Washington, D.C. — On the first day of his short but tightly- packed visit to Nigeria, aside from airport ceremonies that will include receiving a key to the city of Abuja, President Clinton will engage in one-on-one talks with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo at the state house in Abuja, address a joint session of the National Assembly, and attend a state banquet where, according to a government spokesperson, all sectors of Nigeria's diverse communities will be represented.
On the second day, the President will tour what is being described as a "typical" Nigerian village although exactly where has still not been determined. It will be near Abjua however - "in the vicinity" - a state department official said. Clinton will also meet with members of Nigeria's business community. Members of the U.S. private sector in Nigeria are also expected to participate in these talks. An undetermined number of corporate executives will be flying in with President Clinton but are not a part of the "official" delegation.
Nigeria is a critical linchpin in U.S. Africa policy. In addition to being Africa's most populous nation, it supplies enough oil to fuel the entire east coast of the United States. Only repressive military rule prevented Clinton from visiting on his first trip to Africa. Now, it is Nigeria that the administration hopes to hold up as a model for democracy in Africa. Secretary of State Madeline Albright places Nigeria among the four "priority" countries to help with consolidation of democratic government.
Furthermore, the U.S. wants Nigeria to continue playing a key peacekeeping role in West African conflicts. With these concerns, from the Clinton administration's point of view, any trip to Africa now has to primarily be a trip to Nigeria.
High on everyone's agenda is debt relief, widely seen as one of the major stumbling blocks to Nigerian growth. Last week President Obasanjo complained that after paying $16 billion servicing $5 billion in debt, "We are being told that we owe $28 billion. That $28 billion came about because of the injustice in the foreign creditors interest rates." Some observers think Clinton might cancel the relatively small debt owed the U.S. and that he will also lobby for reduction of debt owed to multilaterals, although Nigeria does not fall into the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) category.
The administration is already on record as being committed to aiding Nigeria and other African nations in the recovery stolen money salted away in overseas banks.
Clearly, say most observers, Nigeria is about as high on the administration's Africa agenda as any nation from the continent has ever been. And most Nigerians seem enthused at this status - results of a poll released Monday showed almost 80 percent of Nigerians welcoming President Clinton's visit - but there are critics as well. In Washington, Monday, the Africa Fund and the Africa Policy Information Center called for immediate cancellation of Nigeria's debt and criticized administration "silence" on the repression of protestors in Niger Delta oilfields. The two groups, which are in the process of merging, also said that the $100 million economic aid package for Nigeria "pales" in comparison to the $1.3 billion recently authorized for the Latin American nation of Columbia. Human Rights Watch has weighed in with a call for President Clinton to press Nigeria on legal and constitutional reform.
Pledges of boats and other hardware to Nigeria's military is causing concern among many NGO's and human rights groups who note that Sani Abacha was also a beneficiary of U.S. military training.
The biggest questions hanging over U.S. Nigerian relations are beyond the range of two days of discussion that mainly emphasize business and trade opportunities. President Obasanjo and Nigeria's parliament are both embracing President Clinton under a flag of truce. But their ongoing battling is certain to start again once Air Force One lifts off for Tanzania. A treason trial of Biafran rebels is set to begin and nine of Nigeria's northern states have now established Sharia, Muslim law that will be applied along with civil law. Meanwhile, protest in the oil rich Niger Delta is taking an increasingly violent turn. That regional conflict and the tensions over Sharia are part of the reason for rejection of the suggestion that Mr. Clinton visit Port Harcourt in the South, and the historic city of Kano in the North.
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Another complex situation confronts Mr. Clinton across the continent in Arusha, Tanzania, where he will journey at the invitation of Nelson Mandela. The former South African President, who is mediating the Burundi conflict there, had set an August 28 deadline for completion of a settlement.
President Clinton was invited to witness the signing ceremony. But a completed settlement is nowhere in sight with 19 different parties still wrangling over the terms of a two-year transition. Clinton is likely to witness signatures being placed on what has been agreed to. Says Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Susan Rice: "The progress that President Mandela has made over less than a year in bringing parties together is quite impressive. But there is no doubt that very difficult issues remain."
