Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 7

MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1996DETROIT FREE PRESS 7A President Engler? Executed Nigerians couldn't stop oil plunder Governor getting attention as GOP poster boy Dr. Owens Wiwa, a Nigerian physician, had nurtured the faint hope that the Royal DutchShell Group would use its powerful influence with the BOB HERBERT i Nigerian government to help secure the release of his brother, Ken Saro-Wiwa, a poet, playwright and environmental activist who was in prison on trumped-up murder charges. Saro-Wiwa's imprisonment was a miscarriage of justice. The miscarriage if. r.

it government memo regarding protests against Shell in Ogoniland, home of the ethnic group to which Wiwa and his brother belonged. The memo said in part "Shell operations still impossible unless ruthless military operations are undertaken for smooth economic activities to commence." Wiwa said he had been told by Anderson that it would be difficult to help his brother, but that something might be done if Saro-Wiwa would call off his protest campaign, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, and if a press release were issued saying that there had been no environmental damage in Ogoniland. "I told him," said Wiwa, "that we could not do that" Wiwa viewed his meetings with Anderson as critical discussions on a matter of life or death. If his account is true, it means that Shell saw Saro-Wiwa and his codefendants not as human beings, but simply as chips in a big-league game of public relations. Your press release or your life.

Shell officials said last week that Wiwa's account was not true. Eric Nick-son, a spokesman, acknowledged that the meetings had taken place but said that Wiwa's version was "misleading." Nickson noted that Shell had pulled its operations out of Ogoniland in 1993 because of protests and acts of sabotage against Shell. "Whilst we would like to go back," he said, "we are only prepared to go back if we have the support of the communities in Ogoniland. So these meetings were initiated by Mr. Owens Wiwa to find whether there were some middle ground on which to try and resolve this situation." And what Nickson was asked, did Wiwa want' Why else would he seek out Anderson except to plead for help in saving his brother? Nickson said he didn't know.

"I wasn't present at the meetings, unfortunately," he explained. The execution of Saro-Wiwa and his co-defendants has been widely condemned by world leaders. But it has not shaken the bond between Shell and the execrable Nigerian government They are going ahead with their joint plans to build a $4-billion natural gas project They will not miss the chastising voice of the silenced Saro-Wiwa. 77its article first appeared in the London-based Economist. You know how it is when you start to notice a person popping up all over the place? Lately we have been noticing a roly-poly 47-year-old from ML Pleasant Hardly a week passes without his popping up in Washington for some top Republican strategy session on budget-balancing.

The other day he was to be seen riding through Michigan in Newt Gingrich's car and wallowing in praise from the speaker, who called him "the leading revolutionary in America." Then he showed up briefly in San Diego, where he told the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee that the core of the party's 1996 presidential campaign "must be to tell the success stories of America's Republican governors." Stories such as his own, perhaps. Our pop-up politician is John Engler, governor of Michigan since 1991 and current chairman of the Republican Governors' Association. The chances are he will pop up a lot between now and when the Republicans next gather in San Diego, for their convention in August For Engler is not only ubiquitous; he is also the very embodiment of the Republican plan for beating President Bill Clinton. Clinton has triangulation; Republicans have Englerization. First Engler comes from a decisive battleground of the 1996 election, the industrial Midwest An urbanized, unflamboyant son of a cattle farmer, he oozes Midwesternness.

In Michigan, he has a 63-percent approval rating. He even has solid support in the bluecollar areas around Detroit, where David Bonior, a local congressman who is Democratic whip in the House of Representatives and a persistent scourge of Gingrich, is now thought to be vulnerable. Next Engler is a Roman Catholic albeit a divorced, remarried one. Republicans are aiming at the Catholic vote. Catholics used to be a solid part of the Democratic coalition, but in 1994, for the first time, a majority voted Republican.

