The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 16

16 I OBITUARIES The Guardian Tuesday June 9 1998 General Sani Abacha A stubborn dictator d'etat that toppled the elected government of President HE death of the president eign national conference when he took over power. He broke the promise. He promised that his tenure would be brief. He broke that promise too. Worst of all, he visited Nigeria with a brand of wickedness rarely encountered in the annals of Nigerian history.

Abiola, who won the 1993 presidential election, was detained in 1994 and has remained in detention. While he cooled his heels, assassins, suspected to be government-sponsored, killed his wife in the streets of Lagos. General Obasanjo, a former head of state, was jailed for "coup plotting" together with his deputy. General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, who died in prison last December. Leaders of oil workers who organised strikes in 1994 have remained in detention without trial.

Opposition figures who escaped death and detention ended up in exile. In November 1995, Abacha caused international odium when he executed the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists. What people found most difficult to understand was Abacha 's stubbornness. Simply because President Nelson Mandela criticised the execution of Saro-Wiwa, Abacha prevented the Super Eagles, the country's soccer team, from defending their hard-won African championship in South Africa, thus earning a two-year ban from the Confederation of African Football (CAF). In March, Pope John Paul II visited Nigeria and gave Abacha a long list of whom he wanted released.

Abacha simply ig Bushwhacked Fowley (left) makes his fury plain to Jean Hagen in Singin In The Rain: 'We'll have to think of something else' RONALD GRANT Douglas Fowley General Sam Aba 9 cha, reportedly of a BHD heart attack at the age of 54, elicited various reactions in his home country, a land he had ruled with unrelenting ruthless ness since he seized power in a palace coup on October 17, 1993. Many celebrated in the streets. Some, especially those who benefited from the gargan tuan corruption he instituted, mourned. All were shocked Not because he died so but on account of the suddenness of it all. During the past year, rumours and newspaper reports on the poor state of his health never abated.

The rumours were not helped by the reclusive nature of the dictator, who feared so much for his safety, and the tired. drawn and worn look he presented during the few occa sions he ventured outside Aso Rock, the heavily fortified seat of government in the cap ital, Abuja. Abacha was born in Kano, the leading commercial centre in northern Nigeria. His parents were of the Kanuri ethnic group, who inhabit the north-eastern part of the country. After primary school, he attended the provincial secondary school (now government college) in Kano, enlisting in the army soon afterwards.

His military training was initially at the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna in 1962, after which he attended Mons Defence Cadet College at Aldershot in 1963. Less than three years after Abacha was commissioned, Nigeria got its first military government, headed by General JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi in January 1966. Six months later Abacha, then a lieutenant, was among the northern officers who carried out a counter coup in which Ironsi lost his life and General Ya-kubu Gowon became head of state. Abacha fought on the federal side during the 30-month Biafran war and was reputed to be a brave soldier. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1975, he became a brigadier five years later.

It was in this rank, and as commander of the 9th Mechanised Brigade, that he came to national attention when on December 31, 1983 he announced the coup Shehu Shagari and put Gen eral Muhamadu Buhari power. Before then Abacha was an unknown quantity outside military circles, for unlike his peers, he had never held a political appointment Buhari rewarded Abacha with the position of com mander of the 2nd Mecha nised Division and member ship of the Supreme Military Council (SMC). Less than two years later, however, Abacha returned to the airwaves to announce the ousting of Bu hari and what later became the dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida. All through the eight years of Ba bangida's dictatorship, Aba cha lurked in the background first as chief of army staff and then as defence minister and chairman of the joints chiefs He visited Nigeria with a brand of wickedness rarely seen in the annals of its history of staff, the iron fist behind the military regime. Abacha day for the top job came in 1993 when Babangida annulled the presidential election won freely and fairly by Chief Moshood Abiola.

