Nigeria has suffered military rule for the better part of 36 years, most recently under General Sano Abacha, a situation that troubles many international observers as well as Nigerians themselves. Outrage grew when Abacha's henchmen executed activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who had protested against the dictatorship.

On Martin Luther King Day, a group of demonstrators calling themselves the Coalition of Nigerians in the United States protested at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington. There was a counterdemonstration, too; about 100 people carrying placards that read "Hands off Nigeria" and "Nigeria for the Nigerians" paraded in support of the military regime.

Just one troublesome detail: the counterdemonstrators actually were homeless men hired from the Community for Creative Non-Violence shelter. That became apparent when one of the homeless men asked an opposing demonstrator if he had "signed up for his meal yet."

The man who hired the homeless, the Rev. Cleveland B. Sparrow, was unapologetic, telling the Washington Times that he was "deeply committed to employing people," that the homeless men were paid $6 an hour for three hours' work and that his intent was to show "the unity of black Americans with black people the world over."

[Ed.: Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) met with General Abacha, who had executed or jailed hundreds of his political opponents, in a meeting also attended by Kgosie Matthews, Moseley-Braun's former fiance and ex-campaign manager who had also worked as a paid lobbyist for the Nigerian regime. The Senator returned to her native Chicago with a letter from Abacha in support of President Clinton, much to his embarrassment.]

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