Nigeria the hero?

I know this may seem a bit behind the times, but I've been thinking about Liberia and the Nigerian military coming to save the day. I thought at the time, and I am still confused, about the role of Nigeria in the region, and in their sending troops to end the siege in Liberia.

Nigeria is hardly a model state. A quick look at Human Rights Watch - Nigeria makes that pretty clear. You may remember the Miss World riots that left 250 dead when violence between Muslims and Christians occurred. When the police did intervene, they contributed to the chaos rather than resolving it. In fact, the Nigerian police have made the headlines more than once for their brutality and human rights abuses. The Nigerian government itself is known for its human rights abuses. It is hardly a democratic country as intimidating violence has been the norm in recent elections.

Given this, one might wonder why both the US and the UK have pretty much looked the other way with Nigeria. Could it be the oil interests there (ChevronTexaco, Royal Dutch/Shell and TotalFinalElf), which in and of themselves have been the focus of violence?

Over $12 billion in oil is pumped out every year, and most of it goes to the U.S. But instead of lifting living standards, nearly 30% of Nigeria's national income now goes to service a foreign debt of over $30 billion, under a structural adjustment program mandated by the International Monetary Fund. (OIL RULES NIGERIA Damu and Bacon, Third World Traveler, 5/8/02)

In fact, the Drilling and Killing (Goodman & Scahill, The Nation, 11/16/1998) goes way back. Conflicts over the oil, pipeline explosions killing hundreds, arrest and execution of union leaders, all these are part of an ongoing saga in Nigeria.

But back to Taylor and Nigeria. While the Bush II administration painted Taylor as evil, the relationship between the US and Taylor has largely been a supportive one. Taylor was educated in the US (Bentley College, Mass.), and was supported in one way or another by the US presidents - as have virtually all leaders of Liberia. Taylor attempted a revolt to overthrow Doe and failed, but it started a civil war which killed somewhere between 150,00 and 200,000 Liberians. He utilized child soldiers in his forces. He dealt ruthlessly with contenders. However he was an "avowed capitalist" (which surely endeared him to Washington (Analysis: A look at Liberian President Charles Taylor, Hoffman, Naples Daily News, 7/12/03).

Nigeria offered Taylor asylum to leave Liberia. In fact, they offered to put him up in style (Nigeria prepares palatial mansion for Taylor's asylum stay - AFP 8/9/03). Asylum was offered and accepted even though Taylor is indicted for war crimes by the international court in Sierre Leone.

The indictment made public by the Special Court for Sierra Leone on 4 June 2003 (read more at http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maablbzaaZMnVbb0hPub/ ) accuses Charles Taylor of being among those who bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity during Sierra Leone's internal armed conflict. These crimes include widespread and systematic killings of civilians, deliberate amputation of limbs, rape and other forms of sexual violence, the use of child soldiers, abduction and forced labour.

International law requires that those who are suspected of having committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and other breaches of international law be investigated and, if there is sufficient admissible evidence, prosecuted.

"Each state which is a party to the Geneva Conventions - as is Nigeria - is under an obligation to bring to justice in its own courts those who have committed or ordered grave breaches of the Conventions, to extradite them to another country willing and able to do so or transfer them to an international criminal court," the organization said. (Nigeria: No impunity for Charles Taylor Amnesty International, 8/13/03)

I don't understand asylum, and I don't understand Nigeria's role in both aiding Taylor to power, giving him asylum, nor sending a "peacekeeping" force into Liberia. Nigeria itself needs a "peacekeeping" force. What is clear is that all is not as it seems and the oil and port issues are most likely prevailing over humanitarian concerns. Further, given Taylor's history of recruiting, revolution (and apparent economic resources), it seems likely he will be back on the scene in the near future.

Posted by rowan at August 29, 2003 7:52 AM | TrackBack | [eMail this article!] |