Coups and counter-coups in Nigeria are exclusively a function of the army -- outsiders are not tolerated. That was the message of the execution of playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight colleagues. Nor is it likely in the short term that his sacrifice will jeopardize the collusion of multinational corporations and a corrupt military junta. PNS associate editor A.R.M. Babu, former economic development minister of Tanzania, is a noted commentator on African affairs.

LONDON -- Ken Saro-Wiwa had to die because he committed what is now commonly known in the third world as an "economic crime" -- challenging the collusion between multinational corporations with vested interests in third world regions and corrupt local political leaders.

The Nigerian military junta is notorious for allocating a large proportion of oil revenue for their own personal wealth. Anybody who challenges this well-established practice must be eliminated by fair means or foul. Several lesser known Nigerians who were considered a threat to the system have mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

The commodity that fuels these murderous activities by Nigeria's ruling elites is oil, most of which comes from Ken Saro-Wiwa's Ogoniland. Shell Oil company is the largest producer of Nigeria's oil and owns 30 percent of the state oil company. Oil accounts for 90 percent of the country's foreign exchange earnings. It is also the source of massive corruption which dominates Nigerian life. Nigeria's huge military establishment is entirely dependent on oil money. Some British arms dealers allege that Nigeria's generals take up to 70 percent of weapons purchased as commission.

The Nigerian military clique in power is more tolerant of rival military factions who want a share of the pie than of outsiders like Saro-Wiwa. Recently a large group of generals, including General Obasanjo, the former head of state, were tried for treason and sentenced to death. But the sentences were promptly commuted to imprisonment as a gesture of esprit de corps among the old-boys fraternity.

The message is clear: Coups and counter coups in Nigeria are exclusively a function of the army -- outsiders are not tolerated. When one group is in power, another one waits in line, plotting for their turn at the helm. If and when they fail in the attempt, no hard feelings and only a few years in the clanger.

Ken Saro-Wiwa was not only an outsider but a dangerous one because he was the leader of the Ogoni people who were demanding self-determination for the Ogoniland. The Ogoni people's demand is not for secession, as was the case with East Nigeria's Biafran movement in the 1960s. The half-million Ogonis want self-determination so that some of the oil revenue can be plowed back to their area to compensate for the damage oil extraction has done to their eco-system. But the military decided this demand threatened Nigeria's one hundred million inhabitants and had to be crushed. Ken Saro-Wiwa had to be silenced for ever.

The irony is that the Nigerian military has never faced any serious political challenge because civilian opposition is so fragmented. Saro-Wiwa himself never attempted to mobilize support on a nationwide level. He limited his struggle to the Ogoni campaign to which most of the rest of the country was indifferent. Nigeria has not yet produced a leader of the caliber of Museveni of Uganda, or Zenawi of Ethiopia, or Issayis of Eritrea, with the vision and charisma that could arouse millions of Nigerians in a concerted move to overthrow the military junta. As one disillusioned Nigerian put it, "We are too literary."

Thus the military will continue to rule. The multinational oil companies will continue to maximize their profits. Only two days after the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Shell Oil signed a $2.5 billion gas deal with the junta. The question that haunts Africans in the wake of his death and those of his eight colleagues is whether they died in vain or whether their sacrifice will be the harbinger of a mighty upsurge that will topple the military menace in Nigeria once and for all.