NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence - Political Parties after Independence

Fourth Republic
(1999-present)
• Action Congress (AC)
• Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD)
• African Democratic Congress (ADC)
• Alliance for Democracy (AD)
• All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)
• All People's Party (APP)
• All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)
• Democratic Alternative (DA)
• Democratic People's Party (Nigeria) (DPP)
• National Democratic Party (NDP)
• New Democrats (ND)
• People's Democratic Party (PDP)
• People's Redemption Party (PRP)
• People's Salvation Party (PSP)
• United Nigeria People's Party (UNPP)
• Fresh Democratic Party (FDP)
• Communist Party of Nigeria (CPN)
• Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA)
• People Progressive Party (PPP)
• Masses Movement of Nigeria (MMN)
• National Conscience Party (NCP)
• Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM)
• African Renaissance Party [ARP]
Electoral Commission – Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)


Abortive Third Republic
(1991-1993)
• National Republican Convention (NRC)
• Social Democratic Party (SDP)
Electoral Commission – National Electoral Commission (NEC)
(1996-1998)
• National Democratic Coalition (NADECO)
• Committee for National Consensus (CNC)
• Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN)
• Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM)
• National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN)
• United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP)
• Justice Party (JP)
Electoral Commission –National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON)

Second Republic
(1979-1983)
• Greater Nigerian People's Party (GNPP)
• National Party of Nigeria (NPN)
• Nigeria Advance Party (NAP)
• Nigerian People's Party (NPP)
• People's Redemption Party (PRP)
• Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN)
• Movement of the People Party (MPP)
Electoral Commission – Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO)

First Republic
(1960-1966)
• Action Group (AG)
• Borno Youth Movement (BYM)
• Democratic Party of Nigeria and Cameroon (DPNC)
• Dynamic Party (DP)
• Igala Union (IU)
• Igbira Tribal Union (ITU)
• Kano People's Party (KPP)
• Lagos State United Front (LSUF)
• Mabolaje Grand Alliance (MGA)
• Midwest Democratic Front (MDF)
• National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons/National Council of Nigerian
Citizens (NCNC)
• Niger Delta Congress (NDC)
• Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP)
• Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU)
• Northern People's Congress (NPC)
• Northern Progressive Front (NPF)
• Republican Party (RP)
• United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC)
• United National Independence Party (UNIP)
• Zamfara Commoners Party (ZCP)

Electoral Commission – Nigerian Federal Electoral Commission

COUP D'ETAT (2) - History in Africa

The following will deal essentially with the first set of coups (successful and failed) in Africa with more emphasis on Nigeria


1. 1952: Military coup in Egypt
2. 1958: Military coup in Sudan
3. 1963: Military coup in Togo
4. 1965: Military coup in the Central African Republic
5. 1966: Military coup in Ghana
6. 1966: Military coup in Nigeria leading to end of first republic, Aguiyi-
Ironsi comes to power
7. 1966 (July): Military coup in Nigeria. Yakubu Gowon comes to power.
8. 1967 : Military coup in Gabon
9. 1969: Colonel Qadhafi overthrows a monarchy in Libya
10. 1971: Military coup in Uganda led by Idi Amin.
11. 1975: Military coup in Nigeria overthrows Gowon. Murtala Ramat Mohammed
comes to power.
12. 1976: Failed coup attempt in Nigeria. Murtala Ramat Mohammed killed
but Obasanjo survives and becomes head of state.

13. 1980: Military coup in Liberia
14. 1982: Failed coup in Kenya by the Kenya Air Force
15. 1983: Military palace coup in Nigeria. Second republic overthrown.
16. 1985: Military coup in Nigeria. Babangida replaces Buhari.
17. 1990: Failed coup attempt in Nigeria led by Col. Orkar

COUP D'ETAT (1) - An Introduction, Brief Overview and Types

A coup d'état also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either civil or military. A coup d'état succeeds when the usurpers establish their legitimacy if the attacked government fails to thwart them, by allowing their (strategic, tactical, political) consolidation and then receiving the deposed government's surrender; or the acquiescence of the populace and the non-participant military forces.Maxwell Imarhiagbe (2005) adds that Coup de Etat, in its lowest term is the sudden change of government through the force of arm, which can be occasioned by the military backed and sponsored by internal and external forces in the background, hence Coups have long been part of political tradition; thus tactically, a coup usually involves control of some active portion of the military while neutralizing the remainder of a country's armed services. This active group captures or expels leaders, seizes physical control of important government offices, means of communication, and the physical infrastructure, such as streets and power plants. The coup succeeds if its opponents fail to dislodge the plotters, allowing them to consolidate their position, obtain the surrender or acquiescence of the populace and surviving armed forces, and claim legitimacy, therefore, the mere mention of coup d’etat, the unconstitutional and violent overthrow of incumbent governments, sends down shivers and evokes traumatic memories from any country’s nationals.
Military Coup d’etat, as Harvey Kebschull noted, is a speedily executed extralegal takeover of government by a conspiratorial group, usually consisting of military officers who use force or the threat of force to remove the government and assume power for itself. Samuel Huntington provided three classifications of coups: Break-through Coups; Veto Coups; and Guardian coups. Mike Hough and Pieter Esterhuysen provided three classifications of military regimes when coups are successful: Indirect Rule Regimes; Dual Rule Regimes; and Direct Military Regimes.
There are several explanations for coups. For instance, Morris Janowitz offered the Corporatist interpretations; while Samuel Huntington proffered the Structuralist view (ineffectual or lack of viable democratic institutions). Samuel Finer on the other hand attempted to mesh both the corporatist and structuralist views. Over all coups happen because of a mix of political, economic, ethnic, cultural, military and personal factors. Therefore, except in very few cases, it is difficult to pinpoint why certain conspiratorial groups prefer this extralegal and extrajudicial method of gaining control of state apparatus.
In Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook, military historian Edward Luttwak says, "A coup consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder", thus, armed force (either military or paramilitary) is not a defining feature of a coup d'état. Although the coup d'état has featured in politics since antiquity, the phrase is of relatively recent coinage; the Oxford Dictionary identifies it as a French expression meaning a “stroke of State”. In 1646, James Howell used the phrase in the book Louis XIII; the first English usage dates from 1811, referring to Napoleon Bonaparte's deposing the Revolutionary Directory in 1799.
Successful coupists reap the positive reward of their "risky business" by assuming the mantle of leadership; while those who fail are charged with treason. The penalty for failed coups is generally very severe. It can lead to lose of career, government imposed or self-imposed exile, long-term imprisonment, or even death.
Coups may fail because of a combination of reasons:
(1) the intelligence services of the government may detect the coup in its infancy; (2) there may be a "rat" within the group;
(3) a friendly foreign intelligence service may detect the coup in its planning stage and inform the targeted government;
(4) the officers that were not co-opted may resist the coups and repel the "invading forces";
(5) one of the vital units may not reach its intended destination;
(6) loyal government troop may repel the coupists; and
(7) and in rare cases, the general public or the international community may protest the coup, condemn the coupist and refuse to recognize the "new government" thereby forcing the renegade soldiers to return to the barracks. For instance the coup in Sao Tome and Principe "failed" because of Nigeria and the international community’s objection to the overthrow of the incumbent government.

Definition and Usage of the Term
Since the unsuccessful coups d'état of Wolfgang Kapp in 1920 (the Kapp Putsch), the Swiss German word Putsch (pronounced [ˈpʊtʃ]; coined for the Züriputsch of 1839) also denotes the same politico-military actions: in Metropolitan France, putsch denoted the 1942 and 1961 anti-government attacks in Algiers, and the 1991 August Putsch in the USSR; the German equivalent is Staatsstreich (state's blow), yet a putsch is not always a coup d'état, for example, the Beer Hall Putsch was by politicians without military support. The well reported and popular Nigeria putsches of Feb. 13, 1976 led by Col. Bukar Sukar Dimka and the Bloody coup of April 22, 1990 led by Major Gideon Orkar are vivid examples in Africa
However, linguistically, coup d'état denotes a "stroke of state" (French: coup [stroke] d' [of] État [state]).Analogously, the looser, quotidian usage means “gaining advantage on a rival”, (intelligence coup, boardroom coup). Politically, a coup d'état is a usually violent political engineering, which affects who rules in the government, without radical changes in the form of the government, the political system. Tactically, a coup d'état involves control, by an active minority of military usurpers, who block the remaining (non-participant) military's possible defence of the attacked government, by either capturing or expelling the politico-military leaders, and seizing physical control of the country's key government offices, communications media, and infrastructure. It is to be noted that in the latest years there has been a broad use of the phrase in mass media, which may contradict the legal definition of coup d'état.

