As Nigeria marks 56 years of Independence from the British colonial masters today, we recall some major events which cannot be erased in our chequeared history.As Nigeria marks 56 years of Independence from the
British colonial masters today, we recall some major events which cannot be erased in our chequeared history.
The beginning
1960- 1965: Nigeria got Independence on October 1, 1960. Nnamdi Azikiwe (“Zik”) became 1st indigenous Governor General from 1960 to 1963 and first President from 1963 to 1966. Nigeria joined Liberia and Togo in the “Monrovia Group” which advocated an extremely loose organization of African states.
On February 11 and 12, 1961, People of Northern and Southern Cameroon went to the polls to decide on joining independent Nigeria or the French territory of Cameroon. The south voted to leave Nigeria and the North decided to join Nigeria. Northern Cameroon became Sarduana Province of Nigeria, the thirteenth province of Northern Nigeria. Thereafter, Southern Cameroon ceased to be a part of Nigeria.At independence, the Nigerian government consisted of three ethnic states united in a federation. Each state was controlled by a single dominant ethnic-based party.
By 1962, the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) controlled the federal government, while violence in the western region forced the dominant party in the region, the Yoruba “Action Group” (AG), to split into two.
Zik served as the second and last Governor-General of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963 and the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966, holding the presidency throughout the Nigerian First Republic.
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who was re-elected in 1964 as the Prime Minister led a coalition government Oct. 1 1963, Nigeria became First Republic under a British parliamentary system, breaking away from the British monarchy.
1964: The Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) aligned with a breakaway faction of the Action Group (AG) led by Chief Ladoke Akintola, the Nigerian National Democratic Party(NNDP),to form the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) to contest elections. At the same time, the main Action Group led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo formed alliance with the United Middle-Belt Congress(UMBC) and Alhaji Aminu Kano’s Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) and Borno Youth Movement to form the UPGA (United Progressive Grand Alliance).
1965 (November): Elections triggered violence in the western region, where Igbo civil servants of the Hausa- dominated federal government represented authority to the Yoruba population. .
The fall of first republic and civil war (1960-1970)
THE FIRST COUP IN NIGERIA
On January 15, 1966, Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu led the first ever-military coup in Nigeria that led to the death of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of Northern Nigeria, Chief S.I. Akintola, the Premier of Western Region, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister of Nigeria, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Federal Minister of Finance and other military officers.
General Aguiyi Ironsi became the head of state.
May 29 1966: Massive rioting started in the major towns of Northern Nigeria against the Igbo minority in the North and nearly 30,000 people were killed.
July 29, 1966: A group of Northern officers and men stormed the Government house Ibadan where General Aguiyi Ironsi was staying with his host, Lt. Col Adekunle Fajuyi and killed them.
August 1, 1966, Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon announced a take-over of the government to the nation
On January 5 of the following year, Nigeria’s military leaders went to Aburi near Acrra, Ghana to ruminate on the challenges facing the country. Military leaders and senior police officials of each region (East, North and South) signed an accord in Aburi, Ghana and agreed on a loose confederation of regions.
That agreement was never respected. And on May 30, 1967, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Eastern Region’s military governor, announced the break-away of the Eastern states as the Republic of Biafra, sparking 30-month bloody civil war that led to the deaths over a million people.
January 12, 1970 – The officer administering the Biafran government, Phillip Effiong called for a cease-fire. The No-victor-no-vanquish was proclaimed and the region was reintegrated into Nigeria.
1975: July 25, 1975 – Yakubu Gowon overthrown in a coup led by Murtala Ramat Mohammed, while attending the OAU summit in Uganda. Gen Murtala Ramat Mohammed became the head of state.
Presidential System of Government
1976-1980: On February 13, 1976, Murtala Mohammed was assassinated in a failed coup attempt. His deputy, Olusegun Obasanjo, took over. September 21, 1978 – A new constitution, styled on American presidential system, published, and the ban on political activity lifted. In 1979 – The country went to the polls for a general election which saw the election of Shehu Shagari as the first executive democratic president.
Bloodless Coups
1981-1985: In January 1983 – Government expelled more than one million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, saying they had overstayed their visas and taking jobs from Nigerians. In September 1983 – Shehu Shagari was re-elected as the president, amid accusations of irregularities and corruption.
December 31, 1983 – The Military staged a successful and blood-less coup and Muhammad Buhari headed military government. Many politicians were jailed. But less than two years after, precisely on August 27, 1985, Ibrahim Babangida seized power in bloodless coup, and stopped all political activities.
Structural Adjustment Program
1986-1990: In 1986, Babangida launched controversial Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) which shook up the nation’s economy.
October 19, 1986 – Foremost journalist, Dele Giwa, was assassinated by a parcel bomb, the first of its kind on our shores.
April 22, 1990, Gideon Orka led another coup to topple Babaginda, but the coup was unsuccessful. The coup plotters were later executed.
June 12 election annulled
1991-1995: December 12, 1991 – Nigeria’s capital city was moved from Lagos to Abuja. On June 12, 1993, Nigeria held what was described as the most peaceful election in history but the then Military President Ibrahim Babangida annulled the presidential elections adjudged to have been won by businessman, Moshood Abiola. On August 27, 1993 – Babangida transferred power to Interim National Government led by Ernest Shonekan, following massive protest against his administration. He said he was stepping aside.
November 17, 1993 – Sani Abacha seized power from the Interim National Government and suppressed opposition, and the acclaimed winner of the June 12 election, MKO Abiola, arrested after proclaiming himself president.
