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126-599: The palatial residence was completed in 1991, the same year the military junta of Ibrahim Babangida relocated the national capital from Lagos to Abuja . Aso Villa encompasses the 400 meter monolith Aso Rock , located within the Three Arms Zone of Abuja metropolis. In 1976, the Military Government of Murtala Mohammed took the decision to relocate the Federal Capital from Lagos and set up

252-592: A coup d'état . The two major political leaders of the north, the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the Premier of the northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello were killed by Major Nzeogwu. Also murdered was Bello's wife and officers of Northern extraction. The President, Sir Nnamdi Azikiwe , an Igbo, was on an extended vacation in the West Indies. He did not return until days after the coup. There

378-574: A "Distributable Pools Account" with the money split between different parts of government (50% to region of origin, 20% to federal government, 30% to other regions). To ensure continuing influence, the British government promoted unity in the Northern bloc and secessionist sentiments among and within the two Southern regions. The Nigerian government, following independence, promoted discord in the West with

504-416: A British offer of military support but promised to protect British interests. Ironsi fatally did not bring the failed plotters to trial as required by then-military law and as advised by most northern and western officers, rather, coup plotters were maintained in the military on full pay, and some were even promoted while awaiting trial. The coup, despite its failures, was seen by many as primarily benefiting

630-504: A committee under the leadership of Justice Akinola Aguda which recommended the creation of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the center of the country and a proclamation to this effect was issued on 3 February 1976. Akinola Aguda House (formally named on 1 October 1983) was originally conceived as a Presidential Lodge & Guest House Complex and hosted the first ever formal Cabinet Meeting held outside Lagos, only days after Abuja hosted Nigeria's Independence Anniversary celebrations for

756-581: A conservative Islamic hierarchy consisting of emirs who in turn owed their ultimate allegiance to the Sultan of Sokoto , whom they regarded as the source of all political power and religious authority. Apart from the Hausa-Fulani, the Kanuri were another dominant majority Muslim ethnic group that had key figures in the war. They made up about 5% of Nigeria's population and were the dominant ethnic group in

882-492: A counter-coup , which had already been in the planning stages. Ironsi was on a visit to Ibadan during their mutiny and there he was killed (along with his host, Adekunle Fajuyi ). The counter-coup led to the installation of Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon as Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Gowon was chosen as a compromise candidate. He was a Northerner, a Christian, from a minority tribe, and had

1008-618: A course in officer training at Mons Hall or Eaton Hall in England. Despite the reforms, only an average of two Nigerians per year were awarded officers' commissions between 1948–55 and only seven per year from 1955 to 1960. At the time of independence in 1960, of the 257 officers commanding the Nigeria Regiment which became the Nigerian Army, only 57 were Nigerians. Using the " martial races " theory first developed under

1134-725: A federal investigation of the event began. Aguyi-Ironsi suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament. He abolished the regional confederated form of government and pursued unitary policies favoured by the NCNC, having apparently been influenced by NCNC political philosophy. He, however, appointed Colonel Hassan Katsina , son of Katsina emir Usman Nagogo , to govern the Northern Region, indicating some willingness to maintain cooperation with this bloc. He also preferentially released northern politicians from jail (enabling them to plan his forthcoming overthrow). Aguyi-Ironsi rejected

1260-609: A foreign and hierarchical system of governance was imposed on the Igbos. Intellectuals began to agitate for greater rights and independence. The size of this intellectual class increased significantly in the 1950s, with the massive expansion of the national education program. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Igbo and Yoruba parties were in the forefront of the campaign for independence from British rule. Northern leaders, fearful that independence would mean political and economic domination by

1386-665: A generational shift in leadership to allow for a new crop of leaders to replace the 1966 military class. A biopic titled Badamasi: Portrait of a General which chronicled his early life, life during the Nigerian Civil War as well as his time as the military head of state was produced by Obi Emelonye and released in cinemas on 12 June 2020. Babangida was married to Maryam Babangida from 1969 until her death in 2009. They had four children together; Aisha, Muhammad, Aminu, and Halima. On 27 December 2009, Maryam Babangida died from complications of ovarian cancer. Babangida

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1512-635: A good reputation within the army. It seems that Gowon immediately faced not only a potential standoff with the East, but secession threats from the Northern and even the Western region. The counter-coup plotters had considered using the opportunity to withdraw from the federation themselves. Ambassadors from the United Kingdom and the United States, however, urged Gowon to maintain control over

1638-672: A highly political issue in Nigeria. On this basis, the Northern Region was allocated a majority of the seats in the Federal Legislature established by the colonial authorities. Within each of the three regions the dominant ethnic groups, the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo, respectively formed political parties that were largely regional and based on ethnic allegiances : the Northern People's Congress (NPC) in

1764-537: A looser Nigerian federation would be implemented. Gowon delayed announcement of the agreement and eventually reneged. On 27 May 1967, Gowon proclaimed the division of Nigeria into twelve states. This decree carved the Eastern Region in three parts: South Eastern State , Rivers State , and East Central State . Now the Igbos, concentrated in the East Central State, would lose control over most of

1890-816: A manner likely to provoke disaffection. From June through October 1966, pogroms in the North killed an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 Igbo, half of them children, and caused more than a million to two million to flee to the Eastern Region. 29 September 1966 became known as 'Black Thursday', as it was considered the worst day of the massacres. Ethnomusicologist Charles Keil, who was visiting Nigeria in 1966, recounted: The pogroms I witnessed in Makurdi , Nigeria (late Sept. 1966) were foreshadowed by months of intensive anti-Igbo and anti-Eastern conversations among Tiv, Idoma, Hausa and other Northerners resident in Makurdi, and, fitting