General History
Coups d'état are common in Africa; between 1952 and 2000, thirty-three countries experienced 85 such depositions. Western Africa had most of them, 42; most were against civil regimes; 27 were against military regimes; and only in five were the deposed incumbents killed. Moreover, as a change-of-government method, the incidence of the coup d'état has declined worldwide, because usually, the threat of one suffices to effect the change of government; the military do not usually assume power, but install a civil leader acceptable to them. The political advantage is the appearance of legitimacy, examples are the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, and the change of government effected in Mauritania, on 3 August 2005, while the president was in Saudi Arabia

Types of Coup d'état
A coup d'état is typed according to the military rank of the lead usurper. The Veto coup d'état and the Guardian coup d'état are effected by the army's commanding officers. The Breakthrough coup d'état is effected by junior officers (colonels or lower rank) or non-commissioned officers (sergeants). When junior officers or enlisted men so seize power, the coup d'état is a mutiny with grave implications for the organizational and professional integrity of the military. In a Bloodless coup d'état, the threat of violence suffices to depose the incumbent. In 1889, Brazil became a republic via bloodless coup; in 1999, Pervez Musharraf assumed power in Pakistan via a bloodless coup; and, in 2006, Sonthi Boonyaratglin assumed power in Thailand as the leader of the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy. See nonviolent revolution.
The self-coup denotes an incumbent government—aided and abetted by the military—assuming extra-constitutional powers. A historical example is President, then Emperor, Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. Modern examples include Alberto Fujimori, in Peru, who, although elected, assumed control of legislature and the judiciary in 1992, becoming an authoritarian ruler, and King Gyanendra's assumption of “emergency powers” in Nepal.
The political scientist Samuel P. Huntington identifies three classes of coup d'état:
• Breakthrough coup d'état: a revolutionary army overthrows a traditional government and creates a new bureaucratic élite. Generally led by mid level or junior officers. Examples are China in 1911, Bulgaria in 1944, Egypt in 1952, Greece in 1967, Libya in 1969 and Liberia in 1980.
• Guardian coup d'état: the "musical chairs" coup d'état. The stated aim of such a coup is usually improving public order, efficiency, and ending corruption. There usually is no fundamental change to the power structure. Generally, the leaders portray their actions as a temporary and unfortunate necessity. An early example is the coup d'état by Consul Sulla, in 88 B.C., against supporters of Marius in Rome, after the latter attempted to strip him of a military command. A contemporary instance is the civilian Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's overthrow by Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1977, who cited widespread civil disorder and impending civil war as his justification. In 1999, General Pervez Musharraf overthrew Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the same grounds. Nations with guardian coups can frequently shift back and forth between civilian and military governments. Example countries include Argentina (1930 to 1983), Pakistan, Turkey, and Thailand. A “bloodless coup” usually arises from the Guardian coup d'état.
• Veto coup d'état: occurs when the army vetoes the people's mass participation and social mobilisation in governing themselves. In such a case, the army confronts and suppresses large-scale, broad-based civil opposition, tending to repression and killing, the prime example in Marxist historiography is the coup d'état in Chile in 1973 against the elected Socialist President Salvador Allende Gossens by the Chilean military. The 20 July 1944 plot by parts of the German military to overthrow the elected National Socialist government of Adolf Hitler in Germany is an example of a failed veto coup d'état.

Post-military-coup governments
After the coup d'état, the military face the matter of what type of government to establish. In Latin America, it was common for the post-coup government to be led by a Junta, a committee of the chiefs of staff of the armed forces. A common form of African post-coup government is the setting up of Ruling Councils, a de facto highest legislative and executive laws making body which they name according to different shades of ideologies of the coupists or what they intend to achieve, like in Nigeria, Supreme Military Council; Armed Forces Ruling Council; and Provisional Ruling Council or Revolutionary Assembly, a quasi-legislative body elected by the army. In Pakistan, the military leader typically assumes the title of chief martial law administrator.
According to Huntington, most leaders of a coup d'état act under the concept of right orders: they believe that the best resolution of the country's problems is merely to issue correct orders. This view of government underestimates the difficulty of implementing government policy, and the degree of political resistance to certain correct orders. It presupposes that everyone who matters in the country shares a single, common interest, and that the only question is how to pursue that single, common interest.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence - Military Governors of Regions (1965 - 1967)

EASTERN REGION

PERIOD - 19 January 1966 - 27 May 1967
GOVERNOR - Lt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu



MID-WESTERN REGION

PERIOD - 19 January 1966 - August 1967
GOVERNOR - Lt. Colonel David Ejoor
REMARK - Continued as governor of Mid-Western State


WESTERN REGION

PERIOD - 19 January 1966 - 29 July 1966 (1)
GOVERNOR - Lt. Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi
REMARK - Died during counter-coup of July 1966
PERIOD - 4 August 1966 - 27 May 1967 (2)
GOVERNOR - Lt. Colonel Robert Adeyinka Adebayo


NORTHERN REGION
PERIOD - 19 January 1966 - 27 May 1967
GOVERNOR - Lt. Colonel Hassan Usman Katsina

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence - Governors and Premiers of Regions in the First Republic

EASTERN REGION
PERIOD - Oct 1960 - Jan 1966
GOVERNOR - Sir Francis Akanu Ibiam
PREMIER - Michael Okpara




MID-WESTERN REGION
PERIOD - Aug 1963 - Feb 1964 (1)
GOVERNOR - Dennis Osadebay
PREMIER - Dennis Osadebay
REMARK - Region created from part of Western Region on 8 August 1963

PERIOD - Feb 1964 - Jan 1964 (2)
GOVERNOR - Jereton Mariere
PREMIER - Dennis Osadebay



WESTERN REGION
PERIOD - Oct 1960 - May 1962 (1)
GOVERNOR - Adesoji Aderemi
PREMIER - Samuel Akintola

PERIOD - May 1962 - Dec 1962 (2)
GOVERNOR - Adesoji Aderemi
PREMIER - Moses Majekodunmi (Administrator)
REMARK - Administrator appointed during political crisis

PERIOD - Jan 1963 - Jan 1966 (3)
GOVERNOR - Joseph Fadahunsi
PREMIER - Samuel Akintola


NORTHERN REGION
PERIOD - Oct 1960 – 1962 (1)
GOVERNOR - Sir Gawain Westray Bell
PREMIER - Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello

PERIOD - 1962 - Jan 1966 (2)
GOVERNOR - Alhaji Sir Kashim Ibrahim
PREMIER - Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello

Nigeria Regions before Independence

 Northern Region
The Northern Region was one of Nigeria's federal divisions. It was created before independence in 1960, with its capital at Kaduna. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the British Northern Cameroons, who had voted to become part of Nigeria. In 1967 the region was split into states - Benue-Plateau State, Kano State, Kwara State, North-Central State, North-Eastern State and North-Western State. These would later be renamed and split up themselves. The North Central State's capital was Kaduna, and after further loss of territory is now known as Kaduna State.



 Western Region
The Western Region was a subdivision of the federation of Nigeria until 1967. Its capital was at Ibadan. It was established in the 1930s under British rule as a subdivision of the Southern Nigeria colony. Upon independence of Nigeria in 1960, it became one of the members of the federation, along with the Eastern Region and the Northern Region. In 1963, two provinces Benin and Delta were split from the region to form the new Mid-Western Region. In 1967 the regions were abolished and the area was subdivided into Lagos and Western states, which would also later be subdivided


 Eastern Region
The Eastern Region was one of Nigeria's federal divisions, dating back originally from the division of the colony Southern Nigeria in 1954. Its capital was Enugu. The region was official divided in 1967 into three new states, East-Central State, Rivers State and South-Eastern State. East-Central State had its capital at Enugu, which is now part of Enugu State. The region was what later became Biafra, which was in rebellion from 1967 to 1970.

Origin of Electoral Commissions in Nigeria

The origin of Electoral bodies in Nigeria can be traced to the period before Independence when the Electoral Commission of Nigeria (ECN) was established to conduct 1959 elections. The Federal Electoral Commission (FEC), established in 1960 conducted the immediate post-independence federal and regional elections of 1964 and 1965 respectively.

The electoral body was however, dissolved after the military coup of 1966. In 1978, a new Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) was constituted by the regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo. FEDECO organized the elections of 1979, which ushered in the Second Republic under the leadership of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It also conducted the general elections of 1983.

In December 1995, the military government of General Sani Abacha, which earlier dissolved the National Electoral Commission NEC in 1993, established the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON), which also conducted another set of elections; Local Government councils to National Assembly. These elected institutions were however not inaugurated before the sudden death of General Abacha, on June 1998 aborted the process. In 1998 General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s Administration dissolved NECON and established the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The body organized all transitional elections that ushered in the 4th republic on May 29 1999. It has today repositioned itself to deliver credible elections that would sustain Nigeria’s nascent democracy.

