Title: The Open Grave: Nadeco and the Struggle for Democracy
Author: Olawale Oshun
Publisher:  Josel Publisher, London
Pages: 296
Price: £15.00 (Hardback)

On June 8 1989 , the Abacha-led military dictatorship in Nigeria came to an abrupt end. General Sani Abacha had in the early hours of that day died in mysterious circumstances. The advent of his regime in November 1993 had led to significant political developments. The hitherto critical human rights community in Nigeria and the country’s President-Elect, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, not only turned a blind eye to Abacha’s impending coup, they tacitly endorsed it. They were soon to learn that Abacha has his own agenda, albeit to rule Nigeria at any cost. Nigerians were, however, no longer ready to accommodate military rule. Consequently, the political class, including Chief Abiola, who died in incarceration a month before Abacha himself died, and the human rights community sank their differences and formed the National Democratic Coalition of Nigeria, NADECO.

The Open Grave is therefore, the story of Nigeria ’s foremost pro-democracy movement NADECO, the individuals and associations which made up the movement, its operations and its myth. For almost five years (1994-1999), NADECO was the invisible hand behind almost every political development in Nigeria . The movement’s voice rang loudly and clearly in Nigeria and in hallowed diplomatic chambers across the world. For Nigeria ’s dictator General Sani Abacha, the fear of NADECO was the beginning of wisdom. In this book, the author Olawale Oshun, explores the narrow mindedness of Nigeria’s moneyed class, the international intrigues that helped sustain the military dictatorship, and with due appreciation, the courage and commitment of unsung Nigerians who at the risk of their lives gave NADECO its aura, an aura that some today’s political office-holders now undeservedly reap from and lay exclusive claim to. It is Olawale’s second political book and a continuation of the thesis of his first: Clapping With One Hand: June 12 and the crisis of a State Nation

About the Author

Olawale Oshun, a keen politician, was during Nigeria ’s Third Republic a member and Chief Whip of the House of Representatives. He became the second secretary of NADECO in late 1994, but later went into exile in London where he was made secretary of NADECO-Abroad in May 1996. An accomplished author, Olawale has a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics and has undergone training in journalism, information technology and lately law. He is married with children.