2016-780: A national mass mobilization . The fall of Babangida and his regime was precipitated by the transition toward the Third Nigerian Republic and the subsequent militarization of politics in the 1993 presidential election which he annulled. Ibrahim Babangida was born on 17 August 1941 in Minna by Muhammad and Aisha Babangida. He received early Islamic education before attending primary school from 1950 to 1956. From 1957 to 1962 Babangida attended Government College Bida , together with classmates Abdulsalami Abubakar , Mamman Vatsa , Mohammed Magoro , Sani Bello , Garba Duba , Gado Nasko and Mohammed Sani Sami . Babangida joined

2142-465: A pattern replicated in city after city, the massacres were led by the Nigerian army. Before, during and after the slaughter, Col. Gowon could be heard over the radio issuing 'guarantees of safety' to all Easterners, all citizens of Nigeria, but the intent of the soldiers, the only power that counts in Nigeria now or then, was painfully clear. After counting the disemboweled bodies along the Makurdi road I

2268-708: A regional power with diplomatic successes including the Abuja Treaty and the military engagement of Nigerian troops in Liberia and Sierra Leone . Abroad, Babangida's military regime cemented traditional relations with the English-speaking world of the United States and the United Kingdom ; and implemented economic liberalization and the privatization of state-owned enterprises alongside

2394-643: A result of the post-12 June 1993 election which he illegally nullified. He rose through the ranks of the Nigerian Army fighting in the Nigerian Civil War and at various times being involved in almost all the military coups in Nigeria , before advancing to the full-rank of a General and ultimately as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces ; and as an unelected President and military dictator from 1985 to 1993, ruling for an uninterrupted period of eight years. His years in power, colloquially known as

2520-451: A significant Eurocentric-educated population. Several key figures on the Nigerian side of the war came from this sub-region, such as Yakubu Gowon and Theophilus Danjuma, both of whom are Christians. The Yoruba political system in the southwest, like that of the Hausa-Fulani, also consisted of a series of monarchs , the Oba . The Yoruba monarchs, however, were less autocratic than those in

2646-673: A sustained commitment to the SAP difficult to maintain. Babangida contributed to the development of national infrastructure. He finished the construction of the Third Mainland Bridge , the largest bridge on the continent at the time. His administration also saw the completion of the dualising of the Kaduna-Kano highway. Babangida also completed the Shiroro Hydroelectric Power Station . He had

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2772-576: A unitary Nigerian state. In the face of sustained opposition by the NCNC delegates, later joined by the NPC and backed by threats to view maintenance of the inclusion of secession by the AG as treasonable by the British, the AG was forced to renounce its position of inclusion of the right of secession a part of the Nigerian constitution. Had such a provision been made in the Nigerian constitution, later events which led to

2898-451: A year, Nigerian government troops surrounded Biafra, and captured coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt . A blockade was imposed as a deliberate policy during the ensuing stalemate which led to the mass starvation of Biafran civilians. During the 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation. Alongside

3024-613: Is currently under the protection of the Presidential Guard Brigade which perform ceremonial and protective duties for the president. The brigade performs public duties in a weekly changing of the guard ceremony outside the villa. The Villa is also protected by a squad of State Security Service Agents and a squadron of the Mobile Police Force assigned solely for the protection of the President,

3150-719: Is often used as a demonym to refer the Federal Government of Nigeria . However, the name which was inspired by the Aso Rock Monolith , a nearby hill, has become a symbol of Nigeria's maturing democratic governance. Several names that are used for the Aso Villa include: The State House (common among Nigerian Media stations like the NTA and Channels Television ), The Aso Rock (common among Nigerians , and The Villa (common among Nigerian politicians). The villa

3276-549: Is rumoured to be worth over US$ 5 billion. He is believed to secretly possess a multi-billion dollar fortune via successive ownership of stakes in a number of Nigerian companies. Magazine Forbes assumed in 2011 that shortly before the Second Gulf War Babangida channelled US$ 12 billion of unplanned profits ("oil windfall") into his own pocket (the oil price jumped from US$ 15/barrel to US$ 41.15/barrel within weeks in 1990 and then crashed almost as quickly to

3402-542: The 2007 Nigerian presidential election . He said he was doing so "under the banner of the Nigerian people" and accused the country's political elite of fuelling Nigeria's current ethnic and religious violence. On 8 November 2006, General Babangida picked up a nomination form from the Peoples Democratic Party headquarters in Abuja. This effectively put to rest any speculation about his ambitions to run for

3528-841: The Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji . From 1979 to 1980, he attended the Senior Executive Course at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies . Babangida was the Director of Army Staff Duties and Plans from 1981 to 1983. He was the main figure behind the coup d'ètat of 1983 which led to the overthrow of the Second Republic , with financial backing from his close associate and businessman Moshood Abiola . Babangida alongside his other co-conspirators later appointed

3654-485: The Babangida Era , are considered one of the most controversial in Nigerian political and military history, being characterized by a burgeoning political culture of corruption in Nigeria , with Babangida and his regime estimated to have appropriated at least 12 billion dollars (23.9 billion today). The Babangida regime oversaw the establishment of a state security apparatus; survived two coup d'ètat attempts and

3780-598: The Biafran War , was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra , a secessionist state which had declared its independence from Nigeria in 1967. Nigeria was led by General Yakubu Gowon , and Biafra by Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu . The conflict resulted from political, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded the United Kingdom's formal decolonisation of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of

3906-549: The Biafran airlift , an event which inspired the formation of Doctors Without Borders following the end of the war. The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were the main supporters of the Nigerian government, while France , Israel (after 1968), and some other countries supported Biafra . The United States' official position was one of neutrality, considering Nigeria as "a responsibility of Britain", but some interpret

