Violence Mars Nigerian Strikes

CNN ^ | 7/3/03

[William McKinley]

ABUJA, Nigeria -- Violence-marred strikes over rising fuel prices in Nigeria entered a fourth day Thursday after talks between union leaders and government officials ended without agreement.

Strikers have vowed to extend the work stoppages even as police threatened to intensify their crackdown on protesters.

[William McKinley]

Also posted here

This is a strange situation. The NLC is, like most union organizations, on the left. In the words of their current President, they are "progressives seeking change and Social Democracy". However, they have stated that the party they support will not be communist. In the most recent Nigerian Presidential elections, they supported the results that Obasanjo had won re-election, rejecting the agitation of anarchist / radical muslim challenger Muhammadu Buhari. And they support privatization of much of the Nigerian economy.

Does this general strike signal a change in tactics by the NLC and its leader Adams Oshiomhole? A quick review of the recent news indicates that the strike is being more than welcomed by Buhari, and if the NLC has changed sides, then this is extremely bad news.

The Daily Times of Nigeria reports:

Those of us who interpreted Buhari’s tantrums as the cheap antics and mere ranting of a typical defeated Nigerian politician (incurable bad loser syndrome) actually underestimated the seriousness of the situation. We did not realize the danger that this unrepentant dictator posed to Nigeria’s democratic process. From recent indications and with the benefit of hindsight, one can say with some assurance that Buhari did not really contest the Presidential elections to win but to muddy the political waters and cause confusion. He did not contest because he had faith in democracy or Nigeria’s fledgling constitutional political process ...

First, Buhari’s democratic credentials or lack of it were such that he would not have won any free and fair general elections in Nigeria. As a notorious religious fundamentalist, regional irredentist and sectional champion, it would have been a miracle if he had performed better than he did. A sectarian leader could not by any stretch of imagination be expected to secure the nationwide acceptance required to be the leader of a heterogeneous country like Nigeria.

Secondly, Buhari did not campaign in several parts of the country. He was so lackadaisical and perfunctory in his few outings that only few political watchers could have taken him seriously.

Thirdly, after losing the election, as he should have expected if he was realistic and honest to himself, he rejected the result of the elections. He criticized the entire process, his fellow participants, the umpires, everyone and everything but himself. He refused to go to the Election Petition Tribunal as demanded by the Electoral Act.

He mobilised other political parties who lost elections to gang up against the ruling PDP. He was not long before he lost the support of most credible members of his own party who now largely see him as a misguided missile and political nuisance.

Perhaps sobered by the international endorsement of the Presidential election results and the local nationwide acceptability of both the process and the results, most forward-looking politicians started distancing themselves from General Buhari, who is looking more and more like an anarchist.