As a permanent body, INEC comprises the workforce recruited since 1997 under the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC). Its presence has been established in all the 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory as well as in the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence - Electoral Commission Chairmen till Date

Eyo Esua (1960-1966)
Eyo Ita Esua from Cross River State (South-south), led the first indigenous electoral body in the country. Esua's commission organized the first post-independence federal and regional elections of 1964 and 1965. But the December 1964 election was marred by controversy and confusion which led to a military coup in 1966. The commission was dissolved thereafter.

Michael Ani (1976-1979)
Chief Michael Ani also from Cross River State was appointed in 1976 by the General Olusegun Obasanjo regime as the chairman of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO). Ani's commission conducted the election which ushered in the Second Republic government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. on October 1, 1979. However, the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, rejected the outcome of the election and challenged Shagari's election in court but lost.

Victor Ovie-Whiskey (1983)
Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey from Delta State (South-south) was appointed by the Shehu Shagari administration in 1983 as chairman of FEDECO. He was seen as upright and non-partisan. At the time of his appointment, he was the Chief Judge of the old Bendel State. The general elections of 1983 which he conducted were however marred by widespread irregularities. Under him, electoral officials were accused of rigging in favour of the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

Eme Awa (1987-1989)
Prof. Eme Awa, from Abia State (South-east) served as Chairman between 1987 and 1989. He was a professor of Political Science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He resigned his appointment around 1989 over alleged disagreement with former military President Ibrahim Babangida who appointed him.

Humphrey Nwosu (1989-1993)
Professor Humphrey Nwosu from Anambra State (South-east) took over from Awa, his former teacher, and served till 1993. He conducted the June 12 election seen as the freest and fairest election and presumed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola. It was Nwosu's commission that introduced the novel voting system of Option A4 and Open Ballot System.

Prof. Okon Uya (1993-1994)
A professor history, Uya was appointed by former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, to conduct a new presidential poll after the annulment of the June 12 election. The defunct NRC and SDP were asked to present new candidates for the new presidential poll. But the crisis that greeted the annulment did not allow Uya room to conduct the election, indeed any election at all before he was removed.

Sumner Dagogo-Jack (1994-1998)
The late General Sani Abacha appointed Chief Sumner Dagogo-Jack from Rivers State (South-south) as the Chairman of the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON). He served between 1994 and 1998 and conducted elections for the local government councils and the National Assembly. The elected officers were, however, never inaugurated before the sudden death of Abacha in 1998.

Ephraim Akpata (1998-1999)
Justice Ephraim Akpata from Edo State (South-south) was appointed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar's administration in 1998. He registered new political parties in 1999 and conducted the election that ushered in the Obasanjo's government in 1999.

Abel Guobadia (2000-2005)
After Akpata died in January 2000, President Obasanjo appointed Sir Abel Guobadia from Edo State (South-south) as the chairman of the commission. He conducted the election in which Obasanjo secured a second term in office in 2003. The election was also widely condemned by the opposition. In June 2005, Guobadia's tenure expired.

Maurice Iwu (2005-2010)
Professor Maurice Iwu from Imo State (South-east) who succeeded Guobadia in 2005 was perhaps the most controversial of all the nation's umpires. He conducted the 2007 general election characterised by wide spread irregularities. Even the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua admitted that the election that made him president in 2007 was flawed. However, the Anambra governorship election last February redeemed the commission's image a little bit. The election was widely regarded as free and fair except for administrative hitches. But Iwu had already lost goodwill and his appointment was not renewed.

Attahiru Jega (2010 - date)
Professor Attahiru Jega was the former Vice Chancellor of the Ado Bayero University in Kano, north-west Nigeria and a political scientist. He was a renowned labour leader, precisely the former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and incidentally was an executive member of the union alongside his predecessor, Iwu, who then was the Publicity Secretary. He drew a long praise and accolades from the public then during his principled and courageous stand on issues bordering the deplorable state of the university education in Nigeria under the government of the Ibrahim Babangida.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence - Speakers of the Federal House of Representatives

Jaja Wachuku 1959–1960 NCNC Edwin Ume-Ezeoke 1979–1983 NPN Salisu Buhari 1999–2000 PDP Ghali Umar Na'Abba 2000–2003 PDP Aminu Bello Masari 2003–2007 PDP Patricia Etteh 2007–2007 PDP Dimeji Bankole 2007 – present PDP

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence - Presidents of the Nigerian Senate

Nnamdi Azikiwe(1960 – 1960) • Nwafor Orizu (November 1960 – January 1966)• Joseph Wayas (1979–1983) • Iyorchia Ayu (1992–1993) • Ameh Ebute • Evan Enwerem (June 3, 1999 – November 18, 1999) • Chuba Okadigbo (November 18,1999 – August 8, 2000) • Anyim Pius Anyim (August 2000 – May 2003) • Adolphus Wabara (2003 to 2005.) • Ken Nnamani (April 2005 – May 2007) • David Mark (June 6, 2007 – date)

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence - List of Vice Presidents

• Babafemi Ogundipe* (Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi Military regime)
• J. E. A. Wey* (Yakubu Gowon Military regime)
• Olusegun Obasanjo* (Murtala Mohammed Military regime)
• Shehu Musa Yar'Adua* (Olusegun Obasanjo Military regime)
• Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme (Shehu Shagari presidency)
• Tunde Idiagbon* (Muhammadu Buhari Military regime)
• Ebitu Ukiwe* (Ibrahim Babangida Military regime)
• Augustus Aikhomu* (Ibrahim Babangida Military regime)
• Oladipo Diya* (Sani Abacha Military regime)
• Michael Akhigbe* (Abdusalami Abubakar Military regime)
• Atiku Abubakar (Olusegun Obasanjo presidency)
• Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (Umaru Musa Yar'Adua presidency)
• Namadi Sambo (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan presidency)
*Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ; Chief of General Staff, Deputy Military Head of State, and de facto Vice President

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (15)-Babafemi Ogundipe

Babafemi Ogundipe was the de facto Vice President of Nigeria during Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi's 1966 military government. He was born on September 6 1924 to Yoruba parents from Ago-Iwoye, in present-day Ogun State in western Nigeria. He joined the Royal West African Frontier Force in 1941, serving in Burma between 1942 and 1945. He re-enlisted after the second World War, and rose to the rank of Brigadier in May 1964. He served as the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Nigerian Defence Forces between January 1966 and August 1966. After the coup which overthrew Aguiyi-Ironsi, and following an agreement with the new military government led by Yakubu Gowon, he left the country for the United Kingdom, where he attended the 1966 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as Nigeria's representative in September. Thereafter he took up appointment as Nigeria's High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, a post he held until August 1970, when he left public service. He died in London in November 1971.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (14)- Shehu Musa Yar'Adua

Major General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua (March 5, 1943 – December 8, 1997) was a Nigerian businessman, soldier, and politician. He was the older brother of former Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua. Following on his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Sandhurst, England, Yar'Adua participated in the Nigerian Civil War. When Olusegun Obasanjo was military head of state from 1976 until 1979, Yar'Adua was his Vice President. He was sentenced to life in prison by a military tribunal in 1995 after calling on the Nigerian military government of Gen. Sani Abacha and his Provisional Ruling Council to reestablish civilian rule. He died in captivity on December 8, 1997. Yar'Adua's younger brother Umaru Yar'Adua became president of Nigeria in 2007.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (13)- Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme

Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme (born October 21, 1932) From Oko, Anambra State, Nigeria was the first Vice-President of Nigeria, serving 1979 – 1983. He started primary school at the St John's Anglican Central School, at Ekwulobia, then he proceeded to King's College, Lagos As an awardee of the Fulbright Scholarship in the United States America (being one of the first Nigerians to gain the award), Alex attended the University of Washington where he earned Bachelors degree in architecture and city planning. He obtained his Masters degree in urban planning. Dr Ekwueme also earned degrees in sociology, history, philosophy and law from University of London. He later proceeded to obtain a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Strathclyde, before gaining the BL (Honours) degree from the Nigerian Law School.
Alex started his professional career as an Assistant Architect with a Seattle based firm, Leo A. Daly and Associates, and also with the London based firm Nickson and Partners. On his return to Nigeria, he joined ESSO West Africa, Lagos, overseeing the Construction and Maintenance department.
Alex then went on to create a successful private business with his firm - Ekwueme Associates, Architects and Town Planners, the first indigenous architectural firm in Nigeria. His practice flourished with 16 offices spread all over Nigeria and was wound up in preparation for Dr Ekwueme assuming office as the first executive Vice President of Nigeria. Dr. Ekwueme had presided over the Nigerian Institute of Architects and the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria.
He is currently Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Institute of Architects. Before Dr. Ekwueme gained national and international limelight as the Vice President of Nigeria in 1979, he was actively involved in the socio-economic development of his community. In addition to his many public service roles within his community, Dr. Ekwueme has an active Educational Trust Fund that has been responsible for sponsoring the education of several hundred youths to universities in Nigeria and abroad. Dr Ekwueme was a member of the housing sub-committee of the Adebo Salaries and Wages Review Commission. He also served for many years on the board of the Anambra State Housing Development Authority On the national front, Dr Ekwueme participated in the Nigeria National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in Abuja, where he served on the Committee on the Structure and Framework of the Constitution. His famous proposals at the NCC for a just and equitable power sharing in Nigeria based on the six geopolitical zones have now come to be accepted as necessary for maintaining a stable Nigerian polity. Dr Ekwueme mobilized the group of 34 eminent Nigerians who risked their lives to stand up against the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha during the era of military rule in Nigeria. He was the founding Chairman of the ruling party in Nigeria and was the first Chairman of the party's Board of Trustees. Dr. Ekwueme is a renowned and prolific philanthropist, public servant and a man of peace.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (12)-Tunde Idiagbon

Babatunde "Tunde" Idiagbon (14 September 1942 - 24 March 1999) was a Nigerian soldier and a one-time member of the Nigerian military juntas of 1966–1979 and 1983-1998 Nigerian military junta which ruled that country. He served as a military administrator of Borno State in the 1970s in the military administration of Olusegun Obasanjo. Following the ouster of the civilian administration of Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari Administration
In this role, he was the de-facto second-in-command and was responsible for implementing many of the government's policies. Chief amongst these was the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), which was a campaign to eradicate corruption and disorderliness in Nigerian life.

