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14 men who have led Nigeria since independence

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Eight of the 14 Nigerian leaders were soldiers and two of them also served two terms as elected presidents.
As Nigeria prepared for independence from British colonial rule, the hopes were high of the birth of a great nation, one which was touted as the giant of Africa and even a potential superpower on the world stage.

Tam Fiofori, a Nigerian documentary photographer who was 18 at independence in 1960, recalled what the pulse of the nation was like at the time.

“There was a general feeling of great national expectations in the air leading up to independence,” the septuagenarian said. “Everybody, particularly young people, envisaged a great united Nigeria that would hold its own compared to newly independent countries like India, Ghana and most importantly would emerge as the leading Black nation in the world with potential to become a first world country soon…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

After independence, things moved very fast for Nigeria. Just five years after independence on October 1, 1960, a bloody coup ushered in the military into government. A counter-coup was followed by a civil war that left millions dead and two failed attempts to restore civil dispensations before Nigeria finally returned to democratic rule in 1999.

Between independence and now, 14 men have run Nigeria under 16 administrations, eight of them with military backgrounds. Two of these men, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, both led as soldiers and elected civilian presidents.

First Republic
Nigeria remained a British territory with Queen Elizabeth II as the titular head of state represented by a Nigerian governor-general in the person of Nnamdi Azikiwe. But Tafawa Balewa as the prime minister held executive power as the head of the federal cabinet.

That changed in 1963 after Nigeria became a republic, and the governor-general became a non-executive president. At independence, there were three regions — western, eastern, northern regions, but the midwest region was later created out of the western region in a bid to stave off ethnic conflict.

Mr Balewa, who was born in December 1912 in present-day Bauchi State, was reelected as prime minister in 1964 and Mr Azikiwe retained his position as the ceremonial president.

Late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe [Photo Credit: BBC]

Usually referred to as “Zik,” Mr Azikiwe was born in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria in 1905 and died in May 1996, aged 91.

But Mr Balewa was murdered during Nigeria’s first military coup on January 15, 1966. After the shock of his murder, riots broke out in what has been recorded in history as a pogrom against the Igbo people across Northern Nigeria. This was because the January coup was carried out by mainly Igbo speaking junior officers and spared Igbo political and military leaders while many from the other regions were killed.

The coup marked the end of the First Republic and introduced Nigerian soldiers to the intoxicating wine of political power.

Second Republic
Mr Balewa, and his political leader and premier of the northern region, Ahmadu Bello, were among the leaders assassinated in the putsch tagged “Operation Damisa” (Operation Tiger) and led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, an army major, Max Siollun, wrote in his riveting political thriller, Nigeria’s Soldiers of Fortune: The Abacha and Obasanjo Years.

The coup failed and General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, the general officer commanding (GOC) the Nigerian Army, became the head of state on January 17, 1966, aged 42, a position he held for 194 days before northern army officers killed him and sacked his government in a countercoup.

The officers behind the counter-coup of July 29, 1966, included Captain Theophilus Danjuma, Lieutenant Muhammadu Buhari, Lieutenant Ibrahim Babangida and Lieutenant Sani Abacha and were led by Major Murtala Mohammed. Four of those five would later rule Nigeria.

Theophilus Danjuma

Their intent, Mr Siollun wrote, was the secession of northern Nigerian but they later dropped the idea and handed power to Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon, who was seen as a safe choice due to ethnic tension in the country at the time.

Former Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon. [Photo credit: The Guardian Nigeria]

The tension worsened and an attempt by Ghanaian leaders to broker peace through the Aburi Accord in January 1967 failed after Mr Gowon reneged on the accord and the Eastern Region, then led by Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu refused to accept Mr Gowon’s leadership and insisted on breaking away to form the Republic of Biafra.

The differences soon boiled over and in May 1967, Mr Ojukwu declared Eastern Nigeria as the sovereign republic of Biafra.

To thwart the secession, the federal military government promulgated a decree dividing the four regions into 12 states in an attempt to break the power of the regions. But then, the battle line was drawn and the civil war started on July 6.

Odumegwu Ojukwu

Over two years of fighting between the Nigerian and Biafran troops resulted in heavy casualties, mostly civilians and children. The war ended after the Biafran troops surrendered on January 15, 1970, with Mr Ojukwu fleeing to Côte d’Ivoire.

Mr Ojukwu returned to Nigeria in 1982 and became a politician until he died in 2011, aged 78.

