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Published 24th July 1998

Vol 39 No 15


Nigeria

An exit for the militicians

Welcomed by the West, General Abubakar's transition to civil rule is drawing fire from the politicians - both civilian and military

For Nigeria's soldier-politicians, the so-called 'militicians', GeneralAbdulsalaam Abubakar's plan to return the country to civilian rule by next June, announced on 21 July, looks too much like a retreat from power. Their concern about the military losing its political management role apparently delayed the announcement for a week. Western capitals rushed to commend the plan and promised to end sanctions, probably to shore up Abubakar's position against some of his more hawkish military colleagues.


What crime costs

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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Armed robbers are becoming the most potent threat to political and economic stability

Crime and a lack of confidence in the South African Police Service are, after unemployment, the government's biggest political problems. It was never going to be easy for the Afric...


The China re-connection

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President Chiluba is contemplating a third term as he opens the door to Beijing

The government puts a brave face on it but the economy is still in a mess and May's Consultative Group meeting in France (AC Vol 39 No 10) produced no balance-of-payments (BoP) sup...


North-west nightmare

Human rights come a bleak second as the army takes on the rebels

United Nations' human rights staff are packing their bags following the government's categorical refusal to allow rights monitoring as part of the UN brief. Talks with a top-level ...



Pointers

Arms cargo crash

Reports that both sides in the Ethiopian- Eritrean border war are rearming have dented hopes of success for Organisation of African Unity proposals for a ceasefire, a monitoring te...


Crane blues

South Africa's reluctance to join the United States-backed African Crisis Response Initiative raises new questions about the future of peacekeeping in Africa as the security situat...


IMF insiders

Business people cannot understand what the International Monetary Fund is up to. It keeps on lending to the Zimbabwe government which, on the published figures, is heading for econ...