LEKE BAIYEWU and ABIODUN SANUSI x-ray the political history of Nigeria since its independence from the Great Britain in 1960 and the major events that have shaped its history in 62 years
Nigeria is now 62 years old as an independent nation. Ever since its independence from British colonial rule on October 1, 1960, it has been a chequered history for the country. From 1960 to date, Nigeria has had 16 heads of the government, eight of whom were military Heads of State and two of whom were later democratic elected Presidents.
They are Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (first and only Prime Minister), from 1960 to 1963; Nnamdi Azikiwe (first President), from October 1, 1963 to January 16, 1966; Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, from January 16, 1966 to July 29, 1966; General Yakubu Gowon, from August 1, 1966 to July 29, 1975; General Murtala Mohammed, from July 29, 1975 to February 13, 1976; General Olusegun Obasanjo, from February 13, 1976 to October 1, 1979; Shehu Shagari, from October 1, 1979 to December 31, 1983; Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985; General Ibrahim Babangida, from August 27, 1985 to August 27, 1993; Chief Ernest Shonekan, from August 26, 1993 to November 17, 1993; General Sani Abacha, from November 17, 1993 to June 8, 1998; General Abdulsalami Abubakar, from June 9, 1998 to May 29, 1999; Olusegun Obasanjo, from May 29, 1999 to 29 May, 2007; Umaru Yar’adua, from May 29, 2007 to May 5, 2010; Goodluck Jonathan, from May 6, 2010 to May 29, 2015; and Muhammadu Buhari, from May 29, 2015 to date.
Thrice, the nation’s democratic dispensations were disrupted by military coups, with the regimes hijacking power from one another. This led to the country having what is now known as the First, Second, Third and the current Fourth Republics. The current dispensation, which began in 1999 and has lasted 23 years, is the longest democratic dispensation in the nation’s 62-year post-independence history. According to some pundits, this is arguably the greatest feat the country has achieved as a developing nation.
Year in and year out, prominent political, religious and traditional leaders call for prayers, peace and unity among the ethnic nationalities and tribes whenever the country celebrates its independence anniversary. This is the category of Nigerians who believe that the country is faring better and that there is hope for the best in years to come. However, there are those who insist that there is nothing to celebrate. Indeed, the country has witnessed wars and conflicts, terrorism and other crimes, leadership failures, infrastructural deficit, ceaseless borrowings and growing debt profile, economic crises, political and financial corruption, among other disappointments.
While many believe that Nigeria has recorded occasional successes and continental recognition in the areas of sports and entertainment, there are concerns about good leadership, governance and integrity in public offices and institutions.
In his opinion, constitutional lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, believes that Nigeria has not fared better over the years, even under a democratic system. When asked in an interview with Sunday PUNCH about how the country had fared 62 years after, he said, “The question you asked is a recurring question. Every year, as we celebrate our flag’s independence, we ask ourselves this same question. It has almost become a rhetorical question. Unfortunately, the answer, as in the past, remains the same. And it is not true that we are being hard on ourselves. The question that we ask is: they promised us independence, the euphoria, the hope, the optimism, the enthusiasm that we were now a self-governing country; those promises, have they been fulfilled over time or have they been dashed? The answer is that those promises have failed.”
Ogunye blamed the so-called founding fathers of the country who negotiated the independence of the nation. According to him, they failed to lay a good foundation for the growth and development of the country. “The reason why they have failed is that – very unfortunately – those persons that we call our ‘founding fathers’ did not put their house together. I am not going to blame any of them individually but collectively. The polity they inherited was so thoroughly mismanaged in terms of political behaviour and irresponsibility: not allowing democracy to thrive, not allowing opposition to survive, smashing the opposition and almost wanting to make Nigeria a totalitarian state,” he said.
The activist lawyer alleged that the ‘founding fathers’, by their conduct, “set the stage for the military to come and from that point the Civil (Biafran) War came.” He added, “After the civil war, we had a tepid attempt at civil rule from 1979 to 1983. That failed. Then, a rapacious military rule came and then set the stage for this democracy or civil rule that we have been practising for the past 23 years. At the time we were de-militarising, we were not really de-militarising because those who came to inherit power from the military were themselves military retirees and chieftains who continued to dominate our politics, even now.”