After the war, Mr Gowon moved to repair the ruins of the war with proceeds from the oil boom of the 70s, but allegations of widespread corruption were rife, bringing discontent within the army. He was ousted on July 29, 1975, while attending an OAU (now AU) summit in Kampala, Uganda.

The putschist appointed Brigadier Murtala Muhammad as the new head of state and Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo as his deputy.

Mr Siollun described Mr Muhammed as having a charisma that occasionally verged on overbearing. He said the former war commander was involved in war crimes, one of which was the summary execution of Biafran prisoners of war.

Mr Muhammed began moves, in 1976, to build a new Federal Capital Territory for which the Justice Akinola Aguda-led panel proposed Abuja. He also created seven new states of Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Imo, Niger, Ogun, and Ondo. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

On February 13, 1976, he was killed at the age of 37 in an abortive coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Buka Dimka. Mr Dimka was publicly executed three months after.

Mr Muhammed was succeeded by his deputy, Olusegun Obasanjo, who conducted a transition to civil rule programme and handed over power to elected President Shehu Shagari on October 1, 1979.

Mr Shagari became Nigeria’s first democratically elected president after his National Party of Nigeria won the 1979 presidential election. Alex Ekwueme was his deputy.

Encyclopedia Britannica noted that the economic crisis of the early 80s shook the Shagari’s administration as it shopped for bailouts from the International Monetary Funds. Mr Shagari cut his budget and expelled over two million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, in a measure that would be known as “Ghana Must Go.”

Mr Shagari was reelected in 1983 in a controversial poll. Three months into his new term, he was toppled in a bloodless coup on December 31, 1983, that brought Major General Muhammad Buhari to power.

Mr Shagari died in 2018 aged 93.

Third Republic
Mr Buhari alongside his deputy Tunde Idiagbon justified the coup by citing widespread corruption and the country’s flailing economy. They introduced a war against indiscipline and adopted conservative economic policies. Many allegedly corrupt politicians were sentenced to long years in jail by tribunals presided over by soldiers.

In August 1985, Mr Buhari was overthrown in a coup led by his army chief, General Ibrahim Babangida, and detained till 1988.

Mr Babangida’s administration was believed to be one of the most corrupt in Nigerian history and was further infamous for assassinating renowned journalist, Dele Giwa, then the editor of Newswatch. He was said to have been involved in every coup in Nigeria until he left power in 1993, surpassed only in the thirst for coup by his ally, Sani Abacha. Following a failed coup attempt against his regime, he moved the capital city from Lagos to Abuja on December 12, 1991.

Mr Babangida is most infamous for the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by Moshood Abiola. Mr Babangida cited “national security” as the reason for his action. He “stepped aside” in August 1993 after establishing an Interim National Government led by Ernest Shonekan. But the political crisis that he contrived lingered, and this paved the way for Mr Babangida’s friend, General Sani Abacha, to seize power on November 17, 1993.

Photos of Past Nigerian Heads of States and President Muhammadu Buhari
Photos of Past Nigerian Heads of States and President Muhammadu Buhari
“1993 was a year of farce — even by Nigerian standards. It featured a presidential election that cost 15% of GDP, only to be retroactively declared void; the military displacement of a civilian government; and three different governments in three months,” Mr Siollun wrote in his book.

“Perhaps the military’s greatest contribution to Nigeria’s democracy was to rule long and badly enough to thoroughly ruin its reputation and disabuse the public from considering it as an alternative government to civilians,” he added.

Mr Babangida is now 77 and he resides in his hilltop residence in Minna. Ernest Shonekan, the man he appointed to head the ING but who was kicked out three months later by Mr Abacha, is now 84.

Mr Abacha’s turn in power was marked by brutality and kleptomania. Critics were jailed and many were killed, including Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa. For declaring himself as president, Mr Abiola was kept in jail by Mr Abachauntil he died on June 8, 1998. Mr Abacha’s regime, however, made some progress on the economic front.

He died of heart attack, aged 54 while in office.

The next day, General Abdulsalami Abubakar was sworn in.

Fourth Republic
Mr Abubakar transferred power to Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 1999, after the latter won the year’s presidential election.

Mr Abubakar, 78, is the current chairman of the National Peace Committee.

Ex-military Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar

Mr Obasanjo, who defeated Olu Falae in the election, served two-terms of four years each. His administration made moves to restore Nigeria’s battered foreign image and embarked on a massive privatisation scheme among other reforms. He has since retired to his Ota hometown where he occasionally critiques successive governments.

