POLITICS-NIGERIA: U.S. Coalition Calls For Oil Sanctions

By Jim Lobe Reprint | | Print |

Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, May 21 1998 (IPS) - A broad coalition of African American churches, human rights and environmental groups wants President Bill Clinton to reject further contacts with the Nigerian military regime and impose unilateral oil sanctions immediately.

In a letter to Clinton this week, the International Roundtable on Nigeria (IRTON), which includes more than 60 organisations, assailed the “confusion surrounding recent official statements on Nigeria and the lack of a clear U.S. policy.”

It also called on the administration to increase political and financial support for democratic forces inside Nigeria, just as the United States did in Eastern Europe during the 1980s.

“We call on the Administration to immediately impose unilateral oil sanctions on Nigeria, as a means to end the financing of the repressive regime, until the Nigerian dictatorship (a) releases all political prisoners, (b) repeals all repressive legislation and, (c) enters into an irreversible process of democratisation in concern with the Nigerian pro- democracy movement,” the letter says.

Prominent African Americans signing the letter included the chief officers of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Julian Bond and Kwasi Mfume; the head of the Transafrica lobby group, Randall Robinson; the director of the International Human Rights Law Group, Gay McDougall; and the chief of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Bill Lucy.

Also signing were five senior members of the Congressional Black Congress; the head of one of the biggest U.S. trade unions, the Service Employees International Union; and the Washington representatives of five major national Protestant church groups.

The letter was released Wednesday and marked the continuing frustration on the part of human rights and other groups with Washington’s ambiguous policy toward the Nigerian military regime headed by Gen. Sani Abacha.

Abacha, who seized power in November 1993, has been nominated by all five legal political parties in Nigeria as their candidate in Presidential elections that are due in August. The vote was designed to cap a two-year “transition” programme to restore civilian rule. Abacha is expected to accept the nominations and run as a civilian.

The Clinton administration, like the European Union (EU) has denounced the process as a sham designed instead to perpetuate Abacha’s rule, but it has failed to make clear what, if anything, it is prepared to do if Abacha does run and wins the election.

That vagueness results from a long-standing split within the administration between forces which favour a policy of “constructive engagement” with Abacha and those which want stronger action against him.

That struggle became embarrassingly evident two months ago during a two-week trip by Clinton to Africa. Speaking at a news conference in Cape Town, South Africa, Clinton appeared to give tacit approval to Abacha’s plans to succeed himself. “If (Abacha) stands for election, we hope he will stand as a civilian,” he said.

“There are many military leaders who have taken over chaotic situations in African countries but have moved toward democracy, and this can happen in Nigeria,” he said.

Clinton’s remarks appeared to contradict those given by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan Rice just 10 days before Clinton set out for Africa. She warned in a major policy address here that “electoral victory by any military candidate in the forthcoming presidential election in Nigeria would be unacceptable.”

The policy became even more muddled after Clinton returned. His special envoy for African democracy, Rev. Jesse Jackson, publicly endorsed what he called an “aggressive, assertive engagement” with the Nigerian regime similar to that which Washington enjoys with the Chinese government. Jackson had planned to convey this message to Abacha personally, but Rice succeeded in killing his hastily-scheduled mission just hours before he was supposed to take off.

Since then, Washington, pre-occupied with other foreign crises, has remained relatively quiet. It noted that almost total boycott of Nigerian voters of elections for a national assembly at the end of last month underlined the flawed nature of the transition process.

It also protested the death sentences meted out against six senior military officers, including Abacha’s top deputy, who were accused of plotting against Abacha Apr 28. But Washington has failed to take any additional steps to show its displeasure.

Last week, human rights activists here were particularly disappointed by the State Department’s failure to comment quickly on the May 8 arrest on a prominent pro-democracy activist, Olisa Agbakoba, upon his return from a human rights conference in the United States. Agbakomba, founding president of the Civil Liberties Organisation, began a hunger strike to protest his detention and has still not be released.

Britain, the western country with the closest ties to Nigeria, also hjas been giving mixed signals. After insisting that Abacha’s election would not be accepted by the new Labour government, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook failed to follow up with new sanctions. The Clinton administration has said in the past it was reluctant to impose its own sanctions on Nigeria if London did not go along.

The administration has held out the possibility of imposing heavy sanctions against Nigeria, including an oil embargo, since Nov 1995 when the Abacha regime hanged internationally-known playwright Kenneth Saro-wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists.

The United States imports about 40 percent of Nigeria’s oil output, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the West African country’s export earnings, and a “review” launched after the executions still has not been concluded.

In addition to the African-American policy groups, the Roundtable, which sponsored the letter, includes major environmental organisations such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and the Sierra Club. Other groups include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, and the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights. The Carter Center of Atlanta, headed by former president Jimmy Carter, also participates in the Roundtable.