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Tandja, Mamadou

(Encyclopedia)Tandja, Mamadou mämädo͞oˈ tänˈjä [key], 1938–2020, Nigerien political leader, president of Niger (1999–2010). He attended military schools in Madagascar and Mali, joining the army in the mi...

Taylor, Charles Ghankay

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Charles Ghankay, 1948–, Liberian rebel and political leader. Taylor attended college in America and became a leader among Liberians there, mounting demonstrations against President William T...

Ilorin

(Encyclopedia)Ilorin ēlôˈrēn [key], city, SW Nigeria. It is an industrial city and the market (especial...

Gayoom, Maumoon Abdul

(Encyclopedia)Gayoom, Maumoon Abdul mämo͞onˈ äbˈdo͞ol gīo͞omˈ [key], 1937–, Maldivian political leader, president of the Maldives (1978–2008), b. Malé. He studied at Al-Azhar Univ. in Cairo, then was ...

Commonwealth of Nations

(Encyclopedia)Commonwealth of Nations, voluntary association of Great Britain and its dependencies, certain former British dependencies that are now sovereign states and their dependencies, and the associated state...

Fulani

(Encyclopedia)Fulani fo͞oläˈnē [key], people of W Africa, numbering approximately 14 million. They are of mixed sub-Saharan African and Berber origin. First recorded as living in the Senegambia region, they are...

Lassa fever

(Encyclopedia)Lassa fever lăsˈə [key], an acute viral disease occurring mostly in W Africa, characterized by high fever, muscle aches, mouth ulcers, and bleeding in the skin in more severe cases. The disease was...

Obasanjo, Olusegun

(Encyclopedia)Obasanjo, Olusegun ōlo͞oˈshĕgo͞on ōbāˈsănjō [key], 1937–, Nigerian military officer and political leader, b. Abeokuta. Obasanjo, who joined the army in 1958 and rose quickly to general, wa...

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

(Encyclopedia)Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), multinational organization (est. 1960, formally constituted 1961) that coordinates petroleum policies and economic aid among oil-producing nations...

Abubakar, Atiku

(Encyclopedia)Abubakar, Atiku ätēˈko͞o äbo͞obäkärˈ [key], 1946–, Nigerian politician, grad. Ahmadu Bello Univ. Law School (1969). A Muslim and member of the Hausa ethnic group, he worked in the governmen...