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Nigeria THE SECOND REPUBLIC, 1979-83
The first elections under the 1979 constitution were
held on
schedule in July and August 1979, and the FMG handed over
power
to a new civilian government under President Shehu Shagari
on
October 1, 1979. Nigeria's Second Republic was born amid
great
expectations. Oil prices were high and revenues were on
the
increase. It appeared that unlimited development was
possible.
Unfortunately, the euphoria was short-lived, and the
Second
Republic did not survive its infancy.
Five major parties competed for power in the first
elections
in 1979. As might be expected, there was some continuity
between
the old parties of the First Republic and the new parties
of the
Second Republic. The National Party of Nigeria (NPN), for
example, inherited the mantle of the Northern People's
Congress,
although the NPN differed from the NPC in that it obtained
significant support in the non-Igbo states of southeastern
Nigeria. The United Party of Nigeria (UPN) was the
successor to
the Action Group, with Awolowo as its head. Its support
was
almost entirely in the Yoruba states. The Nigerian
People's Party
(NPP), the successor to the NCNC, was predominantly Igbo
and had
Azikiwe as its leader. An attempt to forge an alliance
with nonHausa -Fulani northern elements collapsed in the end, and a
breakaway party with strong support in parts of the north
emerged
from the failed alliance. This northern party was known as
the
Great Nigerian People's Party under the leadership of
Waziri
Ibrahim of Borno. Finally, the People's Redemption Party
was the
successor to the Northern Elements Progressive Union and
had
Aminu Kano as its head.
Just as the NPC dominated the First Republic, its
successor,
the NPN, dominated the Second Republic. Shagari won the
presidency, defeating Azikiwe in a close and controversial
vote.
The NPN also took 36 of 95 Senate seats, 165 of 443 House
of
Representatives seats and won control of seven states
(Sokoto,
Niger, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Kwara, and Rivers). The
NPN
lost the governorship of Kaduna State but secured control
of the
Kaduna legislature. The NPN failed to take Kano and lacked
a
majority in either the Senate or House of Representatives.
It was
forced to form a shaky coalition with the NPP, the
successor of
the NCNC, the old coalition partner of the NPC. The NPP
took
three states (Anambra, Imo, and Plateau), sixteen Senate
seats
and seventy-eight House of Representatives seats, so that
in
combination with the NPN the coalition had a majority in
both the
House of Representatives and the Senate. Nonetheless, the
interests of the two parties were often in conflict, which
forced
the NPN to operate alone in most situations. Even though
the
presidential form of constitution was intended to create a
stronger central government, the weakness of the coalition
undermined effective central authority.
The UPN came in with the second largest number of seats
and
effectively formed the official opposition, just as the
Action
Group had done in the First Republic. The UPN took five
states
(Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, and Bendel), 28 Senate seats, and
111
House seats. Awolowo continued as spokesman for the left
of
center. The Great Nigerian People's Party managed to win
two
states (Borno and Gongola), eight Senate seats, and
forty-three
House of Representatives seats. The People's Redemption
Party,
which was the most radical of the parties, won Kano and
the
governorship of Kaduna, seven Senate seats, and forty-nine
House
of Representatives seats.
A number of weaknesses beset the Second Republic.
First, the
coalition that dominated federal politics was not strong,
and in
effect the NPN governed as a minority because no coalition
formed
to challenge its supremacy. Second, there was lack of
cooperation
between the NPN-dominated federal government and the
twelve
states controlled by opposition parties. Third, and
perhaps most
important, the oil boom ended in mid-1981, precisely when
expectations of continuous growth and prosperity were at a
height.
There were many signs of tension in the country. The
Bakalori
Project, an irrigation scheme in Sokoto, for example,
became the
focus of serious unrest in the late 1970s when thousands
of
farmers protested the loss of their land, and police
retaliated
by burning villages and killing or wounding hundreds of
people.
Widespread dissatisfaction became apparent with the
Maitatsine,
or Yan Tatsine (followers of the Maitatsine), a
quasi-Muslim
fringe group that who sparked religious riots in Kano in
1980,
and Kaduna, and Maiduguri in 1982 after police tried to
control
this activities
(see Islam
, ch. 2). The disturbance in
Kano alone
resulted in the deaths of 4,177 people between December 18
and
29, 1980. In 1981 teachers staged a strike because they
had not
been paid. As the political situation deteriorated, the
federal
government looked for scapegoats and found them in the
large
number of foreign workers who had come to Nigeria in
response to
the jobs created by the oil boom. In the crackdown on
illegal
immigration, an estimated 2 million foreigners were
expelled in
January and February 1983, of whom 1 million were from
Ghana and
150,000 to 200,000 from Niger.
The recession that set in with the fall in oil prices
after
the middle of 1981 put severe strains on the Second
Republic. For
political reasons, government spending continued to
accelerate,
and the frictions among the political parties and between
the
federal government and the states only reinforced
financial
irresponsibility. Nigeria's foreign debt increased from
N3.3
billion (for value of the
naira--see Glossary)
in 1978 to
N14.7
billion in 1982. By 1983 the nineteen state governments
had run
up a combined debt of N13.3 billion. Heavy investment in
economic
development continued unabated. In addition to finishing a
steel
mill at Ajaokuta in Kwara State, for example, a second
plant
opened at Aladje, near Warri, in 1982. Steel-rolling mills
also
were built at Jos, Oshogbo, and Katsina--sites chosen for
political reasons. By 1987 N5 billion had been spent on
the steel
industry alone, most of this committed under the Second
Republic,
even although the economics of steel development were
questionable.
Corruption once again was rampant under the Second
Republic.
It had been a serious problem since the civil war, when
wartime
contracts often were awarded under dubious circumstances.
Corruption became more serious after the war, most notably
in
connection with the cement scandal of the early 1970s, the
Festival of African Culture (FESTAC) in Lagos, and the
development of Abuja as the new federal capital.
Corruption under
the Second Republic was even greater. Major scandals
involved the
Federal Housing Scheme, the National Youth Service Corps,
the
Nigerian External Telecommunications, the Federal Mortgage
Bank,
the Federal Capital Territory Administration, the Central
Bank of
Nigeria, and the Nigerian National Supply Company. In
addition,
the halfhearted attempts to license imports and to control
inflation encouraged smuggling, which became a major crime
that
went virtually unchecked. Umaru Dikko came to the
attention of
the international community because of an abortive plot to
kidnap
him in London and return him to Nigeria to stand trial for
corruption. British authorities found him in a shipping
crate on
a runway moments before he was to be sent to Nigeria.
Dikko was
involved in many scandals, including the issuance of
licenses to
import rice--rice imports had risen from 50,000 tons in
1976 to
651,000 tons in 1982.
As elections approached in August 1983, economic
decline that
reflected low oil prices, widespread corruption, and
continued
government spending at record levels was proof to many
that the
Second Republic was in sad shape. The lack of confidence
was
evident in the massive flight of capital--estimated at
US$14
billion between 1979 and 1983. The second elections under
the
Second Republic were to be its last. When the results were
tallied in 1983, it was clear that there had been fraud
(see The Second Republic
, ch. 4). The NPN increased its control of
states
from seven to twelve, including Kano and Kaduna. Shagari
was
reelected president, and the NPN gained 61 of 95 Senate
seats and
307 of 450 House of Representatives seats. Not even the
supporters of the NPN expected such results. Considering
the
state of the economy and the public outcry over the rigged
election, the Shagari government stayed in power for a
surgprisingly long time.
Data as of June 1991
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