Commonwealth leaders yesterday ended a four-day summit by vowing to crack down on Nigeria unless it improved its human rights record and stressing the need to improve economic ties between members.
Human rights activists and dissidents have criticised the 54nation group for not expelling Nigeria over its failure to introduce democratic reforms, but the leaders made it clear they wanted to adopt a carrot-and-stick approach.
Some western nations also wanted to take a tougher line. The Canadian Prime Minister, Mr Jean Chretien, was the first to break ranks, telling reporters he was disappointed that more had not been done to clamp down on the West African state.
The meeting's final communique confirmed Nigeria would stay suspended and that if it did not restore democracy by October 1st next year, as promised, it faced possible expulsion.
"Far from not taking tough action here, we have taken very, very tough action," the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, said. "The suspension continues, there will be further sanctions which follow and if there isn't proper progress then there's no doubt at all that Nigeria's position will be in grave jeopardy in the Commonwealth."
Mr Blair, who is trying to make the Commonwealth more relevant to the modern world, stressed the importance of the economic declaration leaders agreed over the weekend, which spells out the need to boost trade and the role of the private sector.
"In the end we are going to be better able to produce stable and democratic regimes if we raise the standards of living of people throughout the Commonwealth," he said. "So it's important we see both the economic and political rights going together."
Several African nations say more should be done to engage Nigeria in dialogue, but the leaders rejected a call from President Mandela of South Africa to send a high-level team to Abuja for more talks. To assuage Mr Mandela's concerns, they did insert a paragraph into the communique expressing concern about the continued detention of many prominent Nigerians.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda said Africans who felt oppressed should not wait for the international community to help them but should instead take up arms.
"These political activists themselves need to wake up. The Commonwealth won't give you freedom. You have to carry the pregnancy and the Commonwealth is like a midwife that can help you to deliver," he said.