A crusading publisher pushes Niger's limits
Maman Abou's anti-corruption scoops are profitable, but dangerous to report.
from the April 17, 2007 edition
Page 4 of 4
His state of the art printing plant – in this otherwise quite undeveloped nation – has been a very good business proposition. It's profits have allowed him to pursue his vision of creating hotels in isolated towns along the nation's very poor highway system – a plan he believes will help development come faster to undeveloped areas.
In addition to politics and business, he exercises regularly, reads avidly (in jail last year he read a biography of Napoleon, and now he's reading a book about the future of petroleum), and destresses by playing chess.
Despite – or perhaps because of – his success, optimism, and energy, Abou is often told to tread lightly.
"The world of the media must understand that we are a developing country," emphasizes the government's Ben Mohamed, who argues that newspapers have no business digging into the private life of politicians. "When I pick up my pen, I need to be extremely careful about what I'm going to write," says Ben Mohamed, a cautionary statement that hangs threateningly over the interview.
But it's all advice that Abou refuses to follow.
In mid-February, he jubilantly phoned to say that an appellate judge not only cleared him of charges of propagating false information and defamation, but further found that the government had misused the legal system to keep him in jail.
More crusading was ahead for Abou. And remembering the geese and his unlocked gate, I told him to be careful.
"I'm human like everyone else," he admitted. "We're always scared that something bad will happen to us, but I'm not scared enough to give up my struggle or my convictions."
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