A United States senator has pledged to become a forceful advocate for Nigeria’s debt relief, but says the West African nation must first turn over the former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, an indicted war criminal, for prosecution.

Senator from Illinois has pledged to become a forceful advocate for Nigeria’s debt relief, but says the West African nation must first turn over the former Liberian dictator – an indicted war criminal who has the blood of thousands on his hands and threatened, once again, to destabilize the region – to the Special Court.

United States Senator Barack Obama, D-Illinois has suggested that any debt relief for Nigeria must be conditional provided the West African giant succumbs to international pressure and turns over former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor to the Special Court in Sierra Leone.

Obama, who was born in Hawaii, but is the son of a Kenyan, made the assertions on Wednesday (a copy of the transcript of the Senate session obtained by the Observer) on the floor of the U.S. Senate in a frank exchange with fellow Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations.

When the world’s wealthiest countries clinched a deal on Saturday to wipe out more than $40 billion of impoverished nations’ debts in a drive to free Africa from hunger and disease, Nigeria was one of the few countries that was noticeably absent from the list to win an automatic debt relief.

Eighteen Highly Indebted Poor Countries – Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia – will benefit from the debt write-off.

During his recent visit to Washington to meet President Bush, it was widely reported that the Nigerian president Olesegun Obasanjo and U.S. President George Bush discussed Nigeria’s debt problems. However it appears that Obasanjo was unwilling to part with Taylor in exchange for debt relief for his country.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, on his first foreign trip as head of the World Bank in Nigeria this week, provided a partial explanation as to why Nigeria was left off the debt-relief list.

According to the Associated Press, Wolfowitz said Nigeria was not excluded from the G8 deal.

“Nigeria was not excluded from the consideration of the G8 finance ministers. What you may not know is that in their private discussion, they spoke very positively about what you have started here and spoke very strongly about how important Nigeria is for the rest of Africa,” Wolfowitz said.

In recent times, Nigeria has embarked on economic and political reforms and has recently launched a crackdown on corruption, prosecuting top officials who allegedly stole money or engaged in corrupt acts.

But many see Wolfowitz’s gesture as an attempt to calm a muddy water Nigeria has already made for itself. Nigeria’s foreign debt officially put at 35 billion dollars and Obasanjo has in the past years led an African campaign for debt relief for countries in the continent in general, and Nigeria in particular.

However, Obama said debt relief from the United States is not automatic and in the past, debt relief has come with conditions, including making progress in fighting corruption and on economic reform, to ensure that this relief achieves the maximum results.

In the case of Nigeria, Obama said, “this means turning over Charles Taylor – an indicted war criminal who has the blood of thousands on his hands and threatens, once again, to destabilize the region – to the Special Court.

“I strongly believe that Nigeria is a worthy candidate for debt relief and a key U.S. partner in West Africa. When Charles Taylor is turned over, there is no doubt in my mind that I will be a forceful advocate for debt relief for Nigeria,” said the U.S. Senator.

While heaping praises on Nigeria for its leadership on other issues, especially their efforts to lead the African Union force in Darfur, Obama said he wants nothing more than to see the Taylor issue “successfully resolved so we can focus our attention on other important issues with the Nigerians.” “I would also reiterate what the Senator said about the waiver authority contained in section 585. The President can waive these restrictions, including those pertaining to Nigerian debt relief, by formulating a plan to get Mr. Taylor to the Court.”

Sam Zinna, The Analyst (Monrovia), June 28, 2005