Vol 40 No 12 | NIGERIA All hail to the chief 11th June 1999 President Olusegun Obasanjo returns to power amid hopes that the country's decline can be reversed after 15 years of military rule Government business took off at a frenetic pace after the 29 May inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Launching proceedings, Obasanjo made a powerful attack on corrupt con...
Vol 40 No 12 | NIGERIA Exeunt sojas 11th June 1999 It was a spectacular coda to 16 years of military rule. On 29 May, more than 30 heads of state, ex-heads of state and international dignitaries - including President Nelson Mandel...
Vol 40 No 12 | NIGERIA New team, old players 11th June 1999 President Obasanjo mixes old military friends and human rights activists in his new cabinet 'Is this 1999 or 1979?' asked one senator on seeing President Olusegun Obasanjo's list of 42 ministerial nominees. Another opined more diplomatically that the list favoured 'experi...
Vol 40 No 11 | GHANA Reforming the reformers 28th May 1999 Schisms are growing in the ruling NDC - much to the delight of the opposition Jerry John Rawlings' ruling National Democratic Congress is frenetically purging party ranks and has launched a full-frontal assault on a group of dissident NDC politicians known ...
Vol 40 No 11 | SIERRA LEONE Forced to talk 28th May 1999 Weaknesses on both sides may just offer a chance of serious negotiations on power-sharing and amnesty (AC Vol 40 No 6) as talks between President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and Corporal Fo...
Vol 40 No 11 | NIGERIASOUTH AFRICA Fernandez letter 28th May 1999 Who was behind the crude attempt to smear President Nelson Mandela by linking him to an oil deal with Nigerian middle-man Chief Antonio Deinde Fernandez? Copies of letters referri...
Vol 40 No 10 | NIGERIA Golden parachutes 14th May 1999 Military 'pensions' and mismanagement threaten the incoming civilian government It's now clear that President Olusegun Obasanjo's incoming civilian government will face a major financial crisis when it takes office on 29 May. The massive drawdown in foreign re...
Vol 40 No 5 | NIGERIA Soldier go, soldier come 5th May 1999 President-elect Obasanjo's greatest challenge will be his plans to reform the military and end the putschist mentality The Nigerian conundrum - ‘it takes a soldier to end army rule’ - is to be tested again. General Olusegun Obasanjo, the choice of most army officers and the Western powers, was dub...
Vol 40 No 5 | NIGERIA Virtual voters 5th May 1999 Election monitors coined a phrase for General Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidential victory on 27 February: the result was not ‘free and fair’ but ‘generally reflects the will of the pe...
Vol 40 No 8 | NIGERIA The $2.7 billion hole in the bank 16th April 1999 The military regime is leaving its civilian successor a mountain of dubious debts and undermining prospects for economic recovery General Olusegun Obasanjo's newly elected government starts work on 29 May. But the bright hope is dimmed by an unexpectedly grim financial legacy from the outgoing military regim...