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Change Your Life! |
Clinton wants democracy in oil-rich, poor Nigeria |
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August 28, 2000
ABUJA (AP) - Calling Nigeria "a pivot point on which all Africa's future turns," U.S. President Bill Clinton appealed to the leaders of this oil-rich nation to set aside political acrimony so that their citizens can lift themselves from poverty and isolation. Standing in the cavernous National Assembly chamber before a wood-paneled wall with gold letters reading "Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress," Clinton on Saturday praised President Olusegun Obasanjo's leadership in stabilizing Nigeria, and told lawmakers they must develop a better working relationship with Obasanjo if their nation is to surmount "the wrongs and errors of the past." After Nigeria's dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, died suddenly last year, Obasanjo won office and led to a quick turn toward democracy. One of Clinton's purposes in coming was to encourage democracy to take root here in Africa's most populous nation. "The struggle to build democracy depends also on you, on legislators who will be both a check on, and a balance to, executive authority," Clinton said. "Democracy depends upon a political culture that welcomes spirited debate without letting politics become a blood sport." The lawmakers, clad in agbada - silky traditional robes of various colors - seemed to take Clinton's words as a message for Obasanjo, who they say has treated them harshly. They gave Clinton a rousing ovation, then spent the remainder of Clinton's speech either applauding, nodding approvingly or listening intently. "Our president needs to learn from your president," National Assembly member Yahaya Baure Shu'aib said afterward. Another lawmaker, Saibu Hassan, said he feels Obasanjo "doesn't respect us" and was glad that Clinton raised the issue. "I know that decades of misrule and deprivation have made your religious and ethnic divisions deeper," Clinton said. "But that is no reason to let the idea of one united Nigeria slip away. ... The world needs Nigeria to succeed." Saturday's meetings opened Clinton's three-day return to Africa. On Sunday, he plans to visit a village outside of Abuja and address a women's development center before departing for Tanzania, where he will meet Monday with Nelson Mandela, who is trying to broker peace in Burundi.
Clinton and Obasanjo spent much of Saturday together, from an arrival ceremony at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport through their meetings at the presidential villa here and a brief news conference afterward. Later, at a state dinner, Obasanjo gave a lengthy toast welcoming Clinton, his daughter Chelsea and a large U.S. delegation. He called Clinton, "my friend, a friend of Africa and, indeed, the acknowledged friend of people of African descent, wherever they might be." Clinton, in his toast to Obasanjo, assured Nigeria that it would not face its difficulties alone. "The United States will stand by a nation, any nation, and especially Nigeria, that faces its responsibility as bravely as the people of this nation have in the last few years," he said. "From now on the fates of Nigeria and the United States, economic and otherwise, are tied together." The two leaders signed a joint declaration expressing general agreement on alleviating Nigeria's debt burden, and talked at length about unrest in Liberia and Sierra Leone. They discussed ways to step up United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Sierra Leone while dealing with arms trafficking and diamond smuggling through Liberia, said Susan Rice, assistant secretary of state for African affairs. On his return trip to Washington, Clinton plans to stop in Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He told reporters Saturday that he did not have hopes the meeting would yield a Mideast breakthrough, but was meeting Mubarak because it is "inconceivable" to pursue peace in the region without Mubarak's support. Clinton said he bypassed Nigeria during his initial 1998 tour because it was under Abacha's autocratic rule, but always hoped to return as president and "visit a Nigeria worthy of its people's dreams." He said Nigeria is progressing toward that goal, calling its current government "the most important democratic transition in Africa since the fall of apartheid." At the same time, Clinton deplored ethnic and religious divisions so severe in this nation of 123 million people that he could not venture far beyond the capital city without risking offending unvisited communities. While in Nigeria, Clinton plans to announce additional assistance for primary schools and disease prevention, fattening an aid package that has grown from dlrs 7 million to dlrs 108 million in two years. A dlrs 4.3 million aid package is designed to support Nigeria's transition from a military dictatorship to a democracy, U.S. officials said. |
