Nigeria, June 23 -- I have come to understand that people who consider themselves fringe elements within a particular setting do not joke with anything or anybody that guarantees them freedom. Granting them independence or autonomy releases them from a feeling of claustrophobia. It makes them believe that the time has come for them to realize their full potentials.

My first hint of this tendency came from the people of Ebonyi State in south east Nigeria. My association with some prominent people of the state reveals that they are forever grateful to General Sani Abacha for giving them a state of their own. They express this feeling of gratitude at every turn. They believe that Abacha liberated them from the big influence or dominance of ...