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4032-636: The Kingdom of Nri . At its zenith, the Kingdom controlled most of Igboland, including influence on the Anioma people , Arochukwu (which controlled slavery in Igbo), and Onitsha territory. Unlike the other two regions, decisions within the Igbo communities were made by a general assembly in which men and women participated. Considering this participation by women in this civil war, the study Female fighters and

4158-782: The National Electoral Commission – showed the duo of Moshood Abiola and Babagana Kingibe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) defeated Bashir Tofa and Slyvester Ugoh of the National Republican Convention (NRC) by over 2.3 million votes in the 1993 presidential election . The elections were later annulled by military head of state General Babangida, citing electoral irregularities. The annulment led to widespread protests and political unrest in Abiola's stronghold of

4284-657: The North-Eastern state . They historically successfully resisted the Sokoto Caliphate during the 19th-century through their millennium-long Kanem-Bornu empire . The southernmost part of the region known as the Middle Belt had large populations of Christian and Animist populations. Through missionary activities and the 'Northernisation' policy of the Regional Government , the sub-region had

4410-548: The October 2010 Abuja bombing . President Goodluck Jonathan later emerged as the PDP presidential candidate and throughout his presidency sought counsel from Babangida and his military inner circle. In 2015, following the election of his long-time rival General Muhammadu Buhari as president, Babangida maintained a low profile. In 2017, Babangida had corrective surgery. He is considered a foremost elder statesman, and has called for

4536-592: The Raj in 19th-century India , the colonial government had decided that peoples from northern Nigeria such as the Hausa, Tiv, and Kanuri were the hard " martial races " whose recruitment was encouraged while the peoples from southern Nigeria such as the Igbos and the Yoruba were viewed as too soft to make for good soldiers and hence their recruitment was discouraged. As a result, by 1958, men from northern Nigeria made up 62% of

4662-753: The South West , as many felt Babangida had ulterior motives, and did not want to cede power to Moshood Abiola , a Yoruba businessman. Babangida later admitted that the elections were annulled due to national security considerations, which he didn't specify. The lingering 12 June crisis led to the resignation of General Babangida in August 1993. Babangida signed a decree establishing the Interim National Government led by Ernest Shonekan . As interim president, Shonekan initially appointed Abiola as his vice president , who refused to recognize

4788-511: The United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, with a population of 45.2 million made up of more than 300 differing ethnic and cultural groups. When the colony of Nigeria was created, its three largest ethnic groups were the Igbo , who formed about 60–70% of the population in the southeast; the Hausa-Fulani of the Sokoto Caliphate , who formed about 67% of the population in the northern part of

4914-515: The colonial amalgamation in 1914 of the Northern Protectorate , Lagos Colony , and Southern Nigeria Protectorate , which was intended for better administration due to the proximity of these protectorates . However, the change did not take into consideration the differences in the culture and religions of the people in each area. Competition for political and economic power exacerbated tensions. Nigeria gained independence from

5040-444: The colonial government in Nigeria . In the north, the colonial government found it convenient to rule indirectly through the emirs, thus perpetuating rather than changing the indigenous authoritarian political system. Christian missionaries were excluded from the north, and the area thus remained virtually closed to European cultural influence. By contrast, the richest of the Igbo often sent their sons to British universities, with

5166-731: The foreign relations of Nigeria . He rejected apartheid in South Africa , involved Nigerian troops in the Liberian Civil War , hosted the Abuja Treaty which gave rise to the African Union and enhanced relations with the United States and the United Kingdom. In 1986, Nigeria joined the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation an international organisation considered the "collective voice of the Muslim world ". This move

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5292-502: The 44 Infantry Battalion which was involved in heavy fighting within Biafran territory. In 1969, during a reconnaissance operation from Enugu to Umuahia , the battalion came under heavy enemy fire and Babangida was shot on the right side of his chest. He was then hospitalized in Lagos, and was given the option of removing the bullet shrapnel, which he refused and still carries with him. Away and recovering from his wounds, Babangida married Maryam King on 6 September 1969. He returned to

5418-412: The Advanced Armoured Officers Course at the United States Army Armor School . In 1973, he was made commander of the 4 Reconnaissance Regiment. In 1975, he became the commander of the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps. Babangida attended several defence and strategy courses. Colonel Babangida as Commander of the Armoured Corps was a key participant in the coup d'état of 1975 . He was later appointed as one of

5544-595: The Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and placed Muhammadu Buhari under house arrest in Benin until 1988. He established the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) as the highest law-making council serving as chairman; he also restructured the national security apparatus, tasking General Aliyu Gusau as Co-ordinator of National Security directly reporting to him in the president's office he created the: State Security Service (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). Shortly after coming to power General Babangida established

5670-416: The Igbo homeland, combined with aspirations for monetary wages, drove thousands of Igbos to other parts of Nigeria in search of work. By the 1960s, Igbo political culture was more unified and the region relatively prosperous, with tradesmen and literate elites active not just in the traditionally Igbo east, but throughout Nigeria. By 1966, the traditional ethnic and religious differences between northerners and

5796-444: The Igbo peoples, as the plotters received no repercussions for their actions and no significant Igbo political leaders were affected. While those that executed the coup were mostly Northern, most of the known plotters were Igbo and the military and political leadership of Western and Northern regions had been largely bloodily eliminated while the Eastern military/political leadership was largely untouched. However, Ironsi, himself an Igbo,

5922-544: The Igbo were exacerbated by new differences in education and economic class. The colonial administration divided Nigeria into three regions—North, West and East—something which exacerbated the already well-developed economic, political, and social differences among Nigeria's different ethnic groups . The country was divided in such a way that the North had a slightly higher population than the other two regions combined. There were also widespread reports of fraud during Nigeria's first census , and even today population remains

