WASHINGTON, 4 December 2004 — Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said Thursday he is unconvinced about a determination by the US government that “genocide” is being inflicted on Darfur’s indigenous black African population.
Asked in an interview with CNN if he agreed with the call by the administration of US President George W. Bush, Obasanjo replied: “Now, what I know of Sudan it does not fit in all respects to that definition.”
“The government of Sudan can be condemned, but it’s not as ... genocide,” Obasanjo said, hours after meeting President Bush at the White House.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has lamented that other nations have not joined the United States in declaring that genocide is under way in Sudan’s troubled western region of Darfur.
Powell, who made the genocide determination on Sept. 9, has said Washington’s assessment was based on carefully documented information.
The US Congress has also used the term in describing the Darfur humanitarian crisis that has provoked headlines around the world.
The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003, when rebels rose up to demand an end to the marginalization of their region by Khartoum as well as a bigger share of Sudan’s riches. The United Nations has described the conflict as the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.
More than 70,000 people have been killed or have died from hunger and disease in the area, according to the United Nations, and another 1.5 million have been displaced.
Obasanjo said he agreed with Bush that there is an acute problem in the region that needs to be addressed, but added that “the real issue of Darfur is governance.”
“It is a political problem which has mushroomed into a military (one) when the rebels took up arms,” the Nigerian leader said.
Meanwhile, elections in three local government areas in the volatile Nigerian city of Warri went into a second day yesterday, due to late arrival of electoral materials, officials said.
“Elections actually took place in some areas while they were delayed because of late arrival of voting materials in others. We then decided to allow voting to continue today in the affected areas,” spokesman for Delta State Electoral Commission Tony Tebekaemi said.
He said voting was peaceful and smooth in the areas it took place on Thursday. “There were no hitches at all.” Tebekaemi said voting materials and electoral officials have been dispatched to the affected areas, adding: “So far so good, turnout has been impressive.”
Warri residents said voting did not take place at all in any of the three council areas — Warri north, Warri south and Warri southwest.
“I drove round the town yesterday. There was not a single centre where people queued to vote. It was mere propaganda,” Ijaw businessman Kenwa Akaagbe said. Another resident and local journalist Sola Oni said: “It was a sham. No election anywhere on Thursday.”
Another journalist Sola Adebayo however confirmed the distribution of materials early yesterday for the polls. “I was there this morning when they were distributing election materials. Yesterday, the elections could not be held because the materials arrived late,” he added.
