Word: babangida
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...litter the floor, presumably from a search for cash or documents. But most of the former First Family's belongings are still here: CDs of Beethoven and the sound track of the film Moonstruck, sterling-silver tea settings, an embroidered cushion presented by another former dictator, Nigeria's Ibrahim Babangida. Greetings from Pope John Paul II and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, among others, are proudly displayed on shelves. In a teenager's room upstairs, the scent of spilled perfume mingles with the stench of decaying flesh that still pervades most corners of the dying city...
Less than a week after Nigerian strongman General Ibrahim Babangida stepped down, the country's powerful labor unions called a five-day general strike to protest the new civilian government of Ernest Shonekan, whom many see simply as Babangida's surrogate and pawn. Deepening the crisis, five of the country's 30 state governors have vowed not to recognize Shonekan...
...many Nigerians what is really at stake is not whether Abiola takes office, but whether they will ever have a country they can be proud of. Democracy advocates detest Babangida and the other soldiers -- who have ruled the country for 23 of its 33 years of independence -- for diminishing the Nigerian soul. Endemic corruption; the narrowing opportunities in the country that once held out so much promise; the exploitation of bitter rivalries among the three largest ethnic groups, the Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa-Fulani -- all have sapped the nation's resources, its cohesion, its confidence. Instead of building a nation...
Still, pro-democracy leaders believe that international pressure combined with massive passive resistance in Lagos will force Babangida from power. They have warned their followers to keep off the streets so that soldiers will not have an excuse to shoot...
...long as he remains in command of the only sources of wealth in the country, Babangida will not be easily dislodged. Already some thoughtful Nigerians have suggested that the interim government, though a sham, should be given a chance to solve the country's manifold problems; to do otherwise would risk more bloodshed. Yet such a prudent course may only delay the day of reckoning, when Nigerians who dream of democracy will have to risk their lives to make it come true...