's chief means of mass transportation. One of the favorites: "No condition is per- manent," a suitable motto for a people that has experienced the heights of optimism and the depths of despair over two turbu- lent decades.
When sub-Sahara Africa's richest and most populous state achieved its independence from Great Britain on October 1, 1960, it was widely hailed as a "showcase of democracy" with a bright economic future. The Times of London waxed euphoric:
Rarely, if ever,...