Fall from power
After 20 months in power, the government of Buhari was overthrown by Ibrahim Babangida. Idiagbon was removed from his position in this coup, and he was placed under house arrest for 3 years. After his release, he returned to civilian life in his hometown of Ilorin, Nigeria, where he died in 1999 of an unknown illness after returning from a conference.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (11)- Nnamdi Azikiwe

Nnamdi Azikiwe
Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (November 16, 1904 – May 11, 1996), usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe, or, informally and popularly, as "Zik", was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism and the first President of Nigeria, holding the position throughout the Nigerian First Republic.

Early life
Azikiwe was born on November 16, 1904 in Zungeru, northern Nigeria to Igbo parents. Nnamdi means "My father is alive" in the Igbo language. After studying at Hope Wadell Training Institution, Calabar, Azikiwe went to the United States. While there he attended Howard University, Washington DC before enrolling and graduating from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania in 1930. He obtained a masters degree in 1933 from a prestigious Ivy League institution, the University of Pennsylvania. He worked as an instructor at Lincoln before returning to Africa.

Political career
After a successful journalism enterprise, Azikiwe entered into politics, co-founding the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) alongside Herbert Macaulay in 1944. He became the secretary-general of the National Council in 1946, and was the following year elected to the Legislative Council of Nigeria. In 1951, he became the leader of the Opposition to the government of Obafemi Awolowo in the Western Region's House of Assembly. In 1952, he moved to the Eastern Region, and was elected to the position of Chief Minister, and in 1954 became Premier of Nigeria's Eastern Region. On November 16, 1960, he became the Governor General and on the same day became the first Nigerian named to the Queen's Privy Council. With the proclamation of a republic in 1963, he became the first President of Nigeria, while Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the Prime Minister. Azikiwe and his civilian colleagues were removed from power in the military coup of January 15, 1966. During the Biafran (1967–1970) war of secession, Azikiwe became a spokesman for the nascent Igbo republic and an adviser to its leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. After the war, he served as Chancellor of Lagos University from 1972 to 1976. He joined the Nigerian People's Party in 1978, making unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 1979 and again in 1983. He left politics involuntarily after the military coup on December 31, 1983. He died on May 11, 1996 at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, in Enugu, Enugu State, after a protracted illness. His time in politics spanned most of his adult life and he was referred to by admirers as "The Great Zik of Africa". His motto in politics was "talk I listen, you listen I talk". The writings of Azikiwe spawned a philosophy of African liberation Zikism, which identifies five concepts for Africa's movement towards freedom: spiritual balance, social regeneration, economic determination, mental emancipation, and political resurgence. Places named after Azikiwe include the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State, Nnamdi Azikiwe Press Centre, Dodan Barracks, Obalende, Ikoyi, Lagos. His portrait adorns Nigeria's five hundred naira currency note.History reveals Zik as the only individual whose name appeared in a democratic constitution -the Nigeria's 1963 Republican Constitution which was an amendment of the 1960 Independent Constitution have the following: “Nnamdi Azikiwe shall be deemed to have been elected President and Commander in-Chief of the Armed Forces”, as submitted by then Prime Minister Sir Abubarka Tafawa Belewa who posited that, “Nigeria can never adequately reward Dr. Azikiwe” for his nationalism.


Politics
During his lifetime, he held political posts all over the world, especially in Nigeria. They include Executive Committee Member of Mambili Party, Accra (1935–37); General Secretary of National Council of Nigerian and the Cameroons (1944–45); President of the NCNC (1946–60); Vice-President of the Nigerian National Democratic Party (1947–60); Member for Lagos in the Legislative Council of Nigeria (1947–51); Member for Lagos and Leader of the Opposition in the Western House of Assembly (1952–53) Member for Onitsha in the Eastern House of Assembly (1954–60); Minister of Internal Affairs (Jan.–September 1954); Minister of Internal Affairs, Eastern Region (1954); Member of His Excellency Privy Council, Eastern Nigeria (1954–59); Primer of Eastern Nigeria (1954–59); President of the Senate of the Federation (Jan.-November 1960); Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria (1960–63); President of the Republic of Nigeria (1963–1966); and Chairman and Presidential candidate of the Nigeria People’s Party (1978–83). Professional World – He also made a name for himself in the professional world. He was a Third-class Clerk, Treasury Department, Lagos (1921–1924); Recruit, Gold Coast Police Force (Jul.-September 1924); Solicitor Clerk to the late Mr. Justice Graham Paul at Calabar (Jan.-Aug.1925); Instructor in Political Science, Lincoln University (1931–34); University Correspondent for the Baltimore Afro-American (1928–34); General and Sports Correspondent for the Philadelphia Tribune (1928–34); Editor-in Chief of the West African Pilot (1937–45); Correspondent for the Associated Negro Press (1944–47); Correspondent for Reuters (1944–46); Managing Director of Zik’s Press Limited printers and publishers of the West African Pilot (Lagos), Eastern Guardian (Port Harcourt), Nigerian Spokesman (Onitsha), Southern Nigeria Defender (Ibadan), Daily Comet (Kano), and Eastern Sentinel (Enugu); Managing Director of Comet Press Limited (1945–53); Chairman of West African Pilot Limited and the Associated Newspapers of Nigeria Limited and six other limited liability companies (1952–53); Chairman, Nigerian Real Estate Corporation Limited (1952–53); etc.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (11)-Umaru Yar'Adua

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 1951 – 5 May 2010) was the President of Nigeria and the 13th Head of State. He served as governor of Katsina State in northern Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 28 May 2007. He was declared the winner of the controversial Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007. He was a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). In 2009, Yar'Adua left for Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for pericarditis. He returned to Nigeria in 2010, where he died on May 5.

Early life
Yar'Adua was born into an aristocratic Fulani family in Katsina; his father, a former Minister for Lagos during the First Republic, held the royal title of Mutawalli (custodian of the treasury) of the Katsina Emirate, a title which Yar'Adua inherited. He started his education at Rafukka Primary School in 1958, and moved to Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962. He attended the Government College at Keffi from 1965 until 1969. In 1971 he received a Higher School Certificate from Barewa College. He attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria from 1972 to 1975, attaining a BSc in Education and Chemistry, and then returned in 1978 to achieve an M.Sc Degree in Analytical Chemistry.

Marriage and family
Yar'Adua married Turai Umaru Yar'Adua of Katsina in 1975; they had seven children (five daughters and two sons).Their daughter Zainab is married to Kebbi State governor Usman Saidu Nasamu Dakingari. Their daughter Nafisat is married to Bauchi State governor Isa Yuguda.Yar'Adua was married to Hauwa Umar Radda as a second wife from 1992 to 1997. They had two children.

Professional career
Yar'Adua's first employment was at Holy Child College in Lagos (1975–1976). He later served as a lecturer at the College of Arts, Science, and Technology in Zaria, Kaduna State, between 1976 and 1979. In 1979 he began working as a lecturer at College of Art Science, remaining in this position until 1983, when he began working in the corporate sector.He worked at Sambo Farms Ltd. in Funtua, Katsina State as its pioneer General Manager between 1983 and 1989. He served as a Board Member, Katsina State Farmers' Supply Company between 1984 and 1985, Member Governing Council of Katsina College of Arts, Science and Technology Zaria and Katsina Polytechnic between 1978 and 1983, Board Chairman of Katsina State Investment and Property Development Company (KIPDECO) between 1994 and 1996. Yar'Adua served as a director of many companies, including Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd. 1995–1999; Lodigiani Nigeria Ltd. 1987–1999, Hamada Holdings, 1983–1999; and Madara Ltd. Vom, Jos, 1987–1999. He was Chairman, Nation House Press Ltd., Kaduna, from 1995 to 1999.