6048-478: The NDA's Regular Course 3), and gradually positioned his allies within the echelons of military hierarchy. The execution of the palace coup was initially delayed due to General Tunde Idiagbon the 6th Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters , and ruthless second-in-command to General Muhammadu Buhari. At midnight on 27 August 1985, the plot metamorphosed with four Majors: Sambo Dasuki , Abubakar Dangiwa Umar , Lawan Gwadabe , and Abdulmumini Aminu detailed to arrest

6174-409: The Nigeria Regiment while men from the south and the west made up only 36%. In 1958, the policy was changed: henceforward men from the north would make up only 50% of the soldiers while men from the southeast and southwest were each to make up 25%. The new policy was retained after independence. The previously favoured northerners whose egos had been stoked by being told by their officers that they were

6300-451: The Nigerian Army on 10 December 1962, where he attended the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna . Babangida received his commission as a second lieutenant as a regular combatant officer in the Royal Nigerian Army (a month before it became the Nigerian Army) with the personal army number N/438 from the Indian Military Academy on 26 September 1963. Babangida attended the Indian Military Academy from April to September 1963. He

6426-454: The Nigerian Political Bureau of 1986. The bureau was inaugurated to conduct a national debate on the political future of Nigeria, and was charged amongst other things to: Review Nigeria’s political history and identify the basic problems which have led to our failure in the past and suggest ways of resolving and coping with these problems. The exercise was the broadest political consultation conducted in Nigerian history. Between 1983 and 1985,

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6552-432: The Nigerian military retained the role it held under the British in the 1950s. The Nigerian Army did not conduct field training, and notably lacked heavy weapons. Before 1948, Nigerians were not allowed to hold officer's commissions, and only in 1948 were certain promising Nigerian recruits allowed to attend Sandhurst for officer training while at the same time Nigerian NCOs were allowed to become officers if they completed

6678-558: The Nigerian/Biafran civil war may have been avoided. The pre-independence alliance between the NCNC and the NPC against the aspirations of the AG would later set the tone for political governance of independent Nigeria by the NCNC/NPC and lead to disaster in later years in Nigeria. Northern–Southern tension manifested firstly in the 1945 Jos riots and again on 1 May 1953, as fighting in the Northern city of Kano . The political parties tended to focus on building power in their own regions, resulting in an incoherent and disunified dynamic in

6804-409: The North; the Action Group in the West (AG); and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in the East. Although these parties were not exclusively homogeneous in terms of their ethnic or regional make-up, the disintegration of Nigeria resulted largely from the fact that these parties were primarily based in one region and one tribe. The basis of modern Nigeria formed in 1914 when

6930-442: The Presidency. His form was personally issued to him by the PDP chairman, Ahmadu Ali . This action immediately drew extreme reactions of support or opposition from the southwest. In December, just before the presidential primaries, it was widely reported in Nigerian newspapers that Babangida had withdrawn his candidacy. In a letter excerpted in the media, IBB is quoted as citing the "moral dilemma" of running against Umaru Yar'Adua ,

7056-432: The SAP and MAMSER were: Between 1986 and 1988, these policies were executed as intended by the IMF, and the Nigerian economy actually did grow as had been hoped, with the export sector performing especially well. But falling real wages in the public sector and among the urban classes, along with a drastic reduction in expenditure on public services, set off waves of rioting and other manifestations of discontent that made

7182-422: The Three Arms Zone of the Federal Capital Territory, consists of the Main Presidential Villa (Office and Residence of the President, and Offices of the Vice President and Wife of the President), the State House Conference Center, State House Annex State House Clinic, and the Akinola Aguda House. The old Presidential Lodge in Marina, Lagos, was handed over to the Lagos State Government in 2017. The Aso Rock Villa

7308-465: The Toja Bridge in Kebbi constructed. He also created the Jibia Water Treatment Plant and the Challawa Cenga Dam in Kano . Babangida also founded the Federal Road Safety Corps in order to better manage the national roads. On 23 September 1987, Babangida created two states: Akwa Ibom State and Katsina State . On 27 August 1991, Babangida created nine more states: Abia , Enugu , Delta , Jigawa , Kebbi , Osun , Kogi , Taraba , and Yobe . Bringing

7434-405: The United Kingdom amalgamated the Northern and Southern protectorates. Beginning with the Northern Protectorate, the British implemented a system of indirect rule of which they exerted influence through alliances with local forces. This system worked so well, Colonial Governor Frederick Lugard successfully lobbied to extend it to the Southern Protectorate through amalgamation. In this way,

7560-436: The Vice President and their respective families. Aso rock building cost 25B naira in 1989. Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida GCFR GCB (born 17 August 1941) is a Nigerian statesman and military dictator who ruled as military president of Nigeria from 1985 when he orchestrated a coup d'état against his military and political arch-rival Muhammadu Buhari , until his resignation in 1993 as

7686-424: The assassination of Sir Ahmadu Bello . Alongside several young officers from Northern Nigeria , he took part in the July counter-coup led by Murtala Mohammed which ousted General Aguiyi Ironsi replacing him with General Yakubu Gowon . Following the outbreak of the civil war, Babangida was recalled and posted to the 1st Division under the command of General Mohammed Shuwa . In 1968, he became commander of

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7812-427: The capital of Nigeria, if it meant loss of Yoruba sovereignty . The AG insisted that Lagos must be completely recognised as a Yoruba town without any loss of identity, control or autonomy by the Yoruba. Contrary to this position, the NCNC was anxious to declare Lagos, by virtue of it being the "Federal Capital Territory" as "no man's land"—a declaration which as could be expected angered the AG, which offered to help fund

