Word: moshood
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Thanks for your accurate portrait of Nigeria's political tragedy [WORLD, July 20]. We should observe a moment of silence for both General Sani Abacha and Chief Moshood Abiola, for they were my fellow Nigerians. The 18th century English writer Alexander Pope wrote, "For forms of government, let fools contest; whate'er is best administer'd is the best..." The fault lies not so much in Nigeria's form of government as in our selfish nature as Nigerians. ANTHONY A. AIYA-OBA Boston...
General Abdulsalam Abubakar's nine-month timetable for a transition to military rule is good news for both the country's military rulers and their civilian opposition. "The sudden death of both General Sani Abacha and Moshood Abiola left all sides in disarray," says TIME reporter Clive Mutiso. "It turned the military's planned election -- in which Abacha was the only candidate -- into a referendum over whether a dead man should rule the country. But it also left the opposition without a clear alternative...
Only in a country that has been as thoroughly brutalized by its rapacious leaders as Nigeria could a shady character like Moshood Abiola be transmuted into a symbol of frustrated democracy. By the time of his mysterious death in the new capital city of Abuja last week, he had been elevated into something he never was, the figurehead of the political freedom Nigeria never had. No matter that for years Abiola was thick as thieves with the military strongmen who were stealing millions from their country; no matter that he pocketed money from sweetheart deals he had cut with...
...group of political prisoners and promises to free the rest. There is enormous pressure on the military to relinquish its grip so that new elections can be held before the end of the year. And, of course, miracles do happen. Nigerians need look no further than the transformation of Moshood Abiola from a fixer into their country's new symbol of democracy for indisputable proof of that...
...Moshood Abiola's death has caused more problems for his military jailers than any it might have solved. As if to underline the point, there were riots across southern Nigeria Wednesday and Thursday, in which 45 people were reported killed, and General Abdulsalam Abubakar dissolved his cabinet. "The military needs to arbitrate Nigeria's massive tribal and regional tensions by promoting national unity," says TIME reporter Clive Mutiso. "They desperately needed Abiola to renounce his immediate claim on the presidency, but also to start talking national unity and endorsing new elections...