The brutality of this rule was sharply illustrated last year when, amid widespread calls for clemency, the regime of General Sani Abacha executed nine human rights activists. Evidence that the trial in which the nine activists were convicted was a complete charade soon mounted.
Since then the population of Nigerian exiles and political dissidents requesting asylum in foreign countries has grown. South Africa is growing in importance as a base for these dissidents as human rights organisations in this country begin to expand the scope of their agenda to include continental issues.
Earlier this month, Wole Soyinka, one of the most vocal critics of the Nigerian military regime and Africa's first recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature, paid a brief visit to this country to spur on this new broader human rights activism in South Africa and to strengthen the ties between Nigerian activists and their South African counterparts.
For Soyinka, the issue in Nigeria is simple - General Sani Abacha must go. Abacha came to power in November 1993 amid general confusion in the country after the previous military regime under Ibrahim Babangida annulled a presidential election held earlier that year. Moshood Abiola, who was thrown into prison by Abacha, is widely recognised to have won that election.
According to Soyinka, Abacha's rule could be the death blow for most of Nigeria. "Abacha will be satisfied only with the devastation of every aspect of Nigeria that he cannot mentally grasp, and that is virtually all of Nigeria. He will find peace and fulfilment only when the voices whose nation-language he cannot interpret are finally silenced, only when, like the Hutus, he cuts off the legs of the Tutsis so that Nigeria is reduced to a height onto which he can clamber."
Military rule is nothing new to Nigeria. Abacha is merely the latest in a long list of military leaders who have imposed their rule for around 23 years of Nigeria's 34 years of independence. But Abacha is a despot quite unparalleled in Nigeria's history. His particular style of despotism has been demonstrated in brutal fashion in Ogoniland, the oil-producing south-eastern state of Nigeria. It was from this state that Ken Saro-Wiwa, the writer and playwright who was one of those executed by Abacha, came.
Allegations further abound in Nigeria about collusion between big business and tyrant resulting in the oppression of civilians. Most of Abacha's repression has been reserved for Ogoniland, where the population has become very militant recently in opposing the environmental degradation caused by the oil production in the region. Royal Dutch Shell has been the company with the most interests in this region and evidence is mounting about the company's alleged collusion with the authorities in suppressing the Ogoni people's opposition to the continued oil and gas exploration in their region.
Last month reports surfaced of Shell supplying arms to the Nigerian military, while the company has consistently resisted efforts to allow independent experts to conduct environmental impact surveys in the area. Simultaneous reports from Holland said that Shell was making concerted efforts to prevent the publication of the last book written by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa. The book, which is due for publication later this year, deals with Shell's activities in Ogoniland.
In South Africa, the South African Nigerian Democratic Support Group (SANDSG) - of which the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) is a member - has been in the forefront of the campaign to highlight the human rights abuses in Nigeria. The group has on several occasions asked Shell to provide it with the environmental impact surveys conducted by the company in Ogoniland. Shell has still not supplied this information.
As Abacha continues to consolidate his position in Nigeria, the basic human rights of Nigerian citizens are eroding swiftly. The media has become an obvious target and while the Nigerian media have always prided themselves on remaining vigorously independent and critical during the long reigns of the military, Abacha and his henchmen are proving to be very adept at muzzling the press.
Within a year of taking power, Abacha succeeded in closing down by decree two newspaper houses publishing nine newspapers between the two of them. The newspapers from the one group, Punch , had consistently been amongst the most outspoken newspapers in the country since the group was founded in 1973. The other newspaper group that was shut down, Concord , was owned by Mashood Abiola, the man widely recognised to have won the presidential election that was annulled shortly before Abacha came to power.
The forced closure of newspapers has not been the only means Abacha has used to muzzle the press and in the last two months alone, the media in Nigeria has been the victim of an unprecedented assault from the military regime. One of the publications that has been a particular target has been the weekly Tell magazine, which is known for its criticism of the regime.
While the publication was not banned it is was orced underground after the authorities seized all copies of the magazine for three months running. The editor-in-chief, Nosa Igiebor, is currently in prison, while a number of the journalists have also been detained. Other newspapers, also known for their criticism of the state, have been the victims of sinister arson attacks.
In the midst of all this repression against the media, there are the atrocities and denial of human rights experienced by the Nigerian populace in general. Meetings are banned routinely or disrupted by the security police, while many of the pro-democracy leaders are in prison or in exile. This whittling away of the internal leadership coupled with the repression from above has meant that the struggle inside Nigeria against the military regime has been slow to take off.
In the middle of last month, the major pro-democracy groupings in the country managed to hold a one-day meeting in Northern Nigeria, the first such meeting in months, after which a communique was issued calling on "mass constructive action" as the only way to restore democracy to the country. However, the communique gave no further direction and failed to give details about what action the people could take to end the military rule.
The most vocal opposition appears to be coming from outside the country. In March this year, South Africa's status as an important base for Nigerian dissidents will be put to the test when the South African-Nigerian Democratic Support Group (SANDSG) co-ordinates a conference of all the Nigerian pro-democracy groupings. The conference is being convened by the Nigerian dissidents in South Africa.
The aim of the conference will be to develop a unified approach and strategy towards the restoration of democracy in Nigeria. Obviously the fact that it is being held outside the country will allow for much greater debate and expression of opinion among the delegates. The conference will be crucial in that it will bring together the internal and external leadership of the Nigerian pro-democracy movement. In addition, it will provide important direction for the nature of the campaigns and protests being conducted outside Nigeria by groups such as the SANDSG.