Early political career
During the Second Republic (1979–1983), Yar'Adua was a member of the leftist People's Redemption Party, while his father was briefly the National Vice chairman of the National Party of Nigeria. During the Transition Programme of President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Yar'Adua was one of the foundation members of the Peoples Front, a political association under the leadership of his elder brother, the late Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. That association later fused to form the Social Democratic Party. Yar'Adua was a member of the 1988 Constituent Assembly. He was a member of the party's National Caucus and the SDP State Secretary in Katsina and contested the 1991 Governorship election, but lost to Saidu Barda, the candidate of the National Republican Convention and an ally of Babangida. In 1999, he ran for the same position and won. He was re-elected in 2003. He was the first governor to publicly declare his assets. In 2000, during his administration as governor, Katsina became the fifth northern Nigerian state to adopt sharia, or Islamic law. In 2002 Amina Lawal, a woman from Katsina, was sentenced to death by stoning by a sharia court in the town of Bakori for committing adultery; the story attracted international attention. Her sentence was at first upheld by a court in the town of Funtua, and then overturned a year later following an appeal.

Presidency
In the presidential election, held on 21 April 2007, Yar'Adua won with 70% of the vote (24.6 million votes) according to official results released on 23 April. The election was highly controversial. Strongly criticized by observers, as well as the two primary opposition candidates, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress (AC), its results were largely rejected as having been rigged in Yar'Adua's favor.
After the election, Yar'Adua proposed a government of national unity. In late June 2007, two opposition parties, the ANPP and the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), agreed to join Yar'Adua's government.On 28 June 2007, Yar'Adua publicly revealed his declaration of assets from May (becoming the first Nigerian Leader to do so), according to which he had ₦856,452,892 (US$5.8 million) in assets, ₦19 million ($0.1 million) of which belonged to his wife. He also had ₦88,793,269.77 ($0.5 million) in liabilities. This disclosure, which fulfilled a pre-election promise he made, was intended to set an example for other Nigerian politicians and discourage corruption.
Yar'Adua's new cabinet was sworn in on 26 July 2007.It included 39 ministers, including two for the ANPP.
Buhari and Abubakar filed petitions to have the results of the 2007 presidential election invalidated due to alleged fraud, but on 26 February 2008 a court rejected the petitions. Buhari and Abubakar said that they would appeal to the Supreme Court. Marred by corruption, many argued that this election was rigged by Obasanjo as well, as he wanted his successor to have the same basic ideals that he possessed as President.

Illness and death
President Yar'Adua left Nigeria on 23 November 2009, and was reported to be receiving treatment for pericarditis at a clinic in Saudi Arabia. He was not seen in public again, and his absence created a dangerous power vacuum in Nigeria.
In December 2009 Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), stated that Yar'Adua should have handed over power to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan in an acting capacity during his illness, a statement that was backed up by the NBA national executive committee.On 22 January 2010, the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had 14 days to decide on a resolution about whether he "is incapable of discharging the functions of his office". The ruling also stated that the Federal Executive Council should hear testimony of five doctors, one of whom should be Yar'Adua's personal physician. On 9 February 2010, the Senate determined that presidential power be transferred to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, and that he would serve as Acting President, with all the accompanied powers, until Yar'Adua returned to full health. The power transfer has been called a "coup without the word" by opposition lawyers and lawmakers. However, there are others that felt the power vacuum would lead to instability and a possible military takeover.
On 24 February 2010, Yar'Adua returned to Abuja. His state of health was unclear, but there was speculation that he was still on a life support machine.Various political and religious figures in Nigeria had visited him during his illness saying he would make a recovery. Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010 at the Aso Rock presidential villa.An Islamic burial took place on 6 May 2010 in his hometown.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (9)-Goodluck Jonathan

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician and currently the President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). On 13 January 2010, a federal court handed him the power to carry out state affairs while President Umaru Yar'Adua received medical treatment in a Saudi Arabian hospital. A motion from the Nigerian Senate on 9 February 2010 confirmed these powers to act as President. On 24 February 2010 Yar'Adua returned to Nigeria, but Jonathan continued as acting president. Upon Yar'Adua's death on 5 May 2010, Jonathan succeeded to the Presidency, taking the oath of office on 6 May 2010.
Early life, education and personal life
Jonathan was born in Otueke in Ogbia Local Government Area of the then Eastern Region, later Rivers State, now Bayelsa State.He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Zoology in which he attained Second Class Honours, Upper Division. He also holds a M.Sc. in Hydrobiology/Fisheries biology, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. After obtaining his degree, he worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental-protection officer, until he decided to enter politics in 1998. He is married to Patience Faka Jonathan and has two children. Jonathan is a member of the Ijaw ethnic group.
Political career
Bayelsa State governorship
Jonathan, previously the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, succeeded Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was impeached by the Bayelsa State Assembly after being charged with money laundering in the United Kingdom. In September 2006, Jonathan's wife was indicted by the nation's anti-crime agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for money laundering related offences.
Presidential race
In December 2006, Jonathan was selected as running mate to Umaru Yar'Adua for the ruling PDP presidential ticket in the April 2007 election. On 20 April 2007, shortly before the presidential election, a militant attack that was described by police as an assassination attempt against Jonathan occurred in Bayelsa State.
Vice Presidency
Following the PDP's disputed electoral victory, militants blew up Jonathan's country house in Otu-Eke, Bayelsa State on 16 May; two policemen were killed in the attack. Jonathan was not present at the time. After taking office, Yar'Adua publicly declared his assets, and on 8 August 2007, Jonathan also did so. According to Jonathan, as of 30 May 2007 he had a total of 295,304,420 naira ($8,569,662.40) in assets.
Acting President

President Umaru Yar'Adua left Nigeria on 23 November 2009 for medical treatment. He did not provide for anyone to assume his duties. On 13 January 2010, a federal court handed Vice-President Jonathan the power to carry out state affairs in the president's continued absence. On 22 January 2010, the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled that the Federal Ministries had 14 days to decide on a resolution about whether President Yar'Adua "is incapable of discharging the functions of his office". On 9 February 2010, the Senate determined that presidential power should be transmitted to the Vice President. He was appointed to serve as Acting President, with all the accompanying powers, until when and if Yar'Adua returned to full health. The power transfer was called a "coup without the word" by opposition lawyers and lawmakers. The Nigerian Constitution requires a written letter from the President stating he is unable to serve or that the cabinet sends a medical team to examine him but this provision has not apparently been fulfilled leaving some doubts as to the constitutionality of the action.
President
Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010. Jonathan was sworn in as Yar'Adua's replacement on 6 May 2010, becoming Nigeria's 14th Head of State. He will serve as President until the next election. Upon taking office, Jonathan cited anti-corruption, power and electoral reform as likely focuses of his administration. He stated that he came to office under "very sad and unusual circumstances."
On 18th of May 2010, the National Assembly approved President Goodluck Jonathan's nomination of former Kaduna State governor, Namadi Sambo, an architect, for the position of Vice President.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP since Independence (9) - Abdulsalami Abubakar

General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar (rtd.) (born June 13, 1942) is a Nigerian general who was President of Nigeria from June 9, 1998 until May 29, 1999. He succeeded Sani Abacha upon Abacha's death. It was during Abubakar's leadership that Nigeria adopted its new constitution on May 5, 1999, which provided for multiparty elections. Abubakar transferred power to president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 1999.

Early life and military career
Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar hails from the Gwari ethnic group and was born on June 13, 1942 in Minna, Niger State. He was educated at Native Authority Primary School in that city, the Provincial Secondary School in Bida, and finally the Technical Institute, Kaduna. After this, he joined the military. Abubakar led Nigeria's contingent in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and eventually rose to the role of Chief of Defence Staff. His wife's name is Fati and they have six children.

Presidency
Nigeria had been ruled by military leaders since Muhammadu Buhari seized power from Shehu Shagari in a 1983 coup. Although democratic elections had been held in 1993, they were annulled by General Sani Abacha Reported to have had an initial reluctance to accepting the position, Abubakar was sworn in as president on 9 June 1998 after the unexpected death of Abacha. He declared a weeklong period of national mourning.A few days after assuming office, Abubakar promised to hold elections within a year and transfer power to an elected president.He established the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), appointing former Supreme Court Justice Ephraim Akpata as chairman.The INEC held a series of elections first for Local Government Areas in December 1998, then for State Assemblies and Governors, National Assemblies and finally for the President on 27 February 1999. Although efforts were made to ensure that the elections were free and fair, there were widespread irregularities that drew criticism from foreign observers.Surprising some critics of the country's military,Abubakar kept his word and transferred power to elected president Obasanjo on May 29, 1999. It was during his leadership that Nigeria adopted its new constitution on May 5, 1999, which went into effect when Obasanjo became president.

