Government also established schools of Basic Studies in 11 of then 19 States of the Federation.Similarly, a National Science and Technology Development Agency was created to promote science and technology. Complementary efforts by State and Local Governments, communities and private proprietors aided in greatly expanding education at all levels.
All was not well with the educational system,however. Government's imposition of a one-tier diploma led to students' protests in the nation's polytechnics in December 1977 and the temporary closure of these institutions. Government's attempt to increase university tuition fees following declining oil revenue similarly provoked serious students' protests throughout the country in April 1978. Atleast 20 students died in the ensuring confrontation with the police. The National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) was banned, and several journalists and university teachers critical of the government's handling of the aflair were arrested anddetained or dismissed from office. Unemployed and criminal elements used the protests as coverfor extensive looting and arson.
Government's posting of soldiers to secondaryschools as from 1977 purportedly "to maintain discipline" raised considerable anxiety among someparents, staff and students and actual friction inseveral schools. During March and April 1979,Universities in the northern states were closeddown following students' protests against allegedlyunfavourable JAMB admissions. Other students'protests in the Universities and Secondary Schools over poor food and living conditions in the hostels, inadequate teaching, laboratory and research facilities, and alleged falling standards were additionalindications of the malaise in the educational system.
In the cultural sphere, Nigeria successfullyhosted the Second World Black and African Festivalof Arts and Culture (FESTAC) early in 1977.Although wastefully managed and unnecessarily expensive for Nigeria, the Festival promoted cultural co-operation among Black peoples. It also raisedthe pride and estimation of all Black peoples in theirhistory and culture. The Nigerian NationalMuseum, the FESTAC Village and the ultra-modern National Theatre are lasting monuments of FESTAC's achievements.
Lastly, the Mohammed-Obasanjo Administration effected significant reforms in Nigeria's labourmovement. The reforms were aimed at curtailingexternal ideological influences on the Nigerianunions, and to check corruption among union leaders. They culminated in several decrees in 1977and 1978 which reduced the approximately 1,000unions to 44, banned the four existing trade unionfederations, and created a central labour organisation, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). While government's control over the unions did increase,the unification nevertheless enhanced the bargaining power of the unions.
THE SECOND MILITARY ERA, 1984 - 1999
The Second Republic and the Buhari Coup,1979 - 1983: The second military era was precededby a civilian regime, the Shagari Administration,whose advent in October 1979 was welcomed bymost Nigerians, despite inter-party recriminationsover the presidential elections.
Nevertheless, the euphoria was short-lived, forby mid-1982 much of the economic, social andpolitical turbulence that characterised the FirstRepublic had returned. These included intra andinter-party rivalry, bitterness and conflict, evident inthe formation, first of an NPN (National Party ofNigeria)/NPP (Nigerian Peoples' Party) alliance,and later on of a UPN (Unity Party of Nigeria)/NPPalliance. These culminated in large-scale bitterness, violence and vandalism that characterisedthe national elections of 1983.
Besides, the Nigerian economy had so deteriorated that food and other imports, including traditional staples like palm oil and rice already high,.accentuated. All this was in spite of an expensiveGreen Revolution Programme sponsored by government. To salvage the economy, the governmentimposed stringent austerity measures and contemplated a IMF loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Rancorous preparations for the 1983 elections,rising agitation for more states particularly by themajority ethnic groups previously opposed to statecreation, and an alleged coup plot sponsored by adisgruntled Borno businessman, Alhaji Z. B.Mandara, increased the air of political uncertainty.Other social ills included corruption, unemployment,high cost of living, rising incidence of armed robbery, and violent ethnic and religious riots and disturbances in Kano, Maiduguri and Modakeke. The military struck again in December, 1983.
The Buhari Regime, 1984 - 1985: The militaryregime headed by Major-General Buhari consistedof senior military officers such as Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, Brigadier 1. B. Babangida and MajorGeneral Domkat Bali - all of the Supreme Military Council. The Administration's many decrees, military tribunals and emphasis on discipline soon won for it the characterisation as "the first true military dictatorship, albeit benevolent" that Nigeria ever experienced. As in 1966, the military take-over hadconsiderable initial public support, particularly following revelations of abysmal corruption by publicofficers, many of whom were arrested and detained.
The regime set about recovering ill-gottenwealth from politicians and other public officersthrough special military tribunals that it set up. Italso sought to cleanse the nation's aegean stablesof corruption and immorality by instituting a "WarAgainst lndiscipline''(WAI) campaign to fight laziness, lateness, disorderiiness, hoarding and examination maloractices and to inculcate habits of cleanliness, order, patriotism and nationalism in thecitizenry. To a considerable extent these aims were realised. Hence, "WAI" became an important legacy of the Buhari Administration. Nevertheless, thevarious new decrees carrying long prison terms orthe death penalty lor "miscellaneous offenses" or"economic sabotage," including examination malpractice, counterfeiting and drug and currency trafficking, met with criticism in some quarters as beingtoo drastic.
Attempts to revamp the nation's economy metwith serious constraints, particularly dwindling revenue from oil and tremendous burden of re-payingthe nation's mounting internal and external debts.Government's economic recovery measures included a currency change early in 1984 which involvedprolonged border closure, wage freeze, cut-back ongovernment spending, and other "tough medicine."
Although purposeful, these measures achievedonly moderate success. In October, 1984, GeneralBuhari himself declared that the government was"to all intents and purposes bankrupt." However,apparently conceding to public opinion, Buharisteadfastly refused to obtain an IMF loan whichwould entail devaluation of the naira.
The stringent economic measures applied bythe government led to large-scale retrenchment ofpublic servants; students' unrest in tertiary institutions against the re-introduction of fees and withdrawal of food subsidy; and increased unemployment. Gradually, the Buhari Administrationappeared to wear an inhuman and insensitive face.The last straw in the regime's worsening humanrights record was the passage of Decree No. 4.This sought to ensure that journalists reported"truthfully" and that public officers were notmaligned by the press. However, the decree waswidely seen as government's attempt to muzzle thepress. The conviction and imprisonment of twojournalists of The Guardian, Nduka Irabor andTunde Thompson, and the imposition of a N50,000fine on The Guardian's publishers under this Decree, increased fears of government's intentionto gag the Press. The activities of the NigeriaPolice and the Nigeria Security Organisation (NSO)in harassing radical intellectuals and other opponents or critics of the Government, side by side withthe numerous harsh decrees carrying severe penalties, doomed the Buhari regime. It was overthrownon August 27, 1985 in a military coup.
The Babangida Administration 1985 - 1993:
An administration headed by Major-General 1. B.Babangida set about to restore basic human rightsand to revamp the economy. Babangida, until thenthe Army Chief of Staff, had been a member of theBuhari's Supreme Military Council, but had becomealienated.
Of the tasks that faced the new administration,those of human rights, the economy and governance were perhaps the most serious. Conscious of public alienation by Buhari's human rights abuses, the Babangida administration rode to popularityby seeming to redress the abuses. It immediatelyrepealed Decree No. 4 on newspaper censorship,and freed all detained journalists. It also curtailedsome of the powers and excesses of the NSO,which it replaced with a new body, the StateSecurity Service (SSS). It set a date, 1990, forNigeria's return to civilian rule (which was laterchanged to 1992); and it made the first step in thisjourney by creating the Political Bureau in January1986. The Bureau subsequently organised anation-wide debate on the form of, and the transition to, civilian government (Kraus, 1989: 235).The Transition Programme, formally inaugurated in July 1987, was drawn mostly from the recommendations of the Political Bureau. The programme was to be completed by the end of 1992when an elected civilian government would takeover from the military.
Several notable developments intended tosteer the transition on course occurred late in 1987.They were: the establishment of the MassMobilisation for Economic Recovery, Self Relianceand Social Justice (MAMSER) in August 1987; thecreation of two additional States, Akwa lbom andKatsina, on September 23, 1987 intended to furtherenhance Nigeria's Federal System; and the settingup of Constitution Review Committee (CRC) andthe National Electoral Commission (NEC) inSeptember 1987. In December 1987, LocalGovernment elections were held on non-party basis(Uya, 1992: 36 - 37).
Further milestones in the Transition Programme were reached in the next several years.They included the submission of a report and DraftConstitution by the CRC in March 1988; the partelection and part nomination of the ConstituentAssembly which subsequently met in Abuja and, inApril 1989, submitted a Report and a Draft constitution. Soon afterwards, the AFRC lifted the five-yearban on political activities. Several burning issuesfeatured in the political and constitutional debatesthroughout 1988 and 1989. They were the idea ofrotatory presidency and attempts to introduce aFederal Sharia Appeal Court into the Constitution.The AFRC, however, intervened in the end to maintain the status quo in the case of the Sharia controversy.
Following the lifting of the ban on politics,approximately forty political organisations werefounded throughout the country. Of these, NECrecommended thirteen to the AFRC for registration.But even these were subsequently disqualified anddissolved by the AFRC as unsuitable. The AFRC then proceeded to establish two new political parties for the nation, viz: the Social Democratic Party(SDP), and the National Republican Convention(NRC), on the principle that one was "a little to theleft," and the other was "a little to the right," to maintain an ideological balance. The two parties were to be national in outlook and organisation, and politicians imbued with the high ethos which governmentsought to instill in the people. Accordingly, somecategories of persons were banned for life or for specific periods from participating in the unfolding politics, for reasons which included previous criminal records, and their currently occupying sensitivepublic positions. The heightened political activities,however, received a severe jolt on April 22, 1990when an army Major, Gideon Okar, and some soldiers attempted a military coup d'etat which wasquickly crushed. Undaunted, the two political parities held their conventions during the followingmonth. In December 1990, Local Government elections followed. State Assembly and (Sovernorshipelections followed in December 1991 and, inJanuary 1992, the elected civilian governors ofNigeria's then thirty states were sworn in. Thus,Nigeria became governed in the form of a diarchy a situation suggested earlier on in 1972 by Nigeria'selder Statesman, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe.
The Presidential election, intended to finallyusher in the Third Republic, was scheduled forDecember 5, 1992. It was, however, preceded bypolitical events that were no less significant or portentous. Decree No. 53 of 1992, for example,stripped the National Assembly of most of the powers granted it by the 1989 constitution, including thepower to legislate or discuss and pass revenue bills. Then late in October 1992, the AFRC cancelled the presidential primaries held by the twoparties in the previous month on grounds of grosselection malpractices. The 23 presidential aspirants who had contested in the primaries were alsodisqualified and banned from further political participation. Those banned included Chief Olu Falaeand Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua (rtd) ofthe SDP, and Mallam Adamu Ciroma and AlhajiUmaru Shinkafi of the NRC, all front runners in thepresidential primaries.
A review of the electoral process and regulations instituted by the AFRC led to the emergenceof 250 presidential aspirants by February 1993,including new political stalwarts, like Chief M.K.O.Abiola, Alhaji Ali-Monguno, General Yakubu Gowon(rtd), Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu and Alhaji BabaGana Kingibe. The final Presidential Elections,including the main election scheduled for June 12,1993, were to be conducted under the so-called"Option A4" System. The terminal date for militaryrule was also fixed for August 27, 1993.
The story of the election that eventually tookplace on June 12, 1993 and the annulment of thevictory supposedly won overwhelmingly by ChiefM.K.O. Abiola cannot be recounted in any detailhere. Suffice it to say that it was annulled and fromthen on, Nigeria's political stability and unity suffered severe blows that became very hard to contain. In its immediate effect, the annulment intensified public outcry and pressure for Babangida torelinnuish power which he reluctantly did on August26, 1993 by "stepping aside" and handing over tothe Interim National Government chosen by himand headed by Chief E. Shonekan.
The condition of acute political uncertainty wentside by side with grave economic decline. The.bases of economic policy were the Fifth NationalDevelopment Plan (1986 - 1990), and the StructuralAdjustment Programme (SAP) offered as an alternative to IMF Loan. SAP sought to achieve sustained self-reliant growth and to end high budgetand balance of payments deficits. It also aimed toreduce dependence on imports and oil, reduce nonproductive public sector investments, and stimulateprivate sector activity through "privatisation andcommercialisation" of State Corporations andParastatals, initiated by Decree 25 of 1988 (Kraus,1989:236). The measures to achieve these objectives included devaluation of the naira and attracting foreign investment by liberalising existing indigenisation policies. Others were raising higher revenues, and reducing state intervention, expenditures, and subsidies particularly on petrol, intendedpartly to placate the IMF.
As in previous reforms, these efforts weredaunted by the general air of political instability anduncertainty, corruption, dwindling oil revenue, abackward agricultural sector, a high inflation ratereckoned at eighty per cent in July 1993, andexcruciating external debt estimated at $27 billionby October 1993.
Excepting some activation of primary produclion and exports, especially of cocoa, the consequences of the nation's economic course and, byimplication, of SAP, were dire and ramifying.Among them were mass poverty, misery and general social malaise partly epitomised by anti-poverty protests, riots and strikes across the country;acute food shortages; collapse of infrastructure andof businesses, including banks; abandoned capitalprojects; inability of government to pay workers'salaries for months on end; and rising crime rateparticularly of drug trafficking, armed robbery, and" (alias "419") for which Nigeriaand Nigerians became notorious internationally andwere shunned by many foreign investors and businessmen as high risks. According to a prevailingparlance, SAP had sapped life out of Nigeria andmost Nigerians.
And, rather than alleviate these conditions,other aspects of government's domestic and foreignpolicies tended to exacerbate them. This was trueof the return of the Babangida regime to the policyof repressing the Press, its critics, human rightsspokesmen and organisations and radical intellectuals. At the foreign policy level was Nigeria's military intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leonethrough the ECOMOG (ECOWAS MonitoringGroup). Although purposeful, those interventionsfurther drained Nigeria's wealth. Moreover, by setting up the puny ING, Babangida laid the basis forthe future rise of Nigeria's most monstrous dictator,General Sani Abacha.
The Sani Abacha Administration, 1993 1998: We shall pass over the ING (August November, 1993) headed by Ernest Shonekan, aformer head of UAC of Nigeria, Pie. Declared illegalby the Courts, the ING also lacked respectability,credibility, resources and resolve to solve thenation's many ills. It was shoved aside in a palacecoup on November 17, 1993 by Sani Abacha, itsDefence Secretary (and close associate of GeneralBabangida), who established a new military government, under the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) asthe highest policy making organ of Government.
What followed under Abacha were five years ofunbridled dictatorship, economic mismanagement,gross human rights abuses and virtually a negationof government. Aiming from the outset to perpetuate his rule, Abacha first dissolved all the electedState and Federal Legislatures and sacked the governors. He then re-enacted the tortuous and wasteful process of transition to civil rule including the formation of new political parties, the fashioning of anew constitution (1995), election of new LocalGovernment Councils, State and Federal Legislatures and Governors and, finally, the unprecedented, forced adoption of himself as the sole presidential candidate by the five government approvedpolitical parties.
On the foreign scene, the Abacha regime virtually isolated Nigeria from her traditional friends,especially in North America, Europe and Australia.Some of these countries clamped sanctions onNigeria much to her economic hurt.Abacha's sudden death in June 1998, seen by many Nigerians as an "act of divine intervention,"and the death of Abiola shortly thereafter, effectively helped to pave the way for a return to civil rule.
Under Abacha's successor, General AbdulsalamiAbubakar, Nigerians, now thoroughly tired of, anddisillusioned with, the endless transition that theBabangida and Abacha regimes had foisted onthem, co-operated to return the country speedily tocivilian rule. Within a year, new political partieswere formed, a Constitution (1999) was promulgated, and elections were held into Local GovernmentCouncils, State and Federal Legislatures, and toselect the Governors, their Deputies, the Presidentand Vice President. The latter posts were won byGeneral Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakarrespectively. Thus, on May 29, 1999, Nigeriareturned, once more, to full democratic governance.
CONCLUSION
All in all, military rule that stretched for most ofNigeria's post-colonial period has had tremendousimpact on the Nigerian polity. The worst managedarea under the military was, perhaps, the Nigerianeconomy which is still in the doldrums. The militaryleft a heritage of many broken and unfulfilled promises. After thirty years of its rule, corruption, injustice, religious and ethnic intolerance, poverty andmisery still abound indicating that military rule largely failed. As the nation rises in response to the newrays of hope shone by the Obasanjo regime, it ishoped that a bright future awaits Nigeria.