As luck would have it Engler now has three perfect props for a platform of family values: his one-year-old triplets, Margaret Hannah and Madeleine. Then there is the hope of emulating the Engler story. In his early days as governor, when Engler was cutting spending, heading for a showdown with teachers and being attacked as mean-spirited, the polls at one point showed that only 19 percent of voters would re-elect him. But he bounced back, much as the Republicans hope to bounce back nationally from their mean-spirited budget fight "We have a very similar style," Gingrich said in Detroit this month, "we just charge straight ahead taxes 21 times, Engler has pulled off locally the trick that Republicans would like to persuade America they can perform nationally. But the most powerful aspect of Englerization is welfare reform.

Republicans see a delicious opportunity to attack a president who pledged to end welfare as we know it and yet vetoed Congress' attempt to do it Back in Michigan, Engler has been Mr. Welfare Reform, cutting general assistance for able-bodied people with no children, improving incentives to work and threatening to cut off benefits after 12 months for shirkers. Nearly one out of every three welfare recipients in Michigan now has a job, a higher proportion than in any other state. For 21 straight months, Michigan's welfare rolls have shrunk. More than 70,000 families have left the system over the past two years, saving taxpayers more than $100 million.

Engler raised eyebrows by revealing Project Zero in his State of the State address earlier this month a plan for research, in six pilot areas, into the barriers between welfare and work, with the aim of getting everyone into jobs. He proposed extra money for transportation and child care, and he would have social workers spend less time on paperwork and more time visiting their clients. This appears to veer in the direction of Democratic ideas, and away from Republicans for example, their plan to cut off payments to welfare mothers who have more children. But Engler's conservative credentials are solid enough for him to be able to indulge in such experiments. He says he would add tougher penalties for non-workers die moment Clinton gave him the necessary leeway.

Democrats in Michigan scoff that Engler is plain lucky, taking the credit for an economy that was ready for renaissance just as he came to power. Maybe so. But even his belittlers admit that he has more discipline and a sharper-focused mind than most politicians. He also has the savvy of someone who has been in politics since the age of 22. "Of all the governors," says Ron Kaufman, who was in President George Bush's White House, "tactically, he's the best" Now he may have his sights set on the White House.

He is mentioned as a possible vice-presidential nominee for 1996. He is perhaps not the ideal person for the ticket since, in the words of one of Bob Dole's people, he is white and urinates standing up but he is clearly in the running. Don't be surprised if one day John Engler pops up as president ki fed to 4 fedi fe fe TA Xtf became an atrocity last Nov. 10 when he and eight code-fendants, after a trial by a court set up especially for them, were sentenced to death and hanged. Three times during the course of his brother's imprisonment Wiwa met with Brian Anderson, the managing director of Shell Petroleum Development Co.

of Nigeria. Wiwa wanted Anderson to intervene on his brother's behalf with the government of Gen. Sani Abacha. It was an appeal born of desperation. Saro-Wiwa was one of the most prominent critics of the nightmarish alliance between the oil companies and Abacha's government He had led an international campaign that focused on the environmental damage caused by the oil companies, the brutality ofthe Abacha regime and the inequitable distribution of benefits from the oil industry.

The riches from Nigeria's vast oil reserves are being hijacked by the oil companies and the military dictatorship while the Nigerian people suffer in an atmosphere of extreme unemployment extreme inflation and a per-capita income comparable to that of Haiti. "I went to see Brian Anderson for only one reason," Wiwa told me. "I asked him to use his influence to see that the trial would not start, so that Ken and his co-defendants could be free because they were innocent" Wiwa understood the symbiotic relationship between Shell and the Abacha regime. The essence of that relationship was captured in a classified Some supporters saw Engler's possibilities earlier than others. and hope that youTl figure out later why we were right" Engler won his battles notably a daring reform of school financing and kept his promises.

In 1994 he coasted to re-election. His reforms continue apace. He plans to expand the number of charter schools, cut the tax bureaucracy, reshuffle government departments and build new prisons (including a "punk prison" for juvenile offenders). As for the economy, boosters talk of a Michigan miracle. The rust belt is dead, says the governor, replaced by the "high-performance heartland." Unemployment now 4.6 percent dipped below the national average in 1994 and has stayed below, a sustained success the like of which Michigan has not seen for a quarter of a century.