Ogunye further said, “How have we fared at 62? Are we where India was at 62? No. Are we where Singapore is? Singapore got its independence in 1965…after Nigeria. Are we even where Singapore is now? No. Or other British colonies that were decolonised? So, things are getting worse. The education system, we know what it is. The health care system; doctors are leaving Nigeria in droves and our people are leaving Nigeria to go and seek medical help abroad, so medical tourism is thriving. Our social provisioning is nothing to write home about. There is large unemployment. So, of all the human development indicators and indices, we are largely far from successful. Therefore, we need to have Nigeria reinvented. We need a new Nigeria. We need a makeover. We need to change course. We adopted a presidential system of government in 1979 but what has happened with the presidential system of government? We now have kings all over the place in the name of democrats, whereas even the parliamentary system of government that we had, we had problems with those who had become dictators and emperors. Now, we have an executive presidency that has all the powers with one Aso (Rock) Presidential Villa. The cost of the government is huge. Nigeria is over governed but poorly governed. So, independence has not brought to Nigerians – sadly – the benefits and dividends of freedom. That is very unfortunate.”
A professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, Emmanuel Onyebuchi, also shares a similar view about Nigeria’s journey since independence. He said, “It has been a mixed bag of achievements and developments. When you place Nigeria viz-a-viz other countries that gained independence at the same time with us; when we remember that there was a time Nigeria was seen as the hope of Africa and even some other developing countries like Singapore, India and others; there was a time Nigeria was far ahead of them in terms of developmental indices; when we remember that Malaysia came to Nigeria to learn the technology of palm oil production and today, Malaysia is among the largest exporters of palm oil and Nigeria is nowhere to be found.”
Onyebuchi added, “On the positive side, Nigerian has remained an indivisible entity despite the forces of division, we have remained one country but we have not fared as expected in terms of development. In fact, the situation of the country is deteriorating from all economic indicators. There is insecurity everywhere. One would have thought that a 62-year-old man is already approaching and getting closer to his grave and ought to have accomplished so much. Unfortunately, we are still limping as a child. So, it is very unfortunate. If you compared Nigeria’s academia against other countries that gained independence at the same time with us, they have gone ahead. Malaysia, Singapore, India. Remember that in the ‘70s, Nigerians rejected degrees from Indian universities. Today, India had gone ahead of Nigeria in terms of education and economical development. India today has become a medical tourism destination for Nigerians.”
Speaking on Nigeria’s good success, the professor said, “Despite the was of division and agitation for division, Nigeria has remained one country. If you consider the fact that we fought a civil war and we still remain one country. There was even a time when the country was seen as the only hope for Africa and the developing countries in terms of economic indicators like the GDP and so on.”
Nigeria battles insecurity
From the foregoing, there’s nothing to smile about even as Nigeria continues to battle worsening insecurity amid political instability. With an estimated population of over 220 million people, the country is ravaged by insurgency. It is not only worrisome that Nigeria is one of the most unsafe places to live and work. Given the effects of the crisis, the World Bank has projected the poverty headcount rate to jump from 42.0 per cent in 2020 to 42.6 per cent in 2022, implying that the number of poor people was 89.0 million in 2020 and would be 95.1 million by the end of 2022.
As the 2023 general elections draw near, the probability of organised conflict, political terror, violent demonstrations, and violent crimes happening in Nigeria has been pegged at 90 per cent, according to the 2022 Global Peace Index report. This was as the country was ranked 143 among 163 independent nations and territories, based on the level of peacefulness in countries across the world. The GPI report also stated that the key to building peacefulness in times of conflict and uncertainty was positive peace which it defined as the attitudes, institutions and structures that created and sustained peaceful societies. But Nigeria has not been able to attain this.
A 2022 report by the United Nations Development Programme on war and its effect on livelihoods revealed that the death toll in Nigeria, based on those killed since violence broke out, was 10 times higher than previous estimates, adding that the 12-year-old conflict in the North-East had directly or indirectly led to the deaths of over 350,000 people, with about 170 dying every day, the vast majority being children below the age of five. The last six decades are seen to be perilous for Nigerian citizens. Life expectancy reached 52.7 years in 2022, the expected years of schooling was 10.1, while the mean years of schooling is 7.2 and the country’s income per capita hit $4,790.
Coup and counter-coup
Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, there have been five military coup d’états. Between 1966 and 1999, the country was ruled by a military government without interruption, apart from a shortlived return to democracy during the Second Republic of 1979 to 1983. The 1966 coup ultimately led to the civil war.