A move to alter the constitution and grant Mr Obasanjo a third term in office was quashed at the Senate. Having failed, the controversial election of 2007 ushered in Umaru Yar’Adua who was handpicked by Mr Obasanjo.

Upon assuming office, Mr Yar’Adua declared his asset, the first Nigerian president to do so. He introduced electoral reforms, granted amnesty to Niger Delta militants but could not realise his seven-point agenda due to ill health.

Late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua

After months of medical treatment abroad, he died in Nigeria on May 5, 2010, aged 58. Three months before his death, using the “doctrine of necessity,” the Senate had transferred power to his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, as acting president.

Mr Jonathan completed that tenure, and he won the 2011 election. His tenure faced lots of security challenges, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency. This culminated into his defeat in the 2015 election to Muhammadu Buhari, the first time an incumbent would be so defeated. He also conceded defeat, a feat rarely seen in Africa. Mr Jonathan has since been on peacekeeping missions across Africa.

Mr Buhari won reelection in 2019, defeating Atiku Abubakar, making him and Mr Obasanjo Nigeria’s only presidents to serve as military heads of state and elected presidents.

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Woman mourned the death of her husband at his funeral ‘only to find him at her doorstep 4 days later’!

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The unfortunate woman, Victoria, told local news outlets that she ended the year with a tragedy. During a visit to the local hospital, she was told by hospital staff that her husband, Julio, passed away from c0ronavirus.

She reportedly identified the body that she was shown in the hospital morgue, after which the medical staff released the corpse to the grieving wife.

Making arrangements to pay the last respects to her husband, Victoria, arranged to have Julio’s body be taken 30 miles away from the hospital to her village in Honduras.

She then spent one entire night surrounded by distressed relatives as they had an all-night wake before his final burial the next day…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

On the day of the funeral, Julio’s children saw the open coffin and found something amiss. They took a look at the body and wondered whether it was really that of their father’s.

But despite their doubts, the relatives reportedly went ahead with the ceremony and the man was laid to rest in a funeral that Victoria spent more than $430.

In the days that followed, Victoria continued grieving for her husband until, out of nowhere, she saw Julio himself arrive back at their house on the fourth day since the funeral was held.

“That wasn’t my husband who died, because I have my husband here now. I recognised him,” the wife said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

It was only after her husband returned home that Victoria discovered he had been missing for a few days because he went for a walk and fell over at a spot in the neighboring municipality.

Unable to get up, the man spent several days there, surviving without anything to drink or eat. He was later found injured in a field before his return home. Although her husband was back, it also meant that she buried a complete stranger in her village and her family has no idea who they were grieving for. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

“I would like them to give me back some of what I spent, because they gave me the body of someone I don’t know,” Victoria shared.

“The authorities at the morgue should have properly examined him to see if it was really him.”

But on the other hand, the hospital said that the wife was to blame for misidentifying the man as her husband. They confirmed that the man arrived with Covid-19, and because of his serious condition, he didn’t survive in the hospital for more than a few hours.

The hospital staff had a look at the picture Victoria was carrying of her husband, and they found him to resemble the body of the man in the morgue. In addition to this, Victoria herself recognized the body at the time as that of her husband’s.

The hospital director reportedly said, “The logical thing was to bring the body back so we could investigate.

But later the relatives called back and said he was the right person after all and they were going to bury him.

We have everything documented. We even have an apology from one of the children, if this becomes a lawsuit.”

 

 

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A Girl Rushed Out Of McDonald’s Bathroom Crying, Then Her Mom Saw Something Wrong On Her Legs

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The restaurant was packed with hungry customers busy eating at their tables when the customers’ attention shifted to a four-year-old girl named Kayla running towards her mom. Kayla’s face was filled with tears, and she was hysterically crying when she reached her mom’s arm. While Kayla’s mom, Nicole, was comforting her daughter, she asked her daughter what was wrong. Kayla was still crying and couldn’t speak; she continued sobbing like she was in deep pain. That was when Nicole started scanning her daughter’s body and saw what was wrong.

