Nigeria's role in providing a safe haven for Taylor is peculiar. Given the country's considerable efforts to mediate and quell regional conflicts, providing a haven for shielding west Africa's chief destabilizer runs counter to its national interest, and popular opposition to shielding him is growing in Nigeria. Hundreds of human rights and international justice groups from Africa and beyond have joined together in protest.
Intense American and European pressure ensured that former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and many of his allies were handed over to the UN's International War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in the Hague. Similar pressure must be brought to bear to compel Nigeria to surrender Taylor to the Special Court in Sierra Leone. It is time for Obasanjo to make good on Nigeria's record as a leader in maintaining peace and security on the African continent.
Tiawan Saye Gongloe is a former fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Copyright: Project Syndicate
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