The civil war
The current security challenge in Nigeria is traceable to the aftermath of the Nigerian civil war that promoted the importation and use of arms and ammunition by civilians and ex-military personnel continued to possess arms even after the war. Many of them resorted to crime due to job loss and a need for survival.
Subsequent military coups
From 1979 to 1993, the country suffered several coups and several coup attempts, leading to unrest and a lack of trust in government and security apparatuses, especially the military, nationwide. Facing pressure to shift towards a democratic government, General Ibrahim Babangida resigned and appointed Ernest Shonekan, as interim President on 26 August 1993. Shonekan’s transitional administration lasted only three months and was overthrown on November 17, 1993, in a palace coup led by General Sani Abacha. Before then, the country experienced the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections largely won by Moshood Abiola.
Niger Delta militancy
Militancy in the Niger Delta region is one of the earliest forms of organised rebellion and insurgency in the country spanning back to the early 1990s. In 2013, militants killed 12 police officers in an ambush. While the presidential amnesty programme was successful, victory was shortlived. In 2016, the rebranded Niger Delta Avengers came back to cause mayhem.
Boko Haram conflict
Since 2009, Nigeria has been bedevilled by jihadism initiated by the Boko Haram sect. According to the Global Terrorism Index, the group has grown to become the deadliest extremist group in the world. A report by an NGO, the Centre for Democracy and Development, said terrorists had slain about 60,000 persons in northern Nigeria in the past 10 years. Beacon Consulting Nigerian Security Tracker calculated that the terrorists massacred 7,222 persons and kidnapped 3,823 others between January and July 2022. This was as the United Nations Migration Office counted two million internally displaced persons.
MASSOB/ IPOB militancy
The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra is a secessionist movement in Nigeria, associated with Igbo nationalism, which supports the recreation of an independent state of Biafra. It was founded in 1999 and is led by an Indian-trained lawyer Ralph Uwazuruike, with headquarters in Imo State. The government accused MASSOB of violence; its leader, Uwazuruike was arrested in 2005 and detained on treason charges and was released in 2007. In 2009, MASSOB launched ‘the Biafran International Passport’ in response to persistent demand by Biafrans in the diaspora.
The Indigenous People of Biafra, founded in 2012 by Nnamdi Kanu (who is currently detained by the DSS) is another nationalist separatist group in Nigeria that aims to restore the Republic of Biafra, a region which seceded from Nigeria before the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970, and later rejoined Nigeria after its defeat by the Nigerian military.
Since 2021, IPOB and its allies have been fighting a low-level guerrilla conflict against the Nigerian government.
Farmer-herder clashes
Another wave of insecurity in Nigeria is the farmer-herder clashes. Rising to prominence in recent years, since 1999, these conflicts have claimed about 25,000 lives. A 2019 report by Foreign Affairs put the death toll from farmer-herder clashes at 10,000 within two years. Over 1,300 people lost their lives between January and June 2018 because of these clashes. Since the violence escalated in January 2018, about 500,000 people in Adamawa, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, and Taraba States have fled their homes.
Kidnapping for ransom
Nigeria has one of the world’s worst kidnap-for-ransom cases. January 2016 to March 2020 featured peak periods for these occurrences. While the prime targets of kidnapping for ransom used to be the influential and wealthy, however, school children and the poor have now become the major targets of kidnap gangs. Nigerians have paid over $18.34m as ransom to kidnappers.
#EndSARS, Lekki massacre
#EndSARS 2020 was a decentralised social movement and series of mass protests against police brutality. It called for the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a notorious unit of the Nigerian Police with a long record of abuse of Nigerian citizens. The protest took its name from the slogan started in 2017 as a Twitter campaign using the hash tag EndSARS to demand the disbanding of the unit.
On October 20, 2020, it was reported that armed men of the Nigerian Army arrived at the scene of the protest and opened fire on peaceful and unarmed protesters, thereby resulting in a disputed number of deaths. Although a curfew announced by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu was extended till 9pm, soldiers started shooting before 7pm.
Recent reality
Insecurity in Nigeria has threatened food security and foreign and local investment, and has hurt the country’s economy. Thus, many believe that the Nigerian government must address the security challenges and position the country as a safe place to live, work and invest. Beyond these, the government should address poverty in Nigeria; experts have since reckoned it a precursor for the growing insecurity in the country.