7938-519: The concurrent Vietnam War , the Nigerian Civil War was one of the first wars in human history to be televised to a global audience. In mid-1968, images of malnourished and starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries . The plight of the starving Biafrans became a cause célèbre in foreign countries, enabling a significant rise in the funding and prominence of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Biafra received international humanitarian aid from civilians during

8064-633: The conflict and the manner in which the conflict unfolds." The differing political systems and structures reflected and produced divergent customs and values. The Hausa-Fulani commoners, having contact with the political system only through a village head designated by the emir or one of his subordinates, did not view political leaders as amenable to influence. Political decisions were to be submitted to. As with many other authoritarian religious and political systems, leadership positions were given to persons willing to be subservient and loyal to superiors. A chief function of this political system in this context

8190-474: The country suffered an economic crisis. In 1986, Babangida launched the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), with support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank , to restructure the Nigerian economy. In 1987, Babangida launched the Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), following a recommendation from the Political Bureau, to increase self-reliance and economic recovery. The policies involved in

8316-478: The country, and some began to flee the North and West, some to Dahomey . The apparent domination of the political system by the North, and the chaos breaking out across the country, motivated elements within the military to consider decisive action. In addition to Shell-BP, the British reaped profits from mining and commerce. The British-owned United Africa Company alone controlled 41.3% of all Nigeria's foreign trade. At 516,000 barrels per day, Nigeria had become

8442-401: The country. The Army was repeatedly deployed to Tiv Division , killing hundreds and arresting thousands of Tiv people agitating for self-determination. Widespread reports of fraud tarnished the election's legitimacy. Westerners especially resented the political domination of the Northern People's Congress, many of whose candidates ran unopposed in the election. Violence spread throughout

8568-420: The creation of a new Mid-Western Region in an area with oil potential. The new constitution of 1946 also proclaimed that "The entire property in and control of all mineral oils , in, under, or upon any lands, in Nigeria, and of all rivers, streams, and watercourses throughout Nigeria, is and shall be vested in, the Crown." The United Kingdom profited significantly from a fivefold rise in Nigerian exports amidst

8694-400: The development of another territory in Nigeria as "Federal Capital Territory" and then threatened secession from Nigeria if it didn't get its way. The threat of secession by the AG was tabled, documented and recorded in numerous constitutional conferences, including the constitutional conference held in London in 1954 with the demand that a right of secession be enshrined in the constitution of

8820-414: The emerging Nigerian nation to allow any part of the emergent nation to opt out of Nigeria, should the need arise. This proposal for inclusion of right of secession by the regions in independent Nigeria by the AG was rejected and resisted by NCNC which vehemently argued for a tightly bound united/unitary structured nation because it viewed the provision of a secession clause as detrimental to the formation of

8946-510: The fates of rebellions: How mobilizing women influences conflict duration by Reed M. Wood observed that there was a longer duration of wars between rebel groups and the number of women that participated within the conflict at hand. In discussing the correlation between conflicts of longer duration and a high rate of participation of women, the study suggests that gender norms and the general ways in which "an armed group recruits as well as who it recruits may subsequently influence its behaviors during

9072-672: The federal government. In 1946, the British divided the Southern Region into the Western Region and the Eastern Region . Each government was entitled to collect royalties from resources extracted within its area. This changed in 1956 when Shell - BP found large petroleum deposits in the Eastern region. A Commission led by Sir Jeremy Raisman and Ronald Tress determined that resource royalties would now enter

9198-443: The first classes of African civil servants, doctors, lawyers, and other technicians and professionals. Missionaries were introduced at a later date in eastern areas because the British experienced difficulty establishing firm control over the highly autonomous communities there. However, the Igbo and other Biafran people actively embraced Western education, and they overwhelmingly came to adopt Christianity. Population pressure in

9324-614: The first round of 1992 presidential primaries. Babangida annulled the 7 August presidential primaries which Shehu Yar'Adua emerged as the SDP presidential candidate and Adamu Ciroma as the NRC candidate order to get rid of the old guard in both parties. In January 1993, Babangida rejigged the ruling military junta – the AFRC – replacing it with the National Defence and Security Council, as

9450-719: The first time, in October 1982. President Ibrahim Babangida, who took office in 1985, commenced construction of a new presidential residence in 1989 and in 1991 the Aso Rock Presidential Villa was completed and President Babangida became the first Head of State to occupy it, on 12 December 1991. Upon completion of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, the Aguda House became the Vice Presidential Complex, and has remained so till date apart from

9576-457: The general strike heavily exacerbated tensions between the Army and ordinary civilians and put pressure on the Army to take action against a government which was widely perceived as corrupt. The 1964 elections , which involved heavy campaigning all year, brought ethnic and regional divisions into focus. Resentment of politicians ran high, and many campaigners feared for their safety while touring

9702-594: The groundwork for the economic blockade of the Eastern Region which went into full effect in 1967. The deluge of refugees in Eastern Nigeria created a difficult situation. Extensive negotiations took place between Ojukwu, representing Eastern Nigeria, and Gowon, representing the Nigerian Federal military government. In the Aburi Accord , finally signed at Aburi, Ghana , the parties agreed that

9828-437: The head of state. By daybreak, the conspirators had taken over the government and Babangida flew into Lagos from Minna where he was announced as the new commander-in-chief in a radio broadcast by General Sani Abacha . Babangida justified the coup in a speech describing General Muhammadu Buhari's military regime as "too rigid". Babangida ruling by decree promulgated his official title as the President and Commander-in-Chief of

9954-592: The intention of preparing them to work with the British. During the ensuing years, the northern emirs maintained their traditional political and religious institutions, while reinforcing their social structure . At the time of independence in 1960, the north was by far the most underdeveloped area in Nigeria. It had an English literacy rate of 2%, as compared to 19.2% in the east (literacy in Ajami , local languages in Arabic script, learned in connection with religious education,

