If natural resources were the key to national wealth, Africa would have no difficulties. But how many natural resources a country has does not determine its wealth. Were that so, Russia would have the world's strongest economy, and Japan would be at the undeveloped stage. Capital is the key to national wealth just as it is the key to instituting a democratic order. Consider the oil rich state of Nigeria. An OPEC member and a major oil producer whose political turmoil can cause significant shifts in the price of oil, Nigeria has tremendous investment potential. The country needs nothing more than an influx of capital to improve its rate of development and enable it to compete fairly with oil-producing Arab states and former Soviet republics. But no capital enters Nigeria. Why? Are financiers simply preoccupied with opportunities elsewhere? Did the ubiquitous flaws in Nigeria's governing authoritarian military junta discourage progress? Is it the AIDS/HIV epidemic that plagues Nigeria, or is it the complexities of the many layers of rival ethnic groups that discourage capital inflows?
Since decolonization, Nigeria has had a troubled history. Repeated attempts to establish democratic capitalism were thwarted by the military which itself scheduled elections on several occasions only to cast aside the results when its candidates lost. In July 1993 the junta led by General Babangida held elections and nullified the results. The Council for Democratic Control (CDC) protested the decision and held several day-long general strikes in the commercial capital Lagos. The government response condemned the CDC activities as "undemocratic" and reiterated that the junta would not surrender its monopoly hold on power.
Another round of elections were held in June 1994. The winner Chief Mashud Abiollah refused to vanish into the political woodwork after his "defeat". The junta, then led by General Abachar, jailed Chief Abiollah and conducted an inquiry into possible rivals to authority within the government. Outraged by Chief Abiollah's treatment and supported by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the CDC organized oil refinery workers in the Agoniland province to hold a three month long strike that caused oil prices to rise by more than forty-two cents on the barrel. As its leaders promised, the strike lasted until Chief Abiollah's trial ended. Chief Abiollah was condemned to serve a reduced sentence for treason. The reduced sentence satisfied neither the ILO nor the CDC, but they acknowledged that the government had acquiesced as much as was reasonably possible to rid the economy of gridlock.
