1993, a pivotal year for Nigeria, is in some ways still very much present. That year, a long-promised transition from military to civilian rule was blocked. Presidential elections organized by the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida were annulled, and by year's end a new military regime, that of General Sani Abacha, was in place. The apparent winner of the June 1993 elections, businessman M.K.O. Abiola, was jailed in 1994, and remained in captivity until his death in 1998, only two weeks after the death of Abacha. The deaths of Abacha and Abiola, both of which occurred in mysterious circumstances, sparked a period of political turbulence that ultimately birthed Nigeria's Fourth Republic in 1999.

The names of Abacha and Abiola are back in the news this week. The Lagos State High Court recently passed a death sentence against a close aide of Abacha's, Major Hamza al-Mustapha, whom the Court[...]

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