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Sani Abacha, the dictator who had headed Nigeria since 1993, died last June, apparently of a heart attack. One of Abacha’s close political allies, the military chief of staff, Major General Abdusalam Abubakar, immediately took over the country, which military dictators have ruled for 28 of its 38 years of independence.
Abacha was a brutal dictator who robbed his country of much of its wealth. He and his cronies reportedly accepted bribes and kickbacks from oil and construction companies, living lavishly while most of the rest of the country lived in poverty. As a result, Nigeria, a country rich in oil and other natural resources, is in dire economic straits.
Most Nigerians welcomed the news of Abacha’s death. "Thank God that evil man is gone," said Gani Fawehinmi, a human rights lawyer and head of the Joint Action Committee of Nigeria, a coalition of opposition groups. Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka expressed his hope that Abacha’s death would represent "an opportunity for Nigerian civic society, an
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opportunity for the Nigerian military, and an opportunity for the international community."
Shortly after Abacha’s death, the government announced that it would free the head of the opposition, Moshood Abiolo. But Abiolo died in July, apparently of a heart attack, just days after the government announced it would free him. The one-time Nigerian millionaire was jailed in 1993, when he apparently won the first free presidential elections ever held in Nigeria, the results of which Abacha annulled.
Following news of Abiolo’s death, members of his tribe, the Yorubas, took to the streets in Nigeria. Angry demonstrators accused the government of having murdered Abiolo. Many people worried that the violence would escalate into a full-scale ethnic war.
- What kind of leader was Sani Abacha?Answer
- Why did demonstrators take to the streets in Nigeria in July?Answer
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