Even though Abacha was one of those who engineered the annulment, he allowed Baban gida to shoulder the blame alone and be swept away by the unpopularity it generated. An interim government headed by Chief Ernest Shone-kan, a civilian lackey of Ba-bangida's, took over but got sacked two months later by Abacha himself. Abacha promised a sover The happiest Hollywood liKed to demonstrate everything in a most expansive manner. It is Roscoe, according to Gene Kelly's unreliable narration, who discovers Don Lockwood (Kelly) while he is performing impossible stunts and who makes a leading man out of him, pairing him with Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). Fow-ley's crowning moment comes when he is desperately trying to get the dim-witted Lina to "speak into the bush" where the microphone has been hidden.

"Well, I can't make love to a bush," she shrieks. Fowley then turns to the camera and explodes, "We'll have to think of something else!" Another of Fowley's rare comic scenes was as the auctioneer at the beginning of The Band Wagon (1953) attempting to sell off the property of fading dancer Tony Hunter (Fred SOME actors were born to be stars and some were born to play character roles. Douglas Fowley, who has died aged 86, was one of the latter. He had rather oleaginous looks, shifty eyes and the sort of moustache that only Clark Gable could get away with. He was the image of how Hollywood imagined petty con-men, Western baddies and gangsters' henchmen to be, and, consequently, these were the sorts of parts he was mostly given.

Yet, his most famous role was as the exasperated film director Roscoe Dexter in Singin' In The Rain (1952). Dressed in riding boots, jodhpurs and beret, wielding a whip and megaphone, he was the type of dictator director made famous by Erich Von Stro-heim, although the character was actually modelled on Busby Berkeley, who nored the list. The most appalling thing about Abacha's leadership of Nigeria was his transition to the civil rule programme. He manufactured five political parties and had his cronies elected as their leaders. In April, all the parties "nomi nated" him the sole presidential candidate which meant that had death not called, he would have been installed the elected" president by Octo ber 1, 1998.

Abacha is survived by his wife and 10 children, the eldest, Ibrahim, a lawyer, hav ing died a plane crash in January, 1996. Chuks lloegbunam Sani Abacha, soldier and politician, born September 20, 1943; died June 8, 1998 Sora Wainwright In the Russia house FANTASY WORLD CUP LIVE ON ITV (IT COULD GET MESSY) rain in Astaire), including his top hat and tails. "Five dollars one dollar fifty cents Anything?" Fowley cries. Born in the Bronx, Fowler moved to California in his late teens and studied at Los Angeles City College, before entering the movies in 1933. His first role was as a member of a gang of bootleggers under Spencer Tracy in The Mad Game, beginning as he would continue on the wrong side of the law.

At 20th Century-Fox, he was content to have small roles in three Alice Faye musicals, and larger ones as rather too suspicious murder suspects in B-thrillers such as Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937) and Mr Moto's Gamble (1938). Then at Warners, he cropped up as a rustler in Errol Flynn's first Western, Dodge City (1939), and MGM put him into uniform icons, which accompanied her for the rest of her life. She studied fine art at Belgrade's Kolarchev University. Later interned in wartime Vienna, Sora was allowed the remarkable privilege of leaving the camp during the week to study architecture at the Technische Hochschule. She ended the war with her parents in a camp in the Austrian town of Lienz.

There she met and soon married Willie Wainwright, a captain in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who had liberated the camp. She accompanied Willie to Belgium, India and France while he served with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. En route Sora, at ease with anybody, met Eleanor Roosevelt and Indira Gandhi among others. IN 1957, the Wainwrights moved to Nottingham with their two French-speaking children. Willie had became an accountant for the National Coal Board's pension fund.

Sora meanwhile, aged 55, and already an established painter, with a whole slew of exhibitions behind CORRECTIONS AND IN some editions of today's G2, the Health pages are wrongly numbered. Page 16, which carries the feature on health frauds, became page 12. IN The Editor (page 7, June 6) we reported allegations that sugar, water, acids and milk had been added to Margaux wine produced at Chateau Gis-cours to improve its flavour. We illustrated the item with a Chateau Giscours label, but in the text, by mistake, we referred to "Chateau Chateau Margaux is entirely unconnected with these allegations, and we accept that its wines are of the highest quality. We apologise to Chateau Margaux, and for any confusion caused by our error.