10080-506: The interim government, the crisis lingered for months culminating in the seizure of power by General Sani Abacha . Babangida at the height of the crisis stated "If I am sleeping and I hear the Yorubas beating the drums of war, I would go back to sleep." From his hilltop residence in Minna, Babangida has cultivated a patronage system which cuts across the entire country. In 1998, Babangida

10206-406: The killing of Igbo soldier Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Unegbe by coup executioners, and Ironsi's termination of an Igbo-led coup, the ease by which Ironsi stopped the coup led to suspicion that the Igbo coup plotters planned all along to pave the way for Ironsi to take the reins of power in Nigeria. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu became military governor of the Eastern Region at this time. On 24 May 1966,

10332-419: The military government issued Unification Decree #34, which would have replaced the federation with a more centralised system. The Northern bloc found this decree intolerable. In the face of provocation from the Eastern media which repeatedly showed humiliating posters and cartoons of the slain northern politicians, on the night of 29 July 1966, northern soldiers at Abeokuta barracks mutinied, thus precipitating

10458-523: The more Westernized elites in the South, preferred the continuation of British rule. As a condition for accepting independence, they demanded that the country continue to be divided into three regions with the North having a clear majority. Igbo and Yoruba leaders, anxious to obtain an independent country at all costs, accepted the Northern demands. However, the two Southern regions had significant cultural and ideological differences, leading to discord between

10584-488: The most senior serving officer at the time General Muhammadu Buhari as military head of state from 1983 to 1985; and Babangida was promoted and appointed as Chief of Army Staff and member of the Supreme Military Council . Following the coup d'état of 1983, General Babangida (then Chief of Army Staff) started scheming to overthrow military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari. The palace coup of 1985

10710-512: The north, it failed in the south, especially in the Lagos-Ibadan-Abeokuta military district where loyalist troops led by army commander Johnson Aguyi-Ironsi succeeded in crushing the revolt. Apart from Ifeajuna who fled the country after the collapse of their coup, the other two January Majors, and the rest of the military officers involved in the revolt, later surrendered to the loyalist High Command and were subsequently detained as

10836-477: The north. The political and social system of the Yoruba accordingly allowed for greater upward mobility , based on acquired rather than inherited wealth and title. In contrast to the two other groups, Igbos and the ethnic groups of the Niger Delta in the southeast lived mostly in autonomous, democratically organised communities, although there were E zes' or monarchs in many of the ancient cities, such as:

10962-517: The northerners. At the same time, as a part of Nigerianisation policy, it was government policy to send home the British officers who had been retained after independence, by promoting as many Nigerians as possible until by 1966 there were no more British officers. As part of the Nigerianisation policy, educational standards for officers were drastically lowered with only a high school diploma being necessary for an officer's commission while at

11088-408: The old value). Investigations into this did not lead to any concrete results. A critical remark is that the additional profit of US$ 12 billion calculated by Forbes could only have been realised if Nigeria had sold the entire annual production volume of 630 million barrels exactly on 27 September 1990 at the annual peak price of US$ 41/barrel - instead of the officially stated US$ 22/barrel average during

11214-418: The parties, which the late Chief Bola Ige famously referred to as "two leper hands." The two-party state had been a Political Bureau recommendation. In November 1991, after a census was conducted, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced on 24 January 1992 that both legislative elections to a bicameral National Assembly and a presidential election would be held later that year. A process of voting

11340-727: The period between 1999 and 2007 when the Vice President lived in a Residence that has since been transferred to the Judiciary as Official Quarters of the Chief Justice of Nigeria. In 2010, construction of a new Vice Presidential Residence commenced. The new Residence of the Vice President was completed and commissioned in 2024. Today the Presidential Complex, located in the Asokoro District next to

11466-530: The petroleum, located in the other two areas. The Federal Military Government immediately placed an embargo on all shipping to and from Biafra—but not on oil tankers. Biafra quickly moved to collect oil royalties from oil companies doing business within its borders. When Shell - BP acquiesced to this request at the end of June, the Federal Government extended its blockade to include oil. The blockade, which most foreign actors accepted, played

11592-660: The political marginalization of the Igbo people, as Nigeria has not had another Igbo president since the end of the war, leading some Igbo people to believe they are being unfairly punished for the war. Igbo nationalism has emerged since the end of the war, as well as various neo-Biafran secessionist groups such as the Indigenous People of Biafra and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra . This civil war can be connected to

11718-742: The post-war economic boom. Nigeria gained independence on 1 October 1960, and the First Republic came to be on 1 October 1963. The first prime minister of Nigeria, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa , was a northerner and co-founder of the Northern People's Congress. He formed an alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons party, and its popular nationalist leader Nnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe , who became Governor General and then President. The Yoruba-aligned Action Group,

11844-522: The promulgation of Decree 44 of 1966 banning them by the military government. The first president of Nigeria Nnamdi Azikiwe who was away during the first coup noted: Some Ibo elements, who were domiciled in Northern Nigeria taunted northerners by defaming their leaders through means of records or songs or pictures. They also published pamphlets and postcards, which displayed a peculiar representation of certain northerners, living or dead, in

11970-437: The queen of the United Kingdom making him the second Nigerian leader after Yakubu Gowon to do so. In 1989, Babangida started making plans for the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic . He legalized the formation of political parties and formed the two-party system with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) ahead of the 1992 general elections . He urged all Nigerians to join either of

12096-480: The refusal to recognise Biafra as favouring the Nigerian government. The war highlighted challenges within pan-Africanism during the early stages of African independence from colonial rule, suggesting that the diverse nature of African people may present obstacles to achieving common unity. Additionally, it shed light on initial shortcomings within the Organization of African Unity . The war also resulted in

