INSIDE AFRICA Gen. Abacha is right to intervene in Sierra Leone... by Prof. Chris Ulasi Summary of Opinion: Nigeria is in a position to prosecute the OAU mandate on Sierra Leone. Already, through military strength and diplomacy, Nigeria's military goverment is working (with measured success) to resolve the political crisis. On May 25 a military coup ousted the democratically elected government of Sierra Leone President Ahmed Tajeh Kabbah. The coup received international condemnation and prompted the Organization of African Unity, OAU, for the first time, to give 16-member Nigerian-led Economic Community for West African States the power to "take the most effective measures" to remove coup leader Maj. Johnny Koroma's military junta. "We are getting tougher and tougher each time. There's a new attitude to coups and illegal governments," proclaimed President Robert Mugabe, chairman of the OAU. "Future coups will have it the hard way. They won't be entertained." Mugabe himself is a hero of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle for independence. Do you think the OAU under his leadership has something to prove to potential coup-plotters waiting to spring their ill-motivated and perilous brand of leadership on their fellow countrymen and women? You guess is as good as any. We will need more evidence that African leaders, having finally resolved to take charge of their continental affairs, have come close to putting an end to the culture of coup d'etat. Nonetheless, it would be a mistake to conclude that Mugabe's threat that "Future coup will have the hard way" has no consequence. At least, one regional association (Economic Community for West African states) has been active --policing the peace process in Liberia, protecting lives and property, struggling against scarce resources. With the OAU's green light maximally illuminated, it appears Nigeria is hoping to demonstrate concrete leadership which has been lacking in the region thus far, but this a big gamble. The problem facing president Sani Abacha is how to present a purely tactical decision as one taken for the country's good. He has two options here. Justify it as necessary to: prevent the crisis from spilling into further throughout the region; argue that it strengthens his hand in Africa's political permutations. But why would a restoration of democracy in Sierra Leone --the best outcome he could hope for -- provide him with a better Nigeria mandate? Although he is yet to reveal his political plan, but the gamble may turn out a failure, or worse disastrous --lost lives, millions gone to prosecute the military campaign and is thus no good for presidential ambition. For Nigeria, the risks are high, and can only get higher. If president Abacha misfires, not just him, but Nigeria will lose greatly. Nigeria's intervention is also reasonable by the fact that one out of every five African is a Nigerian. It is a country whose economic power dominates the West Africa region and a force to reckon with. As a major regional player, we know that Nigeria's influence is growing and getting stronger by the day. Nigeria made a lot of waves at the recently concluded summit meeting of the OAU in Harare, Zimbabwe (despite lingering political crisis at home) to indicate they were holding all the cards. Are they to be believed? The OAU certainly thinks so. Ulasi, Executive Editor of USAfrica The Newspaper, is professor of communications at the Texas Southern University. Back to: Inside Africa Index or, USAfrica Homepage