Big men, big fraud and big trouble

摘要

Ever since Sani Abacha expired in the arms of two Indian prostitutes, possibly from an overdose of Viagra, in 1998, Nigerians supposed that their worst days were behind them. The "coup from heaven", as Abacha's death was called, seemed to release the country from three decades of increasingly ruinous military dictatorships that had brought Nigeria diplomatic isolation and economic collapse. In 1999, the country made a fresh start with a new elected civilian administration led by Olusegun Obasanjo, the outgoing president. He has been lauded in the West for his economic reforms and his drive against corruption.