By Norm Dixon
Oil workers' union leaders Milton Dabibi and Frank Kokori were among nine prominent political prisoners ordered released by the new Nigerian military strongman, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, on June 16. Others to be released include former head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo, sentenced to 15 years in 1995 for involvement in a "coup attempt", democracy campaigner Beko Ransome-Kuti and several newspaper and magazine editors.
Dabibi and Kokori have been the subjects of a long-running international campaign by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). Kokori, general secretary of NUPENG, has been in detention since 1994. Dabibi, general secretary of Nigeria's second oil union, PENGASSAN, was arrested in 1996.
In a statement, ICEM general secretary Vic Thorpe welcomed the Nigerian leader's decision to release the unionists, but added: "We ask him now to take the next logical step by ending all government intervention in the affairs of PENGASSAN and NUPENG — withdraw the government-imposed 'sole administrators' from the unions' offices, hand back to the elected officers of NUPENG and PENGASSAN the responsibility for running their unions, lift the ban on the check-off of union dues, unfreeze the unions' bank accounts, order the reinstatement of any oil workers dismissed for their part in the oil strike of 1994 and rescind all decrees that restrict Nigerian unions' right to affiliate freely at the international level".
The regime hopes that the releases will convince some sections of the democracy movement to enter into dialogue with it. Abubakar in a statement said that he hoped the freed people would "reciprocate the gesture by cooperating with the government" by participating in its "transition to democracy".
Abubakar also hopes the concessions will defuse international calls for sanctions against the regime.
Abubakar replaced General Sani Abacha as dictator after Abacha died suddenly on June 8. The news of the brutal tyrant's demise was met with cheers, beeping of car horns and loud music in the streets of Lagos — in stark contrast to the sombre martial music played on state radio.
Before his death, Abacha had carefully stage-managed a sham "transition to democracy" that was supposed to culminate in a presidential election on August 1, in which Abacha would be the only candidate. On October 1, the military was supposed to hand over to a "civilian" administration led by Abacha.
Abacha seized power in 1993, annulled the results of that year's presidential election, won by millionaire conservative businessperson Moshood Abiola. Abiola was jailed, where he remains. It is reported that Abiola's health is poor, and there are fears for his life.
Abacha jailed or executed anybody he saw as a threat to his dictatorship. In December, Abacha had his deputy, Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya, and other senior officers arrested for allegedly plotting a coup. The move was widely seen as an ethnic purge of southern Nigerians from the army.
The dictator's most notorious outrage was the 1995 execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders on trumped-up murder charges. During Abacha's reign, thousands of democracy activists languished in prison.
Nigeria's democracy movement rejected Abubakar's appointment and denounced his pledge to continue with his predecessor's sham "transition to democracy" timetable. Prominent democracy leader Gani Fawehinmi declared, "Abubakar is the reincarnation of Abacha".
The movement, led by the umbrella groups JACON (Joint Action Committee of Nigeria) and United Action for Democracy (UAG), announced that demonstrations and a general strike planned for June 12 — the anniversary of the annulled 1993 presidential elections — would go ahead.
"We shall not accept old wine in new wineskins, however thirsty we may be for change ... The struggle against military rule in all its guises will be renewed with vigour", leaders of UAG said.
Abubakar, a US-trained career soldier and Abacha's chief of staff, soon showed he would follow in his mentor's bloody footsteps. Universities were closed and students ordered to leave the campuses.
The military government denied permission for the planned rallies. Lagos military administrator Colonel Mohammed Marwa warned demonstrators to "avoid any situation that would invite the use of force". "Such demonstrations are unnecessary at this point", Marwa said.
As several hundred protesters attempted to gather at the planned meeting place in Lagos, heavily armed troops firing live ammunition into the air and tear gas chased them away. Convoys of soldiers in trucks hurtled through the usually busy streets firing tear gas at concentrations of demonstrators.
Fawehinmi, Dupe Abiola (one of Moshood Abiola's wives) and several other leaders were assaulted by troops and taken away. Protests in other parts of Nigeria were broken up, at least 55 arrests being reported.
On June 14, press reports stated that Abubakar had met with leaders of the five political parties permitted by the military, and had also held discussions with Doyin Abiola, another of Moshood Abiola's wives. On June 16, nine prominent political prisoners were released.
"These things are cosmetic", commented Fawehinmi. "This Abubakar has not made any fundamental statements ... [or] fundamental changes. He hasn't taken a step to convince anybody he wants a new Nigeria."
Speaking on June 12, exiled activist and writer Wole Soyinka expressed fears that the west would now accept Abubakar's regime:
"The danger is that the international community will make the same mistake it has made over and over again, saying that this change 'augurs well', that it 'has certain possibilities' ... What the military wants to do is to buy time to resume in some form or another their control over the political destiny of the nation. Nothing has effectively changed in terms of the restoration of power to the people of Nigeria, and this is the bottom line."