A recent SBM Intelligence report also revealed that about 68 mass killings were recorded in the country between January 1, 2020, and June 9, 2022, with at least 2,079 persons killed. As the government dithered, jihadism conflated with banditry, Fulani herdsmen’s scorched earth campaign, gunmen attacks and militancy in the oil-bearing areas. Under Buhari’s watch, insecurity has pushed the country towards state failure.
As of last August, there are about 29 records of Buhari’s directives to security chiefs in the past three years to crush insurgents; however, none of these has been delivered. Twice in one week, the latest order to crush the insurgents has been reported. At a joint news conference, the ministers of Defence, Information, Interior and Police Affairs reiterated the presidential deadline.
With the eight-week ultimatum given by the National Assembly to end insecurity about to expire, Buhari issued a fresh deadline to the military to wipe out the outlaws. As terrorists, bandits, Fulani herdsmen and gunmen persist in their nationwide rapine, Buhari ordered his troops to decisively stop the siege by December, which is about three months away.
Evaluated at 8.23 points (out of 10) or of Very High Impact, the Global Terrorism Index 2022 listed Nigeria as the sixth most terrorised country in the world. Afghanistan (9.10), Iraq (8.51) and Somalia (8.39) top the list, with Islamic terrorism as the chief culprit.
The PUNCH reports that about 3,478 people were killed while 2,256 others were abducted across the country from December 2021 to June 15, 2022. For over a decade, Nigeria has been embroiled in insecurity, especially with conflicts in the North-East region with Boko Haram, its breakaway faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province, and bandits.
Recently, a series of attacks and threats within proximity of the country’s capital city, Abuja by the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists and other non-state actors have caused apprehension and fear among citizens in the Federal Capital Territory and across the country.
On July 5, armed men attacked a minimum security prison in Kuje, a community within the federal district, about 40 kilometres from Abuja. During the attack, which ISWAP claimed responsibility, over 900 inmates escaped, including more than 60 Boko Haram suspects.
Security analysts also highlighted the involvement of Ansaru, an Al Qaeda-backed splinter group of Boko Haram, in the attack, though the extent of its involvement is unclear. On July 25, unidentified assailants killed six officers of the Presidential Guard Brigade – an elite force of the military responsible for protecting the President and the federal area in Bwari, a community that harbours a campus of the Nigeria Law School. An Army checkpoint close to Abuja was also attacked a day after.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation suspended its Abuja-Kaduna train service owing to terrorists’ attack on the rail track on March 28. The attack left eight people dead, about 60 kidnapped, and several injured. The ugly incident has remained unsolved as many of those kidnapped are still in captivity as a result of their families and governments’ inability to raise the ransom demanded by the victims’ captors.
Despite the Nigeria Police Force’s assurance that it has scaled up security in the federal region, including Abuja, these attacks and threats, especially to kidnap the President, indicates an alarming deterioration in the nation’s security architecture. Hence, authorities need to ensure adequate security for civilians.
According to Human Rights Watch, the ability of the groups to expand outside their base even to the nation’s capital city means that the authorities need to greatly expand their efforts to protect people. This was as the International Monetary Fund also expressed concern over the deteriorating level of security conditions in Nigeria, stressing that it was contributing to the subdued Gross Domestic Product figures in the country.
Security experts, however, believe that the recent trends showed that Nigeria has certainly not improved in curbing insecurity and peace building. A renowned security expert, Colonel Hassan Stan-Labo (retd.), noted that the incumbent regime should start writing its handover notes “for capable hands to come on board in 2023, rather than old people that are no longer agile, as it has failed to solve insecurity”.
He said, “There’s nothing to celebrate in a situation where those that govern us have become suspects. Many citizens are suspicious of the government, especially on how much they are committed to honouring the social contracts that they had with us, among which is to protect us as citizens.”
Another security expert, Mr Adejare Adegbenro, faulted the claim made by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed that the “worst of insecurity is over”, saying, “As far as I’m concerned, Nigeria still has a lot of security gaps against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements. Our security strength is about 1.2 million for over 200 million people, out of this, how many are being used by the elite? Deduct that and you will be amazed that quite a number of our security officers are protecting a few at the neglect of the majority,” he said.
