Vol 40 No 17 | NIGERIA Clearly confusing 27th August 1999 Three months on, the economic policy of General Olusegun Obasanjo's government remains opaque. While the price of oil, which at US$20 a barrel is nearly twice that of the beginnin...
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 | 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...
Vol 40 No 7 | NIGERIA Muddy waters 2nd April 1999 Friends of President-elect General Olusegun Obasanjo say he is incensed by the decision of the outgoing military regime under Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar to award 11 oil exploration ...