Ex-general leads fight against Nigerian junta

A FORMER general and Chief of the Defence Staff is an unlikely leader of the campaign to get the troops out of Nigerian politics but Lieutenant-General Alani Akinrade, Sandhurst and Camberley trained, is the most senior military figure to take a stand against military rule in Nigeria and is now a leading spokesman for the democracy movement.

His stand has forced him into exile. After being detained and suffering considerable harassment, General Akinrade, 54, fled to Britain 10 days ago to continue the struggle to remove General Sanni Abacha from power and secure the recognition of Chief Moshood Abiola as President.

'Abacha has no arguments, all he can use is brutal force' said General Akinrade. 'He is not a problem solver, he can't make any proposals which people can work on. The only way is to have democracy in any ragged shape or form and make something of it.'

Nigeria is in its worst crisis. The economy is in a steep downward spiral. The oil workers' strike is over but it cost the country millions of pounds. A recent 400 per cent increase in petrol prices imposed, then reduced, by the government, will push many more below the poverty line. General Abacha who seized power last November, imprisons critics and has even removed the passport of Wole Soyinka, Nigeria's Nobel Prize winning writer.

Chief Abiola, the man widely regarded as the winner of last year's presidential election, is in prison and, according to some, he is seriously ill. His trial for treason has been postponed indefinitely. As his health and predicament have worsened his courage and political importance have grown. More influential Nigerians are now coming out in support of his presidency.

But despite promises to restore civilian rule, General Abacha has strengthened his grip on power and crushed the oil workers, the vanguard of the democratic movement who were striking in favour of democracy. There is a sense that things will get worse. Nigerians ask if their country will soon look like Rwanda. 'The defeat of the oil strike is a Pyrrhic victory,' said General Akinrade. 'It can't last. A level of misery is beginning to build up and we could be witnessing the beginnings of an explosion. There is a very great danger of Nigeria balkanising. It will be very, very messy and if it breaks up I don't know how many pieces Nigeria would become. There are no clear geographical boundaries outside the south east and a great many disputed areas.'

The National Democratic Alliance (Nadeco) was founded in April as an umbrella organisation for Nigeria's many democratic movements. General Akinrade was a founder member. He and many other members are Yoruba people like Chief Abiola but they point to several prominent non-Yorubas who did not vote for Chief Abiola in the election but are taking a stand for democracy with Nadeco.

Although he served briefly in General Ibrahim Babangida's military government, General Akinrade says he has always opposed any kind of military intervention in politics. 'There is an idea that the best way for the black man to be governed is to have a man issuing decrees every morning,' he said. 'But we are the same as everyone else. We need freedom and accountable government through democracy and the military men need to be told there is a limit to their power . . . you can't hold Nigeria down with soldiers.'

His outspokenness led to his arrest by the secret police on 19 August. With him was Anthony Enahoro, one of Nigeria's most revered politicians, now more than 70 years old. He is still detained. General Akinrade was released but rearrested and detained two days later at his home, which was ransacked by the security men. After that he decided to leave by a route he prefers to keep secret. One of his first acts on arriving in Britain was to join a Nadeco delegation to ask the Foreign Office to impose a boycott of Nigerian oil. The Foreign Office officials ruled out the proposal without discussion.

(Photograph omitted)