom of all communities affected by oil operations to address environmental concerns and to seek redress for environmental damage.

Our country should not tolerate the continued abuses in Nigeria. We must take strong action to prevent the ongoing violence in Nigeria against the voices calling for democracy and environmental justice.

Sincerely,

Affordable Housing Development Co. * Africa Faith and Justice Network * The Africa Fund * American Consumer Insurance Agency, Inc. * Association of Concerned Africa Scholars * ASEED * The Body Shop, Inc. * Bread for the World * Center for Constitutional Rights * Center for Economic and Social Rights * Chicago Coalition for a Democratic Nigeria * Citizen Action * Civil Liberties Organization (Nigeria) * Co-Op America * Coalition Against Dictatorships * Coalition of Black Trade Unionists * Columbian Fathers Justice and Peace Office * Committee to Protect Journalists * Development Gap * Domini Social Equity Fund * EarthAction * Eco-Tropic Works * Environmental Defense Fund * Environmental Working Group * Fellowship for Reconciliation * Fenton Communications * Foundation for National Progress * Franklin Research and Development Corporation * Friends Committee on National Legislation * Friends of the Earth * Graham Contracting, Inc. * Greenpeace * Hantman Foundation * Human Rights Advocates * Human Rights Watch * International Human Rights Law Group * International Federation for the Protection of the Rights of Ethnic, Religious, Linguistic and Other Minorities * International Rivers Network * International Roundtable on Nigeria * International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers * Marion Foundation * Marvin Blitz Real Estate Company * Maryknoll Justice and Peace Office * Maryknoll Mission Association of the Faithful * Mother Jones * Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People * NALICON (Nigeria) * National Wildlife Federation * Natural Heritage Institute * Natural Resources Defence Council * Nicaragua Network * Nigerian Democratic Awareness Committee * Nigerian Democratic Coalition * Nigerian Democratic Movement * Nigerian Forum for Democracy * Nigeria Freedom Foundation * Nigerian Peoples Forum * Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union * Organization of Nigerians in the Americas * Organization for the Advancement of Nigerians * OzoneAction * Patagonia * Physicians for Social Responsibility * Progressive Alliance for the Restoration of Nigeria * Putumayo * Rainforest Action Network * Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights * Service Employees International Union * Seventh Generation * Sierra Club * Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund * Social and Environmental Rights Action Centre (Nigeria) * Stonyfield Farm, Inc. * Student Environmental Action Network * TransAfrica * United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America * United Church of Christ * Untied Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society * Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization * Until There's A Cure Foundation * Washington Office on Africa * Wetlands * White Dog Cafe * Working Assets Long Distance * WorldView * WorldWise *

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AFRICA NEWS Online/Panafrican News Agency 28 January 1995

***** New York City Council Resolution on Nigeria *****

This is a sample of the more than three dozen news articles, documents and other resources distributed by Africa News Online on the World Wide Web each day. To see the full text of these articles and much more look up Africa News on the World Wide Web (www.afnews.org/ans). For more information: newsdesk@afnews.org.

DOCUMENT ... via AFRICA NEWS ONLINE January 25, 1996

New York - The following is the text of a resolution passed by a committee of Council of the City of New York on Thursday, January 25, 1996 regarding Nigeria. The full council is expected to vote approval in the next few weeks.

Resolution Number 1002-A

Resolution commending the Nigerian people for their courageous struggle against repression and tyranny, condemning the violent actions of the present Nigerian military dictatorship, calling for the immediate release from prison of Chief Moshood Abiola, calling upon the United States government to take all practical steps, including economic measures, to effect the release of all unjustly detained political prisoners and the restoration of a free press and civilian democratic government in Nigeria, and urging all members of the New York State Congressional delegation to co-sponsor H.R. 2697 and S. 1419 and to work to secure their prompt passage.

By Council Members Foster, Duane, Henry, Michels, Spignor and Williams

Whereas, The nation of Nigeria in West Africa became independent on October 1, 1960 and was declared a republic on October 1, 1963; and

Whereas, Military governments have ruled the nation since 1966 for approximately 26 out of 30 years; and with two relatively brief intervening periods of civilian rule; and

Whereas, In June of 1993, a democratic presidential election was held and monitored by national and international observers; and

Whereas, The election was supposed to end military rule in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, however two separate military dictatorships have prevented the winner of that June 1993 democratic presidential election from assuming office; and

Whereas, Chief Moshood K. O. Abiola is believed to have won the election, but the military government of Nigeria, then controlled by General Ibrahim Babangida, annulled the vote before formal results were announced and left the country in the hands of a military-appointed interim civilian government that was to organize a new election and hand over authority to an elected civilian president by March 31, 1994; and

Whereas, General Sani Abacha overthrew this transitional government in November 1993, promising to return the country to civilian rule, but has nonetheless continued to rule the country through a military regime; and

Whereas, Chief Abiola has been in prison since June of 1994, while he awaits trial on charges of treason for proclaiming himself President in 1994 on the anniversary of the 1993 election, and has, according to his personal physician, undergone a serious decline in health since his arrest; and

Whereas, The reigning military dictatorship has also banned the free press, shot and killed peaceful pro-democracy protesters, and arbitrarily arrested human rights activists, trade unionists and community leaders in an effort to crush the democratic aspirations of the Nigerian people; and

Whereas, Human rights investigators from such groups as Amnesty International have documented massacres of defenseless communities by the Nigerian Army and the systematic use of murder, torture and rape of pro-democracy activists by government security sources; and

Whereas, On November 10, 1995 nine activists of the Ogoni tribe, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, a renowned writer, environmentalist and human rights activist, were executed by the military government of Nigeria; and

Whereas, H.R. 2697 was subsequently introduced in the United States Congress by Representative Donald Payne of New Jersey, as a companion bill to S. 1419 introduced in the Senate, which would impose a barrage of sanctions against Nigeria; and

Whereas, In 1994, United States oil companies through the purchase of more than $4 billion worth of oil, indirectly financed the dictatorship through taxes and royalties on oil from the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company, thereby undermining the Nigerian democracy movement; and

Whereas, Oil exports from Nigeria account for more than 90 percent of Nigeria's foreign exchange earnings and 75 percent of its budget revenues; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York commends the Nigerian people for their courageous struggle against repression and tyranny, condemns the violent actions of the present Nigerian military dictatorship, calls for the immediate release from prison of Chief Moshood Abiola, calls upon the United States government to take all practical steps, including economic measures, to effect the release of all unjustly detained political prisoners and the restoration of a free press and civilian democratic government in Nigeria, and urges all members of the New York State Congressional delegation to co-sponsor H.R. 2697 and S. 1419 and to work to secure their prompt passage.

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Message-Id: <199602081717.JAA00324@igc3.igc.apc.org> From: "Washington Office on Africa" <woa@igc.apc.org> Date: Thu, 8 Feb 1996 12:16:42 -0500 Subject: Nigeria: Recent Documents