BRIEF HISTORY OF NIGERIA'S LEADERSHIP SINCE INDEPENDENCE

       

WRITTEN BY: NWOKOYE EMMANUEL

       The most populous black nation in the world was liberated from the shackles of colonialism in the year 1960, that year Dr Nnnamdi Azikiwe who was a famous and leading nationalist and the founder of west African pilot newspaper became the first ceremonial president of Nigeria while Alhaji Tafawa Belewa was the prime minister due to the fact that at that time Nigeria practiced parliamentary system of government as they imitated from our colonialist. 

       The Government of Nnamdi Azikiwe and Tafawa BElewa was truncated on the 15th of January 1966 by the military, that was the first time the karki men came into Nigeria's political scene. That coup was bloody and people like the prime minster Tafawa Belewa, federal minister of finance Okotie eboh was killed. General Umunnakwe Thmpson Agui Ilonsi became the first military head of state. With a south easterner becoming the head of state and prominent politicians from the east not killed in the coup that ushered in first military government in Nigeria, the northerners saw it as a coup that was planned by the Igbos so the northerners in the military started working on how to conduct a coup that will remove the military head of state.

   Barely three months after Agui Ironsi ascended the throne, another coup was carried out and Agui Ironsi was killed and this time it was carried out by the northerners and it saw the emergence of Yakubu Gowon as the military head of state. Gowon who was only 27 years then have to rise from a lower rank to a general in a matter of some months to assume the most exalted seat of the nation, which high ranking military officers as of then like Odumegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu disagreed with and refused to recognize Gowon as the military head of state which was among the things that led to the the Nigeria civil war of 1967-1970. Gowon was on seat for nine good years and in 1966 another bloodless coup was carried out which saw the emergence of Murtala Mohammed as the Nigeria head of state. Murtala Mohammed did not last so long as he was assassinated while going to the mosque by Buka Suka Dimka and his co. The coup was unsuccessful and therefore Murtala's second in command Olusegun Obasanjo have to take over.

        When Olusegun Obasanjo took over, he started working on the promises of his predecessor which is  is returning of Nigeria to democratic rule. He set up a committee that will draft a constitution for Nigeria and the committee came up with a presidential system of government abandoning the parliamentary system which we inherited by our colonial masters. Elections were conducted in 1979 and Alhaji Shehu Shagari was elected as the first executive president of Nigeria.

     Four years after Shegari's administration came into existence, the administration was removed while they were preparing for another election by a bloodless coup and General Mohammadu Buhari became the head of state and the commander in chief of the armed forces. He did not stay long because another coup was carried out in 1985 and Ibrahim Badmosi Babangida became the new head of state. Babangida also promised Nigerians that he is going to return the leadership of the country to the hands of the civilians and he worked  towards it. in 1992 a general election which is today adjudged the most free and fair election was conducted which saw the emergence of M.K.O Abiola as the winner of the election but lo and behold the election was annulled. Ernest Shonekan became the interim head of state, and he was only there just for three months before another bloodless coup was carried out and Sani Abacha became the new head of state. 

      Sani Abacha was the head of state till the cold hands of death lay hands on him on June eight and Abdulsalami Abubakar took over with a promise that he is going to hand over power to the civilians, that promise was fulfilled as a general election was conducted in 1999, and that saw the emergence of one time head of state Olusegun Obasanjo as the president of Nigeria. Obasanjo was the president of Nigeria for eight years after completing a two tenure which is made up  of four years each. Another general election was held in 2007 which saw the emergence of Late president Umaru Musa Yar Adua and for the first time in the history of Nigeria there was a smooth transition form one civilian Government to another. Unfortunately for Umaru Musa Yaradua, he did not live to see the end of his tenure as the cold hand of death lay hands on him on the 5th day of march 2009 and the vice president of Nigeria Goodluck Ebere Jonathan have to take over as the president of Nigeria according to the stipulations of the constitution of federal republic of Nigeria. Two years after he took over power, another general election was conducted and Goodluck Jonathan won and became the first president ever to be produced by the minority south south geo political zone. Goodluck Jonathan is on seat till today which is a historic day in our life as a nation when another general election that will determine whom the leader of this great nation will be. As we we watch and discharge our civic responsibility which is voting credible leaders that will pioneer the affairs of this great