nigeria: Nigeria's ex-military dictator eyes power as civilian president

The main opposition candidate in Nigeria's April presidential elections works in an environment of arcadian plenty that belies his reputation for harsh asceticism. Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator famous for launching an authoritarian "war on indiscipline", uses a government-owned office whose lush gardens yield mangos, guavas and pawpaws. The view of the building from the road is dominated by a strikingly expansive tree from whose branches brown pods hang like socks on a washing line.