Word: obasanjo
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...speech delivered on Oct. 30 at the Kennedy School of Government, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria described the path that led to his country's descent into an abyss of mass poverty and political tyranny that were nurtured by a sequence of treacherous military dictatorships. The democratically elected ex-military dictator also outlined his government's reform plans to rebuild the nation's international image by fighting corruption, mandating equal rights for all 70-plus ethnic groups, affirmative action programs for women and, perhaps, do a tiny bit for the environment in the troubled Niger Delta region...
...Obasanjo told the audience that the biggest problem facing Nigeria, and many other African countries, is an overwhelming international debt burden...
Such debt is keeping Nigeria from being able to invest in its own infrastructure, Obasanjo stated...
...morning's loudest and longest applause came when Jeffrey D. Sachs, the director of the Harvard Center for International Development, told Obasanjo and the audience that his center is fighting to get developing countries' debt forgiven...
...closing, Obasanjo challenged the audience to join him in his fight to improve the quality of life in Africa...