Later life
Following his short rule Abubakar received multiple honors, including the Rainbow/Push Coalition Peace Prize, the Economic Community of West African States International Gold Medal, and the Star Award of Ghana. In 2000, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed him to try to shore up the UN Mission (MONUC) to the Congo-Kinshasa. However, Abubakar's legacy is mixed. A lecture circuit at Chicago State University in Chicago, Illinois, United States featuring him encountered opposition, due to the fact that he had supported Abacha's government (Abacha's administration was notorious for its human rights abuses). He was also sued in that country by other Nigerians who claimed he was responsible for the death of 1993 president-elect Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, who died in custody after being prevented by the military from taking office, and for the violation of the rights of others during his administration.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP since Independence (8)- Ernest Shonekan

Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (born 9 May 1936 in Lagos, south-west Nigeria) is a British trained Nigerian lawyer, industrialist and politician. He was appointed as interim president of Nigeria by General Ibrahim Babangida on 26 August 1993. Babangida resigned under pressure to cede control to a democratic government. Shonekan's transitional administration only lasted three months, as a palace coup led by General Sani Abacha via Shonekan's "resignation" forcefully dismantled the remaining democratic institutions and brought the government back under military control on 17 November. Prior to his political career, Shonekan was the Chief executive of United African Company of Nigeria PLC (UAC), a large Nigerian conglomerate.

Early life and education
Shonekan was born and raised in Lagos, the former Nigerian commercial capital (now Abuja). The son of an Abeokuta born civil servant, he was one of six children born into the family. Shonekan was educated at C.M.S grammar school. He also attended and received a law degree from the University of London and was later called to the bar. He soon joined U.A.C in 1964 and was sent to the Harvard Business School for further managerial training. At U.A.C, he pursued a legal path, a few years after joining the company, he was promoted to the position of assistant legal adviser. He became a deputy adviser two years later, and soon joined the board. In 1980, he was made chairman and Chief Executive of U.A.C. In his early regin as head of U.A.C, he was the Chief Executive of the largest African controlled company in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Head of Transitional Council
Shonekan was a seasoned and proven businessman with wide contacts across the Nigerian landscape. However, his proven abilities, integrity and no visible political bias made him a prospective leader for Babangida's council of civilian run government, a government which was in the midst of economic turmoil and would later find itself mired in a political crisis. On January 2, 1993, Shonekan assumed office as the head of government affairs under the leadership of military president, Babangida. At the time, the transitional council was designed to be the final phase leading to a scheduled hand over to an elected democratic leader. As the head of the council, he was exposed to the dire condition of government finances which continued under his reign. The 1993 budget was pegged to include a 28 billion naira deficit with little money left in its foreign reserves. The government was hard pressed on his debt obligations and had to hold constant talks for debt re-scheduling. Nevertheless, Shonekan was also in an enviable position. The Armed Forces Ruling Council had designed a realistic two year economic program. The program's outline called for reducing petrol subsidy which will bring in 65 billion naira to government coffers. A modification of VAT was also in the works and a plan to inculcate fiscal discipline in the affairs of government. However, by the end of June, following the cancellation of the June 12 presidential elections, the Nigerian nation was engulfed in political turmoil. Fiscal discipline was not heeded and the government had exceeded his deficit target by the beginning of the second quarter. Calls for the exit of the President became much more prominent and, by August 1993, Babangida had decided to step aside and install an Interim government to succeed him.

Interim government
Shonekan assumed the office of the president of Nigeria on August 26, 1993. Babangida had decided to finally exit the stage and chose Shonekan as head, potentially due to him being a loyal ally of his. In the political and economic realm of life in the country, the nation was gradually moving towards a stalemate. Shonekan had lobbied fervently for debt cancellation during his reign as head of government, but after the cancellation of the June 12 elections, most of western powers had imposed sanctions on Nigeria. Inflation was uncontrollable and most non-oil foreign investment had disappeared. The political problems continued to pile for the Interim government, the winner of the June 12 elections, had vowed to oppose the interim government and most of the democracy supporters mostly in the southwest, Shonekan's region, saw him as an obstacle to a true path towards social justice, democracy and improving the welfare of the people. During his few months in power, he had tried to create a new timetable for democratic return, while his government was hampered by workers strike. However, he sometimes presented a strong arm for major decisions. Shonekan's first major decision was to release political detainees and to set a timetable for troop withdrawal from ECOMOG's peacekeeping mission in Liberia. The government also initiated an audit of the accounts of NNPC, an organization that was mired in operational inefficiencies, and presented a bill for banning three major draconian decrees. However, his loose control of the military proved to be his achilles' heel. The defense secretary who was appointed with other members of Shonekan's cabinet on August 26, 1993, took control of power in November 1993, just a few months into the administration.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (7)-Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – January 15, 1966) was a Nigerian politician, and the only prime minister of an independent Nigeria. Originally a trained teacher, he became a vocal leader for Northern interest as one of the few educated Nigerians of his time. He was also an international statesman, widely respected across the African continent as one of the leaders who encouraged the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Early life and career
Abubakar Balewa was born in Bauchi, the son of a Bageri Muslim district head in the Bauchi divisional district of Lere. He started early education at the Koranic School in Bauchi and like most of his contemporaries, he studied at the Katsina College for further education and soon acquired his teaching certificate. He returned to Bauchi to teach at the Bauchi Middle School. In 1944, along with a few learned teachers from the north, he was chosen to study abroad for a year at the University of London's Institute of Education. Upon returning to Nigeria, he became an Inspector of Schools for the colonial administration and later entered politics. He was elected in 1946, to the colony's Northern House of Assembly, and to the Legislative Assembly in 1947. As a legislator, he was a vocal advocate of the rights of northern Nigeria, and together with Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, who held the hereditary title of Sardauna of Sokoto, he founded the Northern People's Congress (NPC).

From self-government to independence
Balewa administration
Balewa entered the government in 1952 as Minister of Works, and later served as Minister of Transport. In 1957, he was elected Chief Minister, forming a coalition government between the NPC and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), led by Nnamdi Azikiwe. He retained the post as Prime Minister when Nigeria gained independence in 1960, and was reelected in 1964. Prior to Nigeria's independence, a constitutional conference in 1954 had adopted a regional political framework for the country, with all regions given a considerable amount of political freedom. The three regions then were composed of diverse cultural groups. The premiers and some prominent leaders of the regions later took on a policy of guiding their regions against political encroachment from other regional leaders. Later on, this political environment influenced the Balewa administration. His term in office was turbulent, with regional factionalism constantly threatening his government. However, as Prime Minister of Nigeria, he played important roles in the continent's formative indigenous rule. He was an important leader in the formation of the Organization of African Unity and creating a cooperative relationship with French speaking African Countries. He was also instrumental in negotiations between Moise Tshombe and the Congolese authorities during the Congo Crisis of 1960-1964. He led a vocal protest against the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 and also entered into an alliance with Commonwealth ministers who wanted South Africa to leave the Commonwealth in 1961. However, a treason charge and conviction against one of the western region's leaders,Obafemi Awolowo, led to protest and condemnation from many of his supporters. The 1965 election in the region later produced violent protests. Rioting and violence were soon synchronous with what was perceived as inordinate political encroachment and an over-exuberant election outcome for Awolowo's western opponents. As Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, from 1960 to 1961, doubled as Foreign Minister of Nigeria. In 1961, he relinquished the position in favour of Jaja Wachuku who became, from 1961 to 1965, the First substantive Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations, later called External Affairs.

Honors
In January 1960, Balewa was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield in May, 1960.
Overthrow
He was overthrown and killed in a military coup on January 15, 1966, as were many other leaders, including his old companion Ahmadu Bello. His body was discovered by a roadside near Lagos six days after he was ousted from office. Balewa was buried in Bauchi.
Today, the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi is named in his honour.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (6)-Yakubu Gowon

General Yakubu "Jack" Dan-Yumma Gowon (born 19 October 1934) was the head of state (Head of the Federal Military Government) of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. He took power after one military coup d'etat and was overthrown in another. During his rule, the Nigerian government successfully prevented Biafran secession during the 1966–1970 Nigerian Civil War.

