Commonwealth ban lifted

Nigeria is being allowed back into the Commowealth after a suspension of more than three years and will formally rejoin on 29 May, the day the country's new civilian government takes power, according to a statement issued on Tuesday. "This fresh start is a victory for democracy, a victory for Nigeria and a victory for a fundamental principle of the Commonwealth," the organisation's Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, said in the statement. Nigeria was suspended from the 54-nation group in 1995 after its military authorities executed nine minority rights activists. The Commonwealth decided to act to overturn the suspension after Nigeria began its return to democracy last year. Then, in late April, a Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group recommended the lifting of the suspension. "I am delighted that an unfortunate episode in Nigeria-Commonwealth relations will come to an end and that Nigeria is resuming its rightful place in the Commonwealth," Anyaoku, a Nigerian, said. Anyaoku is due to attend the inauguration of president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.