By Austin Ekeinde
Reuters
Reuters
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is facing growing pressure on two fronts as militants in the oil-producing south killed two people in a car bomb attack and thousands of opposition supporters rallied against him in the capital, Abuja.
In the capital, Abuja, thousands gathered Thursday to protest a campaign by the ruling party to change the constitution and allow Obasanjo to run for a third term.
"The two events are coincidental, but the instability created by the third-term campaign has allowed all sorts of interest groups to push their agendas," said John Adeleke, an independent analyst.
The rally drew prominent critics from other opposition parties, as well as disgruntled members of the ruling People's Democratic Party, in a sign that a broad alliance is forming against the pro-Obasanjo camp.
"There's a need for a very strong and united opposition that can take power in this country, since if we are factionalized we cannot win against the incumbent," Ahmed Bola Tinubu, governor of Lagos state, said on the sidelines of the rally.
Militants detonated a car bomb Wednesday night in the southern city of Port Harcourt, extending a four-month campaign of violence that has already cut output from the world's eighth-largest oil exporter by a fourth. The explosion blew the car 20 yards from its original site.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which demands more local control over the delta's oil resources, said in an e-mail that its members detonated about 66 pounds of dynamite using a cellular telephone.
"This act was symbolic rather than strategic and serves as a further warning to the Nigerian military, oil companies and those who are attempting to sell the birthright of the Niger Delta peoples for a bowl of porridge," the group said via e-mail, threatening similar attacks against oil targets.
The car bomb came just a day after Obasanjo promised to build a $1.8 billion highway through the Niger Delta and create 20,000 jobs to appease widespread feelings of marginalization and disenchantment in the region.
"The attack is not just a sign of escalating violence, but a signal that the militias are changing tactics," said Sebastian Spio-Gabrah of the U.S.-based Eurasia Group of investment analysts. "The car bomb is also a warning shot to President Olusegun Obasanjo that his promises of economic aid will not quiet the militias."
The group's demands, which include the release of two jailed leaders from the region and compensation for oil spills, are welcomed by millions in the delta, where most people live in poverty despite the riches being pumped from their land.
Obasanjo has ruled Africa's most populous country since it returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous military dictatorship. He has not said publicly whether he wants a third term, but his party has instructed members to support a constitutional amendment, which was submitted to the National Assembly on April 11, that would allow him to run.
