Jennifer Davis; The Africa Fund
New York, New York, United States
January 23, 1998
1 page
It is good to celebrate hurdles crossed and victories along the road, even as we remember that we still have a mountain to climb before the Nigerian people can claim their country and their freedom. The raising of the sign on Kudirat Abiola corner sends a powerful message about support for Nigerian democracy precisely because this simple action was fiercely opposed by the regime and its apologists, which for months packed public meetings, offered city officials free junkets to Nigeria and finally hired lawyers in a desperate effort to defeat the measure. But the recent unexplained death in prison of Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua, one of Nigeria’s most important democracy leaders; the...
It is good to celebrate hurdles crossed and victories along the road, even as we remember that we still have a mountain to climb before the Nigerian people can claim their country and their freedom. The raising of the sign on Kudirat Abiola corner sends a powerful message about support for Nigerian democracy precisely because this simple action was fiercely opposed by the regime and its apologists, which for months packed public meetings, offered city officials free junkets to Nigeria and finally hired lawyers in a desperate effort to defeat the measure. But the recent unexplained death in prison of Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua, one of Nigeria’s most important democracy leaders; the January reports of the torture of Baton Mitee, brother of Ledum Mitee, Acting President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP); and continuing political arrests are a harsh reminder that Nigerians risk and often lose their lives in the struggle for freedom and must inspire us to work harder. Only a widely aroused public opinion will change an American policy that, once again, puts corporate profits ahead of African lives.
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Used by permission of Africa Action (successor to The Africa Fund).
