ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the linkages between military rule, human rights and the Structural Adjustment Programme within the context of the civil society-led pro-democracy movement in Nigeria. It explores the paradoxical place of neoliberal structural adjustment economic policies on human rights in Nigeria in the 1980s and 1990s. It argues that pushing through unpopular austerity measures mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank accentuated the authoritarian character of the successive ruling military regimes, resulting in widespread repression and human rights violations. The chapter also explores how the tension in the neoliberal experiment shaped the human rights and pro-democracy movement under Nigeria's military dictatorships. The insecurity and lack of safety led many pro-democracy activists to flee the country. The chapter concludes, however, that the promising advances made by civil society groups in the struggle to end military dictatorship have not been extended to sustain democratic gains under civilian rule.