12222-618: The same time Nigerianisation resulted in an extremely youthful officer corps, full of ambitious men who disliked the Sandhurst graduates who served in the high command as blocking further chances for promotion. A group of Igbo officers formed a conspiracy to overthrow the government, seeing the northern prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa , as allegedly plundering the oil wealth of the southeast. On 15 January 1966, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu , Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna , and other junior Army officers (mostly majors and captains) attempted

12348-517: The subsequent execution of Mamman Vatsa (1985) and Gideon Orkar (1991) alongside the trial of hundreds of soldiers; assassination in Lagos of Dele Giwa (1986). The regime also faced a series of ethnic and religious outbreaks related to the fallout of Babangida's decision to increase cooperation with the Muslim world and rise in extremist tendencies. On the continent, his rule projected the country as

12474-511: The supreme decision-making organ of the regime. He also appointed Ernest Shonekan Head of the Transitional Council and de jure Head of Government. At the time, the transitional council was designed to be the final phase leading to a scheduled handover to an elected democratic leader in the slated 1993 presidential election . On 12 June 1993, the presidential election was finally held. The results though not officially declared by

12600-595: The tenth-biggest oil exporter in the world. Though the Nigeria Regiment had fought for the United Kingdom in both the First and Second World Wars , the army Nigeria inherited upon independence in 1960 was an internal security force designed and trained to assist the police in putting down challenges to authority rather than to fight a war. The Indian historian Pradeep Barua called the Nigerian Army in 1960 "a glorified police force", and even after independence,

12726-476: The territory; and the Yoruba , who formed about 75% of the population in the southwest. Although these groups have their homelands, by the 1960s, the people were dispersed across Nigeria, with all three ethnic groups represented substantially in major cities. When the war broke out in 1967, there were still 5,000 Igbos in Lagos . The semi- feudal and Muslim Hausa-Fulani in the north were traditionally ruled by

12852-760: The third major party, played the opposition role. Workers became increasingly aggrieved by low wages and bad conditions, especially when they compared their lot to the lifestyles of politicians in Lagos. Most wage earners lived in the Lagos area, and many lived in overcrowded dangerous housing. Labour activity including strikes intensified in 1963, culminating in a nationwide general strike in June 1964. Strikers disobeyed an ultimatum to return to work and at one point were dispersed by riot police. Eventually, they did win wage increases. The strike included people from all ethnic groups. Retired Brigadier General H. M. Njoku later wrote that

12978-502: The total number of states in Nigeria to thirty in 1991. Babangida also increased the share of oil royalties and rents to states of origin from 1.5 to 3 percent. Babangida and his Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory led by Mamman Vatsa , Hamza Abdullahi and later General Gado Nasko , led the regime's relocation of the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja on 12 December 1991. Babangida strengthened

13104-469: The tough and hardy "martial races" greatly resented the change in recruitment policies, all the more as after independence in 1960 there were opportunities for Nigerian men to serve as officers that had not existed prior to independence. As men from the southeast and southwest were generally much better educated than men from the north, they were much more likely to be promoted to officers in the newly founded Nigerian Army, which provoked further resentment from

13230-479: The two Southern political parties. Firstly, the AG favoured a loose confederacy of regions in the emergent Nigerian nation whereby each region would be in total control of its own distinct territory. The status of Lagos was a sore point for the AG, which did not want Lagos, a Yoruba town situated in Western Nigeria (which was at that time the federal capital and seat of national government) to be designated as

13356-626: The war front in December 1969, commanding a battalion. In January 1970, Babangida was informed by his sectional commander General Theophilus Danjuma of the capitulation of the Biafran Army to the federal military government in Lagos, signaling the end of the war. In 1970, following the war Babangida was promoted twice and posted to the Nigerian Defence Academy as an instructor. From August 1972 to June 1973, he attended

13482-514: The war in 1966 included a military coup , a counter-coup , and anti-Igbo pogroms in the Northern Region . The pogroms and the exodus of surviving Igbos from the Northern Region to the Igbo homelands in the Eastern Region led the leadership of the Eastern Region (whose population was two-thirds Igbo) to conclude that the Nigerian federal government would not protect them and that they must protect themselves in an independent Biafra. Within

13608-585: The whole country. Gowon followed this plan, repealing the Unification Decree, announcing a return to the federal system. After the January coup, Igbos in the North were accused of taunting their hosts on the loss of their leaders. A popular example was Celestine Ukwu, a popular Igbo musician, who released a song titled "Ewu Ne Ba Akwa" (Goats Are Crying) apparently mocking the late Ahmadu Bello . These provocations were so pervasive that they warranted

13734-588: The whole year. This is unlikely in view of the long-term supply contracts in the oil business and the sluggishness of the state-owned oil company NNPC . Babangida commented in 2022 on the above allegations that he and his staff had been "saints". This account should be assessed with as much caution as Forbes' calculation. During his military career, Babangida attained the following ranks: Nigerian Civil War [REDACTED]   Biafran Armed Forces 45,000 –100,000 combatants killed The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as

13860-510: The younger brother of the late General Shehu Yar'Adua , as well as against General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau , given IBB's close relationship with the latter two. It is widely believed that his chances of winning were slim. In September 2010, Babangida officially declared his intention to run for the presidency in the 2011 presidential election in Abuja , Nigeria. Babangida was later urged by his military inner circle to withdraw his candidacy after