Early life
Yakubu is an Ngas (Angas) from Lur, a small village in the present Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State. His parents, Nde Yohanna and Matwok Kurnyang, left for Wusasa, Zaria as Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionaries in the early days of Yakubu's life. His father took pride in the fact that he married the same day as the late Queen Mother Elizabeth married King George VI. Yakubu was the fifth of eleven children. He grew up in Zaria and had his early life and education there. At school Yakubu proved to be a very good athlete, he was the school football goalkeeper, pole vaulter, and long distance runner. He broke the school mile record in his first year. He was also the boxing captain.
Early career and political ascent
Yakubu Gowon joined the Nigerian army in 1954, receiving a commission as a Second Lieutenant on 19 October 1955, his 21st birthday.He also attended both the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK (1955–56), Staff College, Camberley, UK (1962) as well as the Joint Staff College, Latimer, 1965. He saw action in the Congo (Zaire) as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, both in 1960-61 and in 1963. He advanced to battalion commander rank by 1966, at which time he was still a Lieutenant Colonel. Up until that year Gowon remained strictly a career soldier with no involvement whatsoever in politics, until the tumultuous events of the year suddenly thrust him into a leadership role, when his unusual background as a Northerner who was neither of Hausa or Fulani ancestry nor of the Islamic faith made him a particularly safe choice to lead a nation whose population were seething with ethnic tension. In January 1966, he became Nigeria's youngest head of state at the age of 32, because a military coup d'état by a group of mostly Igbo junior officers under Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu led to the overthrow of Nigeria's civilian government. In the course of this coup, mostly northern and western leaders were killed, including Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria's Prime Minister; Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region; and Samuel Akintola, Premier of the Western Region, as well as several high ranking Northern army officers. The then Lieutenant Colonel Gowon returned back from his course at the Joint Staff College, Latimer UK two days before the coup - a late arrival that possible exmepted him from the coupist hit list. In contrast, only a single Igbo officer lost his life. This gave the coup an ethnocentric cast that aroused the suspicions of Northerners,and the subsequent failure by Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (who was the head of state following the January 1966 coup-with Gowon his Chief of Staff) to meet Northern demands for the prosecution of the coup plotters further inflamed Northern anger. It should be noted that there was significant support for the coup plotters from both the Eastern Region as well as the mostly left-wing "Lagos-Ibadan" press. Then came Ironsi's Decree Number 34, which proposed the abolition of the federal system of government in favor of a unitary state, a position which had long been championed by the Southern parties - the NCNC and the AG. This was perhaps wrongly interpreted by Northerners as a Southern (Eastern, Midwestern and Western Regions) attempt at a takeover of all levers of power in the country. The North lagged badly behind the Western and Eastern regions in terms of education due to their religious related unacceptance of western education early, while the mostly-Igbo Easterners were already present in the federal civil service. On 29 July 1966, while Ironsi was staying at Government House in Ibadan, northern troops led by Major Theophilus Danjuma and Captain Martin Adamu stormed the building, seized Ironsi and his host, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, and subsequently had the two men stripped naked, flogged and beaten, and finally shot. Other northern troops, led by Lieutenant Colonel Murtala Mohammed, the real leader of the counter-coup and who later succeeded Yakubu Gowon as head of state, then seized the Ikeja airport in Lagos. Several Igbo and Eastern minority officers were killed during the counter-coup. The original intention of Murtala Mohammed and his fellow coup-plotters seems to have been to engineer the secession of the Northern region from Nigeria as a whole, but they were subsequently dissuaded of their plans by several advisors, amongst which included a number of high ranking civil servants and judges, and importantly emissaries of the British and American governments who had interests in the Nigerian polity. The young officers then decided to name Lieutenant Colonel Gowon, who apparently had not been actively involved in events until that point, as Nigerian Head of State. On ascent to power Gowon reversed Ironsi's abrogation of the federal principle.

The buildup to the Biafran War
In the meantime, the July counter-coup had unleashed pogroms against the Igbo throughout the Northern Region. Hundreds of Igbo officers were murdered during the revolt, and in the North, as commanding officers either lost their control of their troops or actively egged them on to violence against Igbo civilians, it did not take long for Northerners from all walks of life to participate. Tens of thousands of Igbos were killed throughout the North. The persecution precipitated the flight of more than a million Igbo towards their ancestral homelands in eastern Nigeria. Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the military governor of the Eastern region who did not allow attempts by Northern soldiers stationed in his region to replicate the massacres of Igbo officers, argued that if Igbo lives could not be preserved by the Nigerian state, then the Igbo reserved the right to establish a state of their own in which their rights would indeed be respected. There arose tension between the Eastern region and the northern controlled federal government led by Gowon. On 4–5 January 1967, in line with Ojukwu's demand to meet for talks only on neutral soil, a summit attended by Gowon, Ojukwu and other members of the Supreme Military Council was held at Aburi in Ghana, the stated purpose of which was to resolve all outstanding conflicts and establish Nigeria as a confederation of regions. The outcome of this summit was the Aburi Accord. The Aburi Accord did not see the light of the day, as the Gowon led government had huge consideration for the possible revenues, especially oil revenues which were expected to increase given that reserves having been discovered in the area in the mid-1960s. It has been said without confirmation that both Gowon and Ojukwu had knowledge of the huge oil reserves in the Niger Delta area, which today has grown to be the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. In a move to check the influence of Ojukwu's government in the East, Gowon announced on 5 May 1967 the division of the 3 Nigerian regions into 12 states - North-Western State, North-Eastern state, Kano State, North-Central State, Benue-Plateau State, Western State, Lagos State, Mid-Western State, and, from Ojukwu's Eastern Region, a Rivers State, a South-Eastern State, and an East-Central State. The non-Igbo South-Eastern and Rivers states which had the oil reserves and access to the sea were carved out to isolate the Igbo areas as East-Central state. One controversial aspect of this move was Gowon's annexing of Port Harcourt, a largely Igbo city sitting on some of Nigeria's largest reserves, into the new Rivers State, emasculating the Igbo population there. The flight of many of them to the 'Igbo heartland' where they felt safer would later prove to be a contradiction for Gowon's "no victor, no vanquished" policy, when at the end of the war, the properties they left behind were illegally occupied by some minority elements in Rivers State. Minority ethnicities of the Eastern Region were rather not sanguine about the prospect of secession, as it would mean living in what they felt would be an Igbo-dominated nation. Some non-Igbos living in the Eastern Region either refrained from offering active support to the Biafran struggle, or actively aided the federal side by enlisting in the Nigerian army and feeding it intelligence about Biafran military activities. However, some did play active roles in the Biafran government, with N.U. Akpan serving as Secretary to the Government, Lt. Col (later Major-General) Philip Effiong, serving as Biafra's Chief of Defence Staff and others like Chiefs Bassey and Graham-Douglas serving in other significant roles.

Gowon as war leader
On 30 May 1967, Ojukwu responded to Gowon's announcement by declaring the formal secession of the Eastern Region, which was now to be known as the Republic of Biafra. This was to trigger a war that would last some 30 months, and see the deaths of more than 100,000 soldiers and over a million civilians, most of the latter of which would perish of starvation under a Nigeria-imposed blockade. The war saw a massive expansion of the Nigerian army in size and a steep increase in its doctrinal and technical sophistication, while the Nigerian Air Force was essentially born in the course of the conflict. However, significant controversy has surrounded the air operations of the Nigerian Forces, as several residents of Biafra, including Red Cross workers, foreign missionaries and journalists, accused the Nigerian Air Force of specifically targeting civilian populations, relief centers and marketplaces. Gowon has steadfastly denied those claims, along with claims that his army committed atrocities such as rape, wholesale executions of civilian populations and extensive looting in occupied areas; however, one of his wartime commanders, Benjamin Adekunle seems to give some credence to these claims in his book, while excusing them as unfortunate by-products of war.The end of the war came about on 13 January 1970, with Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo's acceptance of the surrender of Biafran forces. The next day Obasanjo announced the situation on the former rebel radio station Radio Biafra Enugu. Gowon subsequently declared his famous "no victor, no vanquished" speech, and followed it up with an amnesty for the majority of those who had participated in the Biafran uprising, as well as a program of "Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation", to repair the extensive damage done to the economy and infrastructure of the Eastern Region during the years of war. Unfortunately, some of these efforts never left the drawing board. In addition to this, Gen. Gowon's administration's policy of giving 20 pounds to everyone who had a bank account in Nigeria before the war, regardless of how much money had been in their account, was criticised by foreign and local aid workers, as this led to an unprecedented scale of begging, looting and robbery in the former Biafran areas after the war.

Gowon's career after the Biafran War
The postwar years saw Nigeria enjoying a meteoric, oil-fueled, economic upturn in the course of which the scope of activity of the Nigerian federal government grew to an unprecedented degree, with increased earnings from oil revenues. Unfortunately, however, this period also saw a rapid increase in corruption, mostly bribery, of and by federal government officials; and although the head of State himself, Gen. Gowon, was never found complicit in the corrupt practices, he was often accused of turning a blind eye to the activities of his staff and cronies.

Indigenization Decree
Another fateful decision made by Gowon at the height of the oil boom was to have severely negative repercussions for the Nigerian economy in later years, although its immediate effects were scarcely noticeable - his indigenization decree of 1972, which declared many sectors of the Nigerian economy off-limits to all foreign investment, while ruling out more than minority participation by foreigners in several other areas. This decree provided windfall gains to several well-connected Nigerians, not the least important of whom was MKO Abiola (who Fela Anikulapo Kuti was later to lampoon as "International Thief-Thief" for his role as an inactive, nominal majority shareholder in a joint venture with ITT), but proved highly detrimental to non-oil investment in the Nigerian economy.