IN a sidebar to an article on independent cinemas (Friday Review, June 5) an editing error resulted in us underestimating the programme content of Bristol's Watershed cinema. It should have scored eight out they'll know. In 1960, Fowley directed a low-budget voodoo movie called Ma-cumba Love. It starred serial actor Walter Reed as a writer who visits a South American island to unmask murderous practitioners of voodoo, only to find he's marked down as a victim. The film, which had the publicity line "Blood lusts of the voodoo queen! In flaming Eastman color!" also featured June Wilkinson, a Playboy centrefold.

One likes to imagine Douglas Fowley (he added the later in his career) in the gear of Roscoe Dexter, on location in Brazil, exclaiming when something didn't work, "We'll have to think of something else!" Ronald Bergan Douglas Vincent Fowley, film and television actor, born May 30, 1911; died May 21, 1998 A Country Diary CHESHIRE: Looking back through my notebook, references to moths are very thinly spread. The only one to achieve anything like its usual numbers in the light trap was the Early Grey, which was taken regularly from early March into May. It is one of the commonest moths in Cheshire, having been recorded in each of the 31 10km squares on which Ian Rutherford's Macro-moths of Cheshire 1961 1993 was based. April broke all the rainfall records and this was a disaster for the emerging moths as well as the butterflies, which meant that May was almost a non-event. There have been some brighter moments, such as the call I received recently to go and look at a "strange butter fly" that had appeared in a greenhouse in the village: it had a wing span of some three and a half inches and was, in fact, one of the hawk moths the Poplar Hawk.

Its grey-brown, sculptured wings were held in a distinctive posture, with hind wings pushed forward and the upper pair lying along its body. In this way it could cover the red patches on the hind wings, which would be quickly revealed when the insect was disturbed, and so momentarily alarm any would-be predator, giving the moth its chance to escape. THOMPSON Death Notices ALLEN. Denis Michael, bom 23101919, died peacefully at home on Friday 5th Juno Loving and loved husband ot Marjo-rie. and lather to Judith.

Kate. Penny and Flick Funeral will tako placo at Exeter and Devon Crematorium at 3 00pm on 11lh June. No (lowers ploaso. but donations in his memory would bo welcomed by Exeter end District Hospice wnoro no spent many happy and creative hours BALL. Raymond (Ray) Oliver, on 29th May 1996.

peacefully in his sleep, aged 90. Husband ol tho Late Marga and father ot Ian. Dolla and Ailoen Thanks diving service, at 2 00pm. Saturday 15th August 1998. St John's Methodist Church.

Bangor. Gwyn- eaa uonaltons 10 Mmnesiy international oi 5t John's Melhodot Church, Bangor. BRAZIER. Roaettfl Freda, died on June 3rd. 199B.

Widow ol Major J.B Brazier, A. and loving mother of Tim. Funeral on Saturday, 13th June, 1998 at 2 pm at St. Andrew's. Whitchurch noar Tavistock.

Donations for Woodland Trust or Gar- donors Royal Benevolent Fund to S.J. Backwell, Undertaker. 32a Brook Slreot. Tavistock. Dovon.

QEAKE. John, peacefully on 3rd June, 1998 Much loved husband ol Marv. lovlnn fathor of Susan, Michael and Anno. Dear brolhor ol Margaret and loving grandlathor of Holon. Karon.

Gillian. Sam. Jo and Emma Our thanks for his lull and onergetic lite. Family Dowers only. Donations if dosired to Visiting Nurse Service for Chris tian Scientists.

Manchester Area. Servico and committal to tako placo at Manchester Crematorium on Thursday 11th June At 2 15pm. All funeral enquiries and donations co Co-oporative Funeral Sorvice, Wilms low. 101. U16.5 525 951.