On November 10, 1995 – Ken Saro-Wiwa, Activist, writer and campaigner against the oil industry damage to his Ogoni homeland was executed following a hasty trial by Gen Abacha’s government. In protest, the US and European Union imposed sanctions on Nigeria.
Transition to
1996-2000: On June 8, 1998, Abacha passed on under controversial circumstances and succeeded by Abdulsalami Abubakar, another Military General. One month after, precisely, July 7, 1998, Chief MKO Abiola died in custody days after meeting a US delegation. General Abubakar in the same year, (1999) conducted election and former Military General Olusegun Obasanjo, earlier jailed for alleged coup, won and became the nation’s president. On May 29, 1999, he was sworn in as the President and Commander-in-chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In 2000, some northern states adopted Sharia law amid criticisms from Southern Christians.
2001-2005 – In 2001, there was a tribal war in Benue State, displacing thousands of people, as soldiers sent to quash the fighting killed more than 200 unarmed civilians, apparently in retaliation for the abduction and murder of 19 soldiers.
In November 2002, many lives lost in four days of protest stoked by fury from Northern Nigeria over the planned Miss World beauty pageant in Abuja
Governor of Anambra State, Chris Ngige, was abducted by a team of police officials tel-guided by a civilian and forced to sign his resignation letter on July 10, 2003. The action was upheld by the State’s House of Assembly but over-turned by the Supreme Court, later.
September 27, 2003 – Nigeria’s first satellite, NigeriaSat-1 launched via Russian rocket into the space.
On May 18, 2004, State of emergency was declared in Plateau State, after more than 200 people were killed in Yelwa in what would result in bosom-for-tat killings by Muslims and Christians in the state
January 2005 – Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, forced to resign from office on corruption charges and subsequently tried and jailed by a court of law.
July 2005 – Paris Club of rich lenders agreed to write off two-thirds of Nigeria’s $30 billion debt.
Boko Haram and abduction of over 200 school girls
After its founding in 2002, Boko Haram’s increasing radicalization led to a violent uprising in July 2009 in which its leader was summarily executed. Its unexpected resurgence, following a mass prison break in September 2010, was accompanied by increasingly sophisticated attacks, initially against soft targets, and progressing in 2011 to include suicide bombings of police buildings and the United Nations office in Abuja.
The government’s establishment of a state of emergency at the beginning of 2012, extended in the following year to cover the entire northeast of Nigeria, led to an increase in both security force abuses and militant attacks.
Of the 2.3 million people displaced by the conflict since May 2013, at least 250,000 have left Nigeria and fled into Cameroon, Chad or Niger. Boko Haram killed over 6,600 by 2014. The group have carried out mass abductions including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014. Corruption in the security services and abuses committed by them have hampered efforts to counter the unrest.
Niger Delta and Militancy
2006-2015 January 9, 2006 – Militants in the Niger Delta commenced major attacks on pipelines and other oil facilities, and kidnap foreign oil workers for ransom, as they demanded more control over the region’s oil wealth.
April 2006 – With record oil prices, Nigeria became first African nation to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of rich lenders.
On May 17, 2006 – Senate rejects proposed changes to the constitution which would have allowed the President to stand for a third term in 2007.
On August 6, 2006, Nigeria ceded sovereignty over the disputed Bakassi peninsula to neighbouring Cameroon under the terms of a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling.
Tragedy occurred again on October29, 2006 as the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido; Sokoto State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Garba Mohammed; two Senators, Sule Yari Gandi and Badamasi Maccido, the Sultan\’s son and another grandson and four children of the same parents, with surname as Abdurahaman including 90 others died in a plane crash.
The aircraft belonged to Aviation Development Company, ADC. It was the country’s third major civilian air disaster in the year. Umaru Musa Yar Adua was declared the winner of the controversial presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007. He was a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Amnesty for Militants
On May 2009 – Niger Delta militant group, MEND, rejected government offer of amnesty and declared offensive against Nigerian military. In August, the same year, offer of a government amnesty for Niger Delta militants came into force, as thousands of militants dropped their arms.
In 2009, Yar’Adua left for Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for Pericarditis. His extended absence triggered a constitutional crisis and led to calls for him to step down. February 10, 2010 – National Assembly voted to transfer power to the Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan, until Mr Yar’Adua was able to resume work under what was known as the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’. He returned to Nigeria on 2nd May 2010, but he died on the 5th of May, 2010
His vice, Goodluck Jonathan, already acting in Yar’Adua’s stead, succeeded him.
On June 3, 2012, A Lagos-bound Dana Air marked 5N-RAM from Abuja, Sunday June 3, 2012, crashed into a two-storey building at Ishaga, at the outskirts of Lagos, killing all 153 passengers.
Jonathan and end of PDP 16-year rule
Goodluck Jonathan stood for election in April 2011, which he won. However, his re-election bid in 2015 was truncated with the emergence of former military ruler General Muhammadu Buhari, mainly on his inability to quell the rising insecurity in the country and fight corruption which had become a huge menace in Nigeria. General Muhammadu Buhari of the opposition party, All Progressive Congress, APC, was declared winner of the 2015 presidential elections. Jonathan conceded defeat and handed over to General Muhammadu Buhari in May 29, 2015 in a peaceful transfer of power.
In June 2016 Nigeria plunges into economic recession after crude oil price crashed and militants resumed bombing of oil pipelines thereby reducing Nigeria’s production capacity in their only majour source of revenue.
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