In turning a nearly $2-billion budget deficit into a $l-billion surplus, while at the same time cutting New SMART boss speaks of big dreams and lots of buses AID COMPLETE CANAL HEAR THER NO ONE WILL KNOW IT I iii, ii inn Lsrv. WHY PAY MORE? cM7 tit Ll 1 1 "Hr 1 1 A 'V dJ A llt ImuMmrtuMHwr'trr inn iinrn.i i ml REG. s1995 mm v. MODEL C.I.C. EAR 2 EAR By Richard C.

Kaufman I'm getting off the bench and on the bus. Today I leave the Wayne County Circuit Court and start my new job as general manager of SMART, southeast Michigan's bus system. Taking over from Deputy Wayne County Executive Mike Duggan, who saved SMART as interim general manager, will not be easy. He ran the system during difficult times. More important he convinced tax-paying voters what a great loss it would be if SMART, the only public transportation system in most of the tri-county area, died.

I intend to carry on this legacy. Stepping down after 15 years as a circuit court judge, eight as chief judge, was not easy. The most memorable part of my tenure was my struggle, along with other talented people in the court system, to transform Wayne County's civil docket from one of the least efficient in the country to one of the most efficient. Yet the opportunity to participate in another challenge to serve our community was one I could not pass up, even if it represents a financial setback for me and my family. My goal is to make SMART the best public transit system in the world.

Since this is my first official day on the job, reality has not had the chance h) defeat optimism. I can dream about instituting or improving everything. I foresee efficient and community-based public transit, perfect on-time performance, courteous the" use of smaller buses when they are more efficient, and an expansion of SMARTs ability to match employees with employers. I seek increased ridership, to lower SMARTs burden on taxpayers and to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles, making rush hour more serene and reducing pollution. I envision MARY SCHROEDERDetroit Free Press Richard Kaufman will see many buses as general manager of SMART.

COUPON ALL IN-EAR ucADiun Ain -ii coupon 1 L- ALL IN-EAR I I ue.DiuA Ain I COUPON WHY PAY MORE? HEARING AID REPAIRS nsMnmu him I iifcMiiiiM CUSTOM CANAL CUSTOM FULL SHELL Reg. Reg. ALL BRANDS IN-THE-CAR BEHIND-THE-EAR WITH 95 $59 COUPON COUPON 1 1 MODEL EAR 2 EAR MODEL EAR 2 EAA I PLUSS1H II EXPIRES ZZZZZZZ coupon i ways they can help improve the system. My management philosophy is best summed up in a quote I read in journalist Hedrick Smith's new book, "Rethinking America." Smith quoted Phil Condit, president of Boeing: "In the end, a company is no more or no less than its people the bright ideas they have, the way they work together." My plan is to tap the brilliance of the 850 SMART employees and to help them work together, for each other and for the community we serve. With a little trepidation and a lot of hope, I'm leaving the bench for the bus.

I invite you to come along for the ride. Richard C. Kaufman is general manager of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART). consolidating SMART'S operations with those of the Detroit Department of Transportation as much as is feasible to the benefit of both systems, allowing people to travel more easily throughout southeast Michigan and get to know each other better. In a small way, that may break down some of the many barriers that divide us.

I can even sneak in a crazy dream in which I see riders being served rolls and coffee. All of my goals may not be possible, but I suspect a lot more of them can become reality than most people think. At this point I have no detailed plan for meeting any of these goals. From my experience in court, however, I have a general idea of how to achieve such things. Employees need to feel they are part of something important and they need to be respected for the I SAVE UP TO 5.00 MORE PER PACK OF BATTERIES I "WHY PAY MORE FOR HEARING AID BATTERIES? CUM I FOUR BATTERIES PER PACK MADE IN U.S.A.

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WOODWARD AWi. 1-800-982-KEAR Richard C. Kaufman co Detroit Free Press -Editorial Page, Room 544 321 W. Lafayette i J'-S Detroit Mich. 48226 J' uvom 10988 MIDDLEBELT 1-8C0-831-KEAR (313) 281-6300 SGUTHSATE 15830 FORT ST.

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