Nigeria, Feb. 17 -- "The judiciary.. has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment." - Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, No. 78.

In January 1983, a suspicious fire incident did considerable damage to NECOM House, the high-rise building in Lagos that housed the headquarters of the country's telecommunications monopoly, then known as the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL). Alhaji Shehu Shagari was in power as elected civilian president. The belief was widespread that the fire was the handiwork of "senior officials in the building (who) had...