Hallmarks of General Gowon's reign
Apart from winning the civil war and keeping the country together, general Gowon's time also saw
• Development of the Country's capital- Lagos, into an international city.
• Creation of Twelve states
• Introduction of odd and even days to manage Lagos traffic.
• Expansion of Government bureaucracy

Overthrow
On 1 October 1974, in flagrant contradiction to his earlier promises, Gowon declared that Nigeria would not be ready for civilian rule by 1976, and he announced that the handover date would be postponed indefinitely. Furthermore, because of the growth in bureaucracy, there were allegations of rise in corruption. Increased wealth in the country resulted in fake import licenses being issued. There were stories of tons of stones and sand being imported into the country, and of General Gowon himself saying to a foreign reporter that "the only problem Nigeria has is how to spend the money she has." These provoked serious discontent within the army, and on 25 July 1975, while Gowon was attending an OAU summit in Kampala, a group of officers led by Brigadier Murtala Mohammed announced his overthrow.

Later life
Gowon subsequently went into exile in the United Kingdom, where he acquired a Ph.D. in political science as a student at the University of Warwick. He lived in north London / Hertfordshire border, and very much became part the English community in his area, where he served a term as Churchwarden in the local church. In February 1976, Gowon was implicated in the Coup d'état led by Lt. Col Buka Suka Dimka, which resulted in the death of the now Gen Murtala Mohammed. According to Dimka's "confession", he met with Gowon in London, and obtained support from him for the coup. In addition, Dimka mentioned before his execution that the purpose of the Coup d'état was to re-install Gowon as Head of State. As a result of the coup tribunal findings, Gowon was declared wanted by the Nigerian government, stripped of his rank in absentia and had his pension cut off. Gen Gowon was finally pardoned (along with the ex-Biafran President, Emeka Ojukwu) during the Second Republic under President Shehu Shagari. He returned to Nigeria in the 1980s, and in the 1990s he formed a non-denominational religious group, Nigeria Prays. Still based in the UK, General Gowon today serves an 'elder statesman' role in African politics, operating (for example) as an official observer at the Ghanaian presidential elections 2008.
Furthermore, Gen. Gowon is also involved in the Guinea Worm Eradication Programme as well as the HIV Programme with Global Fund of Geneva. Gowon founded his own organization in 1992 called the Yakubu Gowon Centre. The organization is said to work on issues in Nigeria such as good governance as well as infectious disease control including HIV/AIDS, guinea worm, and malaria.

NIGERIA LEADERSHIP Since Independence (5)- Shehu Shagari

Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, Turakin Sakkwato (born February 25, 1925) served as the President of Nigeria's Second Republic (1979 - 1983), after the handover of power by General Olusegun Obasanjo's military government. Shagari is a northerner of Fulani extraction and holds the title of Turakin Sakkwato in the Sokoto Caliphate. He worked as a teacher for a brief period before entering politics in 1954 upon his election to the federal House of Representatives.

Early life

Shehu Usman Shagari was born in Shagari village to the family of Magaji Aliyu and Mariamu in 1925. His name, Usman, means "Companion". He was raised in a polygamous family, and was the sixth child born into the family. Prior to becoming Magajin Shagari, Aliyu, Shehu's father was a farmer, trader and herder. However, due to traditional rites that prevented rulers from participating in business, Aliyu relinquished some of his trading interest when he became the Magaji, or village head, of Shagari village. Aliyu died five years after Shehu's birth, and Shehu's elder brother, Bello, briefly took on his father's mantle as Magajin Shagari.The village of Shagari was founded by Fulani Jihadist and cattlemen and later dominated by Hausa traders. Like many Jihadist founded towns, religious recitals were important for children growing up. Shagari was taught recitals at home and later went to a Quranic school at the age of four. However, he was obliged to attend elementary school at Yabo, a town close by. After, he went to the Sokoto Middle School and later to Kaduna college.

Early career
Kaduna College originally was created to be a teachers training school. There were few high level civil service professions open to indigenes in Northern Nigeria and coupled with the lack of a post-graduate school except the Yaba Higher college; the teaching profession became the dominant career path early graduates of Kaduna college took and Shagari was no exception. After finishing secondary school, he was called on to become the new pupil-science teacher of Sokoto Middle School, shortly after; he was appointed the science teacher for Zaria Middle school. In 1945, after the end World War 2, he moved back to become the science and also history and geography teacher of the Sokoto Middle School. There, he was re-united with his extended family who lived nearby. Six years after, he was posted to Argungu as the headmaster of the new primary school there.

Marriages
After, becoming the science teacher for Sokoto Middle School, he had a close look at arranged marriages. His uncle Magaji Basharu and his brother, Bello had tried to have him marry Basharu's granddaughter. However, Shagari gave the visiting bridal train a tauting look, after the visitors left, the bride sensing the atmosphere followed them briskly. Shagari later married twice to Hadiza and Aishatu Shagari.

Early political career
Starting from the late 1930s, a few Northern Nigeria political organizations started mushrooming. Shagari who was educated at Kaduna college, was already well versed in the early independence movement in Southern Nigeria as an avid reader of southern newspapers. He also held strong social views about development of Yabo, his district in Sokoto. In 1946, Shagari and Mallam Gambo Abuja started the Youth Social Circle, a political organization centered around Sokoto. They were supported by noble men such as Ahmadu Bello, Ibrahim Gusau, and Mallam Ahamdu Dabbaba. By 1948, a consolidation idea was initiated in the region to merge all the nascent political organizations under one group. The youth social circle of Sokoto agreed to the merger, and together with other groups formed the Northern People's congress. Later on, the organization became a political party and went on to win the national parliamentary election in 1959. Before 1959, Shagari was elected to represent the constituency of Sokoto Southwest. In 1958, he was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Shagari later went on to hold the positions of minister of Economic Development in 1960, minister of Internal Affairs in 1962 and minister of Works and Survey in 1965. However, the first republic was cut short by a military coup. Shagari returned to Sokoto to work on his farm and later to work as a councilor for the Sokoto Native Authority. In 1970, as part of a movement to broaden the government, Yakubu Gowon made Shagari a minister of Economic affairs and later of Finance. Gowon's government was later overthrown as part of a military putsch by some military officers. A new democratic return timetable was initiated by the new Administration. As part of its preparation for democratic return, the government of Obasanjo established a constitutional conference. Members to the conference where both elected and selected. Within the conference, a national organization was formed among some members, the organization was called National Movement, it later metamorphosized to become the National Party of Nigeria and contested the 1979 election with Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari as its presidential candidate.
Shagari won the 1979 election with the help of his campaign manager, Umaru Dikko, political men of prominence in the North and among southern minorities, and some money bags interested in protecting their interest. Nevertheless, the party captured the ethnic and social demographics as good or even better than his adversaries. The party's motto was "One Nation, One Destiny" and it tried to promote this motto even to its detriment. Shagari, made Housing, Industries, Transportation and Agriculture as the major goals of his administration, particularly in his early stages of governance during the oil boom. However, most of his programs had incongruous outcomes. In Housing, he launched a large scale housing program that built estates such as "Shagari Estate" but also launched the careers of Nigeria's legendary money bags who swamped the Nigerian ports with imported cement to complete the housing projects. In Industries, Shagari completed the Delta Steel complex in 1982, and spent hundred of millions of dollars on the Ajaokuta Steel complex and the Steel rolling mills. However, allegations of kickbacks to prominent politicians hovers like a cloud on those projects. In transportation, he launched road networks across the country, the ministry headed by Umaru Dikko, was vital in the programs of the NPN led government. In terms of agriculture, a Green Revolution program was initiated to foster the use of mechanical machinery in farming. It favored large scale farmers in order to produce mass products. However, it was hampered by the prevalence of retired military officers, who had acquired land as parting gift under the previous administration and had the necessary hectares to influence large favors under the program.

Economic stabilization
The fall in oil price that started since 1981 affected the finances of the Nigerian government. Shagari initiated an Economic Stabilization Program to help protect the country against a hard landing from prior highs of the 70's and to steward the economy towards positive growth. Key objectives of the program was to limit import licences, already abused by money bags and officials, reduce government spending and raise custom duties. However, the results from the stabilization program was minimal and the country fell into further economic quagmire.
Allegations of corruption and maladministration
The prominence of money bags who financed the elections of 1979 and lapse ethical judgement by ministers under Shagari heightened allegations of corruption. This included the Nigeria election of 1983 marked by accusations of electoral fraud, coupled with a decline in world oil prices, led to a marked deterioration in the national finances under Shagari's watch, while religious and political violence became so endemic that his overthrow by General Muhammadu Buhari on New Year's Eve in 1983 was actually looked upon with relief by most of the Nigerian public at the time.