By Pip Hunter
The two-month-long strike which has crippled Nigeria's already weak economy was called off by unions earlier this month in response to the worsening crackdown by the country's military regime. They managed to slow Nigeria's oil-dependent economy and severely disrupt transportation.
Unions and civil rights organisations have been demanding that General Sani Abacha step down in favour of Moshood Abiola who, despite having won last year's presidential elections, has been prevented from taking office.
The Clinton administration and other Western leaders are becoming increasingly uneasy at the civil unrest caused by Abacha's refusal to hand over power. They want Abiola to take over the government, secure in the knowledge that this multimillionaire publishing magnate would not threaten the stranglehold transnational capital has over Nigeria's oil-rich economy. Ninety per cent of the country's income is derived from the sale of oil and natural gas.
The strike, led by the 150,000-strong National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the white collar Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASAN), was aimed primarily at forcing the regime to release all political prisoners, including Abiola, who was imprisoned on June 23.
At the time, General Abacha also announced that the military was convening a "constitutional conference" to prepare for a transition to civilian rule. Since then, however, the regime has banned three newspapers, ordered the arrest of democratic and civil rights leaders and activists, sacked the directors of all government agencies and companies and, most recently, decreed itself absolute power and suspended the courts.
Since independence from Britain in 1960, a succession of military regimes has ruled the country for all but 10 years. Despite being rich in oil (the Anglo-Dutch company Shell dominates oil exploration in the country) Nigeria, one of the more developed African nations, is now showing the signs of years of corrupt administrations and an economy which has been more geared to the demands of multinational corporations rather than internal development.
Less than half of Nigeria's population of nearly 100 million has access to safe water. The average per capita income in 1993 was US$250 a year, compared to $1000 a decade ago.
The anti-military and pro-democracy movement which traditionally has been led by human rights and civil liberties organisations, this time was led by the two most strategically powerful unions. The Nigerian Labour Congress, the union umbrella organisation which was set up in 1978 by the military after the abolition of all other trade unions, has played a despicable role in the action. Just two days after announcing a general strike on August 2, the NLC called it off and urged NUPENG and PENGASAN to do the same.
Moshood Abiola, the man at the centre of the strife, is currently on trial for treason. Latest reports indicate that following its declaration of absolute power the regime has had trouble finding a judge to preside over the case! Abiola is a Muslim from the Christian-dominated south. In the June 1993 elections, in which he won 58% of the vote, he was widely seen as the candidate that could unify Nigeria's largely Muslim north with the south.
Abiola was the candidate for the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which was set up at the same time as the National Republican Convention (NRC) by the military regime which preceded Abacha's. Both parties' candidates had strong ties to the military and were also senior members of the former party of the ruling class, the National Party of Nigeria.
Only those two parties were allowed to run, and their constitutions and manifestos were drawn up by the regime. According to the Africa Report, both parties imposed levies of US$20,000-25,000 on aspirants wanting to register as candidates. This narrowed the field from 60 to 20.
For decades, the military has dominated economic and political life. But pressure from Western powers, the newly emerging capitalist class and organised working class seems finally to be forcing the military to step out of the limelight.
While Western governments are eager to install a strong civilian government which they can trust to maintain their interests (and Abiola, it seemed, was a perfect candidate), the pro-democracy movement is clear that this step would only signal the beginning of a much longer struggle.
In an interview, Glory Kilanko, the former chair of the Nigerian Labour Congress women's section, the National Coordinating Secretary of the socialist feminist group Women in Nigeria and a leading member of the newly formed Democratic Alternative, told International Viewpoint that the movement was calling for an interim national government comprising Abiola and others.
"This government would lead towards a multi-party elections and the enduring democracy which people yearn for ... Those of us in the Democratic Alternative are building a political movement ... We are fed up of imperialism dictating to us what our lives and futures should be."