Gambia-L:
The posting below is from a source. It is Rep Ford's Organisation.
Ebrima
_____________________________________________________________________
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Action item on World Conference of Mayors in Nigeria (2)
>Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001
>
>Action item on World Conference of Mayors in Nigeria
>Dear Ebrima,
>If the World Conference of Mayors can convene in Abuja under Abacha, going
>to Yahya Jammeh's Banjul could be a walk in the park. Some of Rep. Johnny
>Ford's colleagues such as the former Africa-American lady Senetor from
>Illinois lost their seats because of their association with Abacha. Year
>2001 is not 1997 but to these World Mayors, they may still think that
>business is as usual. I hope not.
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>Action item on World Conference of Mayors in Nigeria
>
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>
> a.. To: [log in to unmask]
> b.. Subject: Action item on World Conference of Mayors in Nigeria
> c.. From: Kishi Animashaun <[log in to unmask]>
> d.. Date: Wed, 01 Apr 1998 16:57:11 -0500
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>A few months ago, Stephen Mills from Sierra Club posted material about the
>US Representatives present at the World Conference of Mayors in Nigeria. I
>thought it would be a good idea to re-send this article and provide a form
>“letter to the Editor” that could be issued in cities where those
>representatives hold offices. If you live in one of the voting districts, I
>strongly encourage you to write to your local paper and push for the
>publication of the letter to the Editor. It is just one more way to
>highlight the abuses in Nigeria and reach others who do not know who Ken
>Saro-Wiwa is and just what they support when they pay for Shell gasoline.
>On February 12, 1998, Stephen Mills wrote:
>
> Do You Know Where Your Mayor Is?
> Sierra Club Examines Nigerian Junket
>
> In mid-November of 1997 mayors from U.S. cities small and large quietly
>set
> off on an expense-paid trip to the African country of Nigeria. Their
>host?
> Why none other than the continent's most notorious human rights abuser
>(and
> executor of environmentalists) Gen. Sani Abacha.
>
> Traveling ostensibly to attend the annual meeting of the World Conference
>of
> Mayors (WCM), the most apparent product of the gathering was its implicit
> endorsement of an illegal regime. Abacha gave the keynote address.
>
> Few elected officials bothered to inform their citizenry of their
> destination. Indeed, even the list of attendees appears to have been a
> closely guarded secret. Until now.
>
> The Sierra Club has obtained a copy of the conference agenda and a list
>of
> speakers which reveals for the first time the names of some of the
> participating elected officials. When interviewed, WCM Founder Johnny
>Ford
> estimated the U.S. delegation number at nearly 100, but refused to
>release a
> complete list of U.S. attendees.
>
> Questions have been raised about this most recent gathering of the WCM
>are
> not so much because of the conference itself, an annual event to bolster
> trade and tourism, but because of this year's principle funder and host.
> Nigeria is run by one of the world's most brutal military dictatorships.
> Nigerian General Sani Abacha's closets allies are Saddam Hussein and
>Mu'ammar
> Qadhafi. The U.S. Department of State in its Jan. 1998 Annual Country
>Report
> on Human Rights Practices called the military government's human rights
> record "dismal". Abacha's government, the report said, "relied regularly
>on
> arbitrary detention and harassment to silence its most outspoken
>critics."
> Nigerian drug trafficking organizations, according to the State
>Department,
> are among the leading carriers of Asian heroin into the U.S.
>
> Nigeria is indeed a strange site for U.S. mayors to attend a meeting,
> especially following the resolution passed by the U.S. Conference of
>Mayors
> only a few months prior which recognized Nigeria's "serious human rights
> abuses" and supported U.S. economic sanctions against the African
>country.
>
> So why then would U.S. mayors so eagerly volunteer to give cover to such
>a
> despicable regime? To build trade, tourism and technology transfer
>perhaps,
> but it was after all a free trip to Africa. The U.S. Conference of
>Mayors in
> its resolution said that it "welcomes the actions by U.S. cities in
>support
> of democracy in Nigeria." Will the mayors and city council
>representatives
> who went to Nigeria now be less likely to support such action in their
>own
> cities? Only time will tell.
>
> The Sierra Club is not a human rights organization, but it is concerned
>for
> the welfare of environmentalists abroad. The Club's Human Rights and the
> Environment Campaign seeks to defend environmental defenders worldwide.
>One
> of the ways of doing that is to expose those countries which allow the
> persecution of environmentalists. Like Nigeria. In 1995, Abacha's
>military
> tribunal executed noted writer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa for
>what
> Sierra Club believes was his vocal campaign against the pollution in his
> community caused by Royal/Dutch Shell. In Nigeria, oil is 80 percent of
> government revenues -- most of this produced by Shell. Saro-Wiwa's
>campaign
> threatened the country's very lifeblood.
>
> So here's the list of some of the U.S. participants. Let's hope they
>value
> human rights and environmental protection as much as collecting mileage
>on
> British Airways.
>
> Hon. Gary Loster (Conference Chairman), Saginaw, MI;Rep. Johnny Ford (WCM
> Founder), Tuskegee, AL; Hon. William Jefferson (Member of U.S. Congress,
> (D-02LA); Hon. Gordon Bush, East St. Louis, MO; Hon. Marion Barry,
> Washington, DC; Hon. Elizabeth Butler, Lizman, AL; Hon. Don Juan
>Williams,
> Glenarden, MD; Hon. Omar Bradley, Compton, CA; Hon. Julius Patrick,
>Boyce,
> LA; Hon. Susan Farley Upton, Urbancrest, OH; Hon. Kennard Whitfield,
> Rockhill, MO; Hon. Sondra Ursery, Vandalia, MI; Hon. Rosemary Gilliam,
> Cassopolis, MI; Hon. Christopher Bazuaye, Birmingham, AL; Hon. Riley
>Owens,
> Centerville, IL; Hon. Clinton Johnson, City Council President, Mobile,
>AL;
> Hon. Fred Richardson, Councilman, Mobile, AL; Hon. Jim Montgomery,
> Councilman, Anniston, AL.
>
> For more information, visit the Sierra Club website at
> http://www.sierraclub.org/human-rights/nigeria.html, or e-mail
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>________________________________________________________________
>Here’s a suggested format for the Letter to the Editor. Feel free to edit
>as you choose. You may want highlight other misdeeds of the particular
>official.
>________________________________________________________________
>
>
>From November 16-20 1997, our representative XXXX XXXXX attended the World
>Conference of Mayors Annual Conference. While the efforts of the WCM may be
>well intentioned, the host country was Nigeria, home of the brutal
>dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. XX’s presence lends creditability to
>a notorious regime whose civil rights record the United States Department
>of State calls, “abysmal.”
>
>Abacha seized power in 1993, annulling democratic elections held in June of
>that year, and imprisoning the victor, Moshood Abiola. The State Department
>Report on Nigeria outlined other violations of human rights including
>arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killing, and violent military repression
>of outspoken Nigerians: students, labor leaders, journalists and
>pro-democracy activists. In fact, Amnesty International reports that over
>7,000 person have been illegally detained. Pope John Paul called for the
>release of several political prisoners during his visit to Nigeria in
>March. US Conference of Mayors passed a resolution criticizing Nigeria’s
>human rights abuses and supporting American economic sanctions against
>Africa’s most populous country.
>
>
>Nigeria received widespread condemnation from the international community
>after the government sanctioned execution of environmental and writer Ken
>Saro Wiwa and eight other members of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni
>People (MOSOP) in 1995. MOSOP was successful in highlighting the
>exploitation of their native land by Shell Oil.
>
>With this level of callousness and disregard for its citizens, it is
>disturbing that Ms./Mr. XXXX would attend the Conference of Mayors in
>Nigeria. The Abacha regime uses such events to bolster legitimacy, as it
>tries to show it is not isolated on the world stage. Abacha himself was
>the keynote speaker at the World Conference of Mayors gathering.
>
>The trip to Nigeria last November was not publicized by XX’s office, nor
>the WCM. XX’s actions reflect a disregard for the general sentiment of
>(state the district/city) citizens. The people of (state the
>district/city) deserve accountability and the Abacha should get the cold
>shoulder. Not the other way around.
>________________________________________________________
>
>That’s all for now. Keep the listserve informed of the developments. Good
>Luck!
>
>
>Kishi Animashaun
>Project Coordinator
>Boycott Shell/Free Nigeria Campaign
>a project of Essential Action
>
>
>
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