TO OlaCO VOUr Snnfllinrnmnnl lalanhnna in Stand By for Action (1943), See Here, Private Hargrove (1944) and Battleground (1949). Like so many other supporting actors, Fowley found more substantial roles on television, and from 1955 to 1961 played Doc Holliday opposite Hugh O'Brian in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Among his last films were The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969), in which he was a gentle, old hermit who brings lawmen George Kennedy and Robert Mit-chum back to town to face a gang and is killed for his trouble and two unusual Charles Bionson movies: From Noon till Three (1976) and The White Buffalo (1977). However, even after all these films, when people ask who Douglas Fowley might be, one has only to reply, the director in Singin' In The Rain, and her, started teaching art but, lacking formal qualifications, decided to go back to univer sity, graduating in Slavonic studies from Nottingham University. She then embarked on her second, or perhaps third career, teaching Russian and imbuing her students with a real love of the language.

When she officially retired, her class followed her to les sons in her own home. She worked as a technical transla tor for many leading compa nies and, even when confined to a wheelchair, continued to interpret for the local police. Near the end of her life, a pupil tracked down one of Sora's Russian relatives, who had never left Russia. Much to Sora's joy, the relative was a Minsk telephone operator and long and presumably free conversations ensued. Sora proved that one does not need to live in Russia to be a Russian.

She is survived by three daughters, and a son. Martyn Poliakoff Sora Wainwright. artist and teacher, born July 1. 1921; died April 10, 1998 CLARIFICATIONS of 10 in this category; not the published five. Apologies.

A REPORT on evidence to the BSE inquiry (page 11, June 5), should have said that cattle over 30 months old were barred from the human food chain two years ago; not under 30 months as stated. THE amphibian and reptile specialist mentioned in an article on endangered wildlife (page 10, June 3) is employed by English Nature, not English Heritage as we stated. It is the policy of the Guardian to correct errors as soon as possible. Please quote date and page number. Readers may contact the office of the Readers' Editor by telephoning 0171 239 9589 between Ham and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Surface mail to Readers' Editor, The Guardian, 119, Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER Fax: 0171 239 9897. E-mail: readeriajguardian.co.uk SORA WAINWRIGHT, who has died aged 76, was an artist and teacher who for more than 40 years with her Scottish husband, Willie, kept open house for visiting Russians and Yugoslavs. Her life was dramatic even before her birth. Her pregnant mother had been smuggled aboard one of the last ships to leave Odessa before the Bolsheviks took the city in 1921. Sora Balevich was born within an hour of docking in Glina, Yugoslavia and became the godchild of Queen Maria who had come to greet the ship and gave her the Serbian Christian name, Zorislava.

Educated at the Smolny Institute, the Tsarist girls' school which had been evacuated from Petrograd to Yugoslavia, Sora was declared a "child genius in painting" by the headmaster, Suhotin, Tolstoy's son-in-law, and chosen to train in icon painting under Pimen Maximovich So-fronov, who had been in the Tsar's icon workshop. It was gruelling work, which involved much fasting and praying but she graduated by painting two very beautiful Birthdays Tony Britton, actor, 74; Johnny Depp, actor, 35; Michael Fox, actor, 37; Prol Geraint Gruffydd, Welsh and Celtic language authority, 70; Jeremy Hardie, chairman, Smith and Son, 60; Doug Henderson, MP, minister for Europe, 49; Prof Eric Hobsbawm, Marxist histo rian, 81: Richard Hudson, stage designer, 44; Derek Hunt, chairman, MFI Furni ture, 59; Roger Hum, chair man and chief executive, Smiths Industries, 60; Peter Kilfoyle, MP, parliamentary under-secretary, Cabinet Office, 52; Sir Nicholas Lloyd, former editor, the Daily Express, 56; Robert Mc-Namara, former president, World Bank, 82; Michael Mates, Conservative MP, 64; Alice Pollock, dress designer, 56; Charles Saatchi, advertis ing executive, 55; Steve Smith Eccles, jockey, 43; Susan Strange, professor of interna tional relations, 75; David 0171 713 4567 or lax 0171 713 4129 botwsen 9am and 3pm Mon-Frl Troughton, actor, 48..