Obasanjo’s Personal Diplomacy, The Liberian Civil War and Charles Taylor’s Asylum in Nigeria

Abstract

Charles Taylor became elected President of Liberia in 1997 after a ruthless civil war that left an estimated 250,000 Liberians dead and thousands more seriously wounded. Once in power, Taylor was accused of actively aiding the RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh in Sierra Leone thereby destabilising the West Africa sub region. Taylor was also confronted by rebels who had seized about two thirds of Liberia. By 2003, removing Taylor from Liberia had become the first step towards restoring peace in Liberia and West Africa. In August 2003, a deal was struck that Taylor should resign and go into exile in Nigeria.Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo’s offer of asylum to Taylor which brought about some measure of peace to Liberia and the sub region became a butt of criticisms both in Nigeria and in the international community. Obasanjo's critics were reluctant to credit the accuracy of his vision or the correctness of his policy regarding the asylum given to Taylor. Be that as it may, Nigeria delivered on all fronts on the issue of Charles Taylor without compromising her national integrity. Obasanjo’s personal diplomacy ensured the successful termination of the Liberian war and by extension the Sierra-Leonean war. This paper took an actor specific approach in examining the personal diplomacy of Obasanjo vis a vis the Liberian civil war and Charles Taylor’s asylum in Nigeria, how Obasanjo deftly navigated through the asylum saga in a way that did not rubbish Nigeria’s diplomacy and standing in the international community. How was Obasanjo able to balance the different interests at play to ensure that peace was restored to Liberia and the West Africa sub-region and at the same time that Taylor did not go unpunished for his war crimes? We will conclude that Obasanjo’s personality and leadership traits came handy in resolving Charles Taylor’s saga. It is the position of this paper that a less experienced leader could have handled the issue differently. Keywords: Diplomacy, Personal Diplomacy, Leadership Traits, Charles Taylor, Liberia, Obasanjo, Nigeria