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Nigeria The Babangida Government
Babangida, of Gwari origins and a middle belt Muslim,
was
Nigeria's sixth military ruler and, as of 1990, the most
powerful. Compared with Buhari, Babangida was a somewhat
more
methodical ruler, and his style was different. Whereas
Buhari was
stern and resolute, Babangida was deft and tactical.
Babangida
was reported to have taken part in all coups in Nigeria,
which
may explain his confident handling of national affairs. He
was,
however, unpredictable.
Although Babangida came to power as a champion of human
rights, his record in this area deteriorated over time. He
gradually released most of the politicians incarcerated by
Buhari. Yet, he often hounded opposition interest groups,
especially those of labor and students, and detained many
radical
and anti-establishment persons for various offenses. The
infamous
Decree Number 2 remained in force in 1990 to facilitate
these
oppressive acts.
The year after seizing power, the Babangida regime
declared a
National Economic Emergency. The options open to the
country,
Babangida said, were either to accept an International
Monetary Fund
(IMF--see Glossary)
loan and the conditions attached
or to
embark on more austere economic measures that would
require great
sacrifices. Although the people favored a non-IMF option,
they
soon discovered the hardships eventually imposed differed
little
from the IMF's conditions. The economic recovery program
recommended by the
World Bank (see Glossary)
was instituted as a
self-imposed structural adjustment program (SAP) that
involved a
drastic restructuring of the country's economy. Under SAP,
unemployment rates soared, food prices increased
significantly,
and numerous user fees for education and health services
were
imposed. These hardships did not dissuade the government
from
SAP, which it believed to be the only approach to the
country's
social and economic problems. The benefits of SAP, such as
longer
inflation and more balanced budget, began to be seen but
SAP was
adhered to less stringently in the late 1980s.
Babangida's government adopted other economic reforms
leading
to a market system and political reforms leading to
democratic
processes. Important changes were made in the basic
structures of
military federalism. For the first time, a military leader
was
called president, presumably to emphasize the executive
power he
wielded. The name of the supreme lawmaking body was
changed from
Supreme Military Council to the Armed Forces Ruling
Council
(AFRC). There was also a new Armed Forces Consultative
Assembly,
formed in 1989, which functioned as an intermediate
legislative
chamber between the AFRC and the rest of the military. In
spite
of these elaborate structural changes, Babangida adroitly
increased the powers of his office. He changed his
ministers and
state governors frequently. Even supposedly powerful
members of
the government were not spared, as was demonstrated in
1986 when
he dropped his second in command, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe.
In his
place, he appointed Rear Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, former
chief
of the naval staff. The most dramatic of these changes
were made
at the end of 1989, when Babangida reassigned several
ministers,
including General Domkat Bali, the powerful minister of
defense
and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
(see Constitutional and Political Framework
, ch. 5). The changes were perceived by
southerners and Christians as resulting in an AFRC that
consisted
mainly of northern Muslims. The service chiefs of the
army, navy,
and police were Muslims; only the chief of the air staff
was a
southerner. The ministries of external affairs, petroleum
resources, internal affairs, and defense, considered the
most
powerful cabinet posts, were held by northern Muslims (the
minister of defense being the president himself). These
changes
generated heated controversy and antigovernment
demonstrations by
Christians in some northern cities. Babangida emerged from
the
changes more powerful than before.
Babangida also introduced far-reaching changes in the
civil
service, the police, the armed and security forces, and
the
political system. Certain actions of his government
exacerbated
religious tensions. The religious cleavage in the country
had
become increasingly politicized, beginning in the debates
in 1977
when Muslims began pressing for the extension of sharia
law
(Muslim religious law) from state courts in the north to
the
federal courts
(see Islam
, ch. 2). In the Second Republic,
activist Islamic groups emerged in the north, demanding
the
Islamization of the country. After coming to power in
1985,
Babangida adopted several measures that were considered to
favor
Muslims and to threaten the secular nature of the Nigerian
state.
In 1986 Nigeria became a member of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference (OIC), an international association of
Islamic
states in which Nigeria had long held observer status;
this
action was very controversial. In apparent contradiction,
Babangida survived several religious crises by reiterating
that
the federation remained secular. At one point, he set up a
religious advisory panel to mediate in the religious
crises.
On April 22, 1990, a coup attempt led by Major Gideon
Orkar
almost toppled the Babangida regime. The presidential
residence
in Dodan Barracks was extensively damaged by the
rebellious
soldiers, but the head of state escaped. A unique feature
of this
coup attempt was the level of involvement of Nigerian
civilians,
who allegedly helped finance the operation. During the
hours when
the rebels controlled the radio station in Lagos, they
broadcast
a critique of the regime that combined attacks on its
dictatorial
nature and pervasive corruption with threats to expel the
far
northern states from the federation.
The survival of Babangida and all senior members of the
regime enabled the government to continue its policies,
especially the planned transition to civilian rule in
1992. The
detention of several journalists and other critics of the
military regime and the temporary closure of some
newspapers,
however, indicated the government's awareness that it had
overstayed its welcome and would have to govern with even
stricter controls than before. The state congresses of the
two
government-sponsored political parties, the only legal
parties,
the National Republican Convention and the Social
Democratic
Party, were held in the summer of 1990 and campaigning
began in
earnest thereafter.
Data as of June 1991
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