13986-560: The youngest members of the Supreme Military Council from 1 August 1975 to October 1979. Colonel Babangida crushed almost single-handedly the coup d'état of 1976 that resulted in the assassination of General Murtala Mohammed by taking back control of the Radio Nigeria station from the main perpetrator, Lieutenant Colonel Buka Suka Dimka . From January 1977 to July 1977, he attended the Senior Officers Course at

14112-696: Was Commanding Officer of 1 Reconnaissance Squadron from 1964 to 1966. From January 1966 to April 1966, Babangida attended the Younger Officers Course at the Royal Armoured Centre in the United Kingdom – where he received instruction in gunnery and the Saladin armored car . Lieutenant Babangida was posted with the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron in Kaduna , and witnessed the events of the bloody coup d'état of 1966 , which resulted in

14238-598: Was acquired through the ability to arbitrate disputes that might arise in the village, and through acquiring rather than inheriting wealth. The Igbo had been substantially victimised in the Atlantic slave trade ; in the year 1790, it was reported that of 20,000 people sold each year from Bonny , 16,000 were Igbo. With their emphasis upon social achievement and political participation, the Igbo adapted to and challenged colonial rule in innovative ways. These tradition-derived differences were perpetuated and perhaps enhanced by

14364-527: Was adopted, referred to as Option A4 . This process advocated that any candidate needed to pass through adoption for all elective positions from the local government, state government, and federal government. The 1992 parliamentary election went ahead as planned, with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) winning majorities in both houses of the National Assembly , but on 7 August 1992, the NEC annulled

14490-532: Was escorted back to the city by soldiers who apologised for the stench and explained politely that they were doing me and the world a great favor by eliminating Igbos. Professor of History Murray Last , who was in Zaria city on the day after the first coup, describes his experience on that day: And the day after the coup – January 16th 1966 – there was initially so much open relief on the ABU campus that it shocked me. It

14616-474: Was from the Midwest. Only one was an Igbo. This coup was, however, not seen as a revolutionary coup by other sections of Nigerians, especially in the Northern and Western sections and by later revisionists of Nigerian coups. Some alleged, mostly from Eastern part of Nigeria, that the majors sought to spring Action Group leader Obafemi Awolowo out of jail and make him head of the new government. Their intention

14742-482: Was instrumental in the transition to democracy. Babangida is one of the founders of the Peoples Democratic Party alongside other prominent military generals such as Aliyu Mohammed Gusau . They were said to have supported General Olusegun Obasanjo in the 1999 Nigerian presidential election in order to springboard themselves back to power. In August 2006, Babangida announced that he would run in

14868-448: Was much higher). The west also enjoyed a much higher literacy level, as it was the first part of the country to have contact with western education and established a free primary education program under the pre-independence Western Regional Government. In the west, the missionaries rapidly introduced Western forms of education. Consequently, the Yoruba were the first group in Nigeria to adopt Western bureaucratic social norms. They made up

14994-527: Was only later, when I was living within Zaria city (at Babban Dodo), that I encountered the anger at the way Igbo traders (and journalists) were mocking their Hausa fellow traders in Zaria’s Sabon Gari over the death of their ‘father’, and were pushing aside various motorpark workers elsewhere, telling the Hausa that the rules had now all changed and it was the Hausa who were now the underlings in market or motorpark. The Federal Military Government also laid

15120-422: Was orchestrated with a degree of military deftness hitherto not seen in the history of coup plotting. The whole affair carried out by Babangida as ringleader was planned at the highest levels of the army cultivating his strategic relationship with allies: Sani Abacha , Aliyu Gusau , Halilu Akilu , Mamman Vatsa , Gado Nasko , and younger officers from his days as an instructor in the military academy (graduates of

15246-544: Was the first coup in the short life of Nigeria's nascent second democracy. Claims of electoral fraud were one of the reasons given by the coup plotters. Besides killing much of Nigeria's elite, the Coup also saw much of the leadership of the Nigerian Federal Army killed with seven officers holding the rank above colonel killed. Of the seven officers killed, four were northerners, two were from the southeast and one

15372-584: Was thought to have made numerous attempts to please Northerners. The other events that also fuelled suspicions of a so-called "Igbo conspiracy" were the killing of Northern leaders, and the killing of the Brigadier-General Ademulegun's pregnant wife by the coup executioners. Among the Igbo people, reaction to the coup was mixed. Despite the overwhelming contradictions of the coup being executed by mostly Northern soldiers (such as John Atom Kpera, later military governor of Benue State ),

15498-537: Was to dismantle the Northern-dominated power structure but their efforts to take power were unsuccessful. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi , an Igbo and loyalist head of the Nigerian Army , suppressed coup operations in the South and he was declared head of state on 16 January after the surrender of the majors. In the end though, the majors were not in the position to embark on this political goal. While their 15th January coup succeeded in seizing political control in

15624-403: Was to maintain conservative values, which caused many Hausa-Fulani to view economic and social innovation as subversive or sacrilegious. In contrast to the Hausa-Fulani, the Igbos and other Biafrans often participated directly in the decisions which affected their lives. They had a lively awareness of the political system and regarded it as an instrument for achieving their personal goals. Status

15750-531: Was welcomed in Northern Nigeria , where there is a Muslim majority population. However, non-Muslims criticised the move likening it to an Islamisation agenda of Nigeria, a secular country. Babangida's then second-in-command Commodore Ebitu Okoh Ukiwe , opposed the decision to join the Islamic organization and was removed as Chief of General Staff. Close to the end of his tenure, he paid a state visit to

15876-461: Was widespread suspicion that the Igbo coup plotters had tipped him and other Igbo leaders off regarding the pending coup. In addition to the killings of the Northern political leaders, the Premier of the Western region, Ladoke Akintola and Yoruba senior military officers were also killed. This "Coup of the Five Majors" has been described in some quarters as Nigeria's only revolutionary coup. This

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