Nigeria Paralysed: Socio-Political Life Under General Sani Abacha
Author(s)
Egwaikhide, Festus O.; Isumoah, Victor Adefemi
Abstract
It is convenient to blame Nigerian civil society for the inconclusive transition to civil rule undertaken by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. But this reasoning omits the fact that elements of civil society, notably, the Campaign for Democracy (CD), a human rights organization, successfully mobilized Nigerians living in the major cities in the west of the country (the major economic hub), to stay at home, paralyzing economic activities for days and months. The action changed nothing. The devouring forces of personal ambition and greed were irresistible. Unlike the popular portrayal of civil society in Africa as weak, we argue that General Sani Abacha drove Nigeria under the wedge of personalist rule in fulfillment of his personal ambition and material greed. As a result, the struggle for mere survival became the preoccupation of most Nigerians. This experience is here recalled in order to counter the natural tendency to forget very quickly the pain of the past and at the same time the vital lessons for guarding against a repetition of abuses.