There was something on Kayla’s leg. Hello, wonderful people! I’m Jamie Buck from Wonderbot, and here is a story about a girl who rushed out of a McDonald’s bathroom crying. Then her mom saw something wrong on her legs. Before we begin, make sure you smash the like button, subscribe to our channel, and click the notification bell for more amazing videos…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

It was during New Year’s Day when Nicole and her daughter Kayla decided to spend their day at the park and buy some food at McDonald’s. It was Kayla’s favorite fast food. The two were so excited to spend time together and bond at the park. While Nicole was closing their front door, she turned to Kayla and asked her if she was ready to have fun. Kayla nodded her head with excitement, having no idea what was about to come to them.

When Nicole and Kayla arrived at the park, the piercing sun was shimmering down on them. It was a perfect bright day to spend at the park. Kayla immediately ran towards the roundabout and asked her mom to spin her. You could hear Kayla’s giggle throughout the playground while her mom was spinning her. Nicole’s phone started ringing, and she turned around to answer the call while Kayla got off the roundabout to go to the slides.

While Nicole was busy talking on her phone, she suddenly heard a scream. Nicole quickly ended her call when she realized it was Kayla. The moment Nicole got off the phone, she turned around to find Kayla had fallen from the slide and scratched her head. She was so worried about what had happened and continued comforting her daughter while she was sobbing. After a while, when Kayla had finally calmed down, she asked her mom if she could get food already.

Nicole immediately stood up and told her daughter, “Yes, of course, dear.” The two left the park and drove off to the nearest McDonald’s, which was about 10 minutes away from where they were. Little did Nicole know that it would have been better if they just ate somewhere else. When Nicole and Kayla arrived at McDonald’s and walked into the restaurant, they noticed that the place was filled with people. Nicole’s attention was caught by a group of teenagers that were seated in the corner of the restaurant.

The group was listening to music while sipping on their soda. Two of the teenagers suddenly turned their look at Nicole and her daughter and sniggered. What could those two be thinking? It was mentioned earlier the restaurant was packed, so it’s no surprise that the line was long too. After what seemed like forever standing in line, it was finally Nicole’s turn to order.

While she was ordering their food, she asked Kayla to sit at the table in the corner and wait there while she was ordering food. Kayla politely followed her mom’s instructions and sat at the table while watching a video on YouTube on her mom’s phone. But then suddenly, a scream was heard throughout the restaurant. A scream came from the teenager that was sitting in the corner of the restaurant. The group started a fight and were yelling at each other.

Nicole immediately walked over to Kayla and comforted her, trying to drive her attention away from the battle by making her watch YouTube videos. Staff from the restaurant quickly went to the group to break up the fight and kick them out of the place. While the group was kicked out, two teenage girls from the circle were still sitting at the table. It was finally time to eat. The smell of burgers and fries lingered in the air as Nicole and Kayla started digging into their well-deserved lunch.

Kayla was eating a Happy Meal while Nicole was eating her chicken burger and some fries. In the middle of their mealtime, Kayla suddenly looked at her mom with a stern but innocent look. “Mommy, I need to use the toilet,” Kayla whispered as she finished the last bite of her cheeseburger. Kayla wiped her hands and got up to go to the toilet. When she walked over, she noticed the lock was shut.

There must be someone in there, she thought. She looked back at her mom, who smiled at her. Suddenly, she heard something. It was coming from inside the toilet. Giggles and laughs could be heard while Kayla was patiently waiting outside the toilet. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

After a couple of minutes remaining, the door opened, and the two teenage girls from earlier went out of the bathroom together with a smirk on their faces. Nicole was intimidated by the girls as she watched them walk past Kayla. Nicole then signaled her daughter to enter the toilet and assured Kayla that she’ll stay outside and wait for her. While Nicole was patiently waiting for Kayla at her table, she heard a scream coming from the toilet. “Mom!

Kayla screamed while running out of the bathroom with tears streaming down her face. Nicole immediately stood up from her seat, not minding her bag that fell onto the floor. As a mother, one thing that you never want to hear is the sound of your kid screaming. Kayla ran into her mom’s arms, sobbing. In the toilet, she says, Nicole immediately went to the toilet to check what was wrong.

She scanned the whole room and thought there was nothing wrong there, so she continued studying to see what could be the reason behind her daughter’s outburst. She saw that there were a few toilet paper rolls rolled out on the floor, and the faucet was dripping. Nicole checked the toilet seat, and that is when she figured the reason for her child’s outburst. When she went to the toilet seat, she noticed that it looked like the chair was covered with a white sticky substance. But as Nicole got closer to inspect, she realized that it was glue.

The toilet seat was smothered with super glue. She then realized that someone did this on purpose. Nicole stormed out of the toilet while her heart was pounding and yelled to call the manager and all employees in the restaurant. Nicole went over to her daughter, who was still crying and yelling in pain. She checked on Kayla to see what was wrong and saw that her daughter’s skin was peeled off at the back of her legs.

While Kayla was still crying in her mother’s arms, Kayla was terrified of what happened, and her mother was furious. Nicole yelled out for help in the crowd while stopping her tears from falling out of her eyes. Joanna, the assistant manager at McDonald’s, thought that she had seen it all, from small fights over a Big Mac to a drunk customer and misbehaving teens. She was trained and was already used to handling heated situations. She knew what to do to solve problems, but in her 15 years in the industry, it was the first time to see and experience something like this.

She had never seen anything like this. The moment Nicole asked for help, Joanna and her co-employees all gathered around Kayla and provided medical assistance. The staff helped in cleaning the wound and bandaging her up while Kayla was crying in her mom’s chest. After that, Nicole decided to go to the nearest hospital, so she called a family member to come and get them. But the assistance that was given to them was not enough for Nicole.

She knew that there was something that she needed to do. Nicole took the matter to her social media account and shared on her personal Facebook what happened, hoping that this would bring the pranksters to justice. On her post, Nicole wrote, “To the two young blonde girls that thought it would be hilarious to put super glue on the disabled and baby changing toilet in McDonald’s, I just want you to know that I still have to console my four-year-old daughter who was unfortunate enough to use the toilet after your little prank. She is hoping that the two teenage girls who played the prank on her daughter would be found and punished. Kayla is just an innocent little girl and does not deserve all of this.

After some investigations, the two teenage girls were finally found and were interviewed by the police officers. The two girls immediately admitted what they did and sincerely apologized to Nicole and Kayla. The two girls said they were regretting what they did and that it was a prank gone wrong. But was the apology enough for Nicole and daughter Kayla? Imagine Kayla, a four-year-old who would have to live her life with this terrible memory marked in her mind.

After hearing that the police had taken appropriate action against the two teenage girls, Nicole felt relieved. It’s been weeks since the incident happened, and the things that happened that day are still fresh in her mind. She watches as her daughter peacefully plays with her dolls. Some justice finally, she thought to herself. She takes a sip of her cup of coffee before smiling to herself and watching her brave daughter playing.

Such a story right? This story just proves to show that pranks can be a fun way to trick your friends, but it can result in a bad scenario. Hopefully, Nicole and Kayla’s experience will remind those people who love doing pranks and tricks on their friends to think twice about the people they would upset all for the sake of a laugh. So next time you want to play a prank on someone, make sure to think about it first and that no one will get hurt.

 

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The bus driver picked up the children early in the morning as usual, and the parents found out they were not at school

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Black ice (a thin layer of new ice on a road) is dangerous. If you have ever tried to walk or ride it then you know.

This is why the parents of Shelby County were not surprised when they were informed that school would start late because they had to wait for the ice on the road to melt.

Unfortunately, bus driver Wayne Price did not receive the message on time. He had already collected all the children, and knew that returning them to their homes
would only increase the chance of an accident. So instead, he did something completely different…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

Instead of parking the bus and letting the kids play on the smartphone for two hours, he knew he needed to do something to keep them busy.

His actions may not have been according to the book, but they also did not surprise elementary school principals in Montevallo, Alabama.

Understand, they know Wayne. They know he is capable of doing such a ‘trick’.

But the children did not know what to expect. When they stopped at a local McDonald’s branch they must have wondered if Wayne had lost it. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Turns out he just wanted to buy all the kids breakfast, and paid for everyone’s breakfast instead of the breakfast they were supposed to eat at school.

To put things in perspective, there were between 40 and 50 kids on Wayne’s bus, so you can imagine how much the bill came out. School principals responded to the
gesture on Facebook and wrote: “Mr. Price, one of our bus drivers, really demonstrated the holiday spirit! On Tuesday, when school started late because of ice on the
road and we could not serve breakfast, he bought breakfast at McDonalds for all the kids who were on the bus! What a wonderful gesture that the students will
remember forever!”

After hearing every good deed of the bus driver, people from all over the world flooded Wayne with messages of support and encouragement.

What a beautiful thing to do, and what a wonderful way to do above and beyond for kids who he so obviously care about!

If you think Wayne Price’s deed is commendable, share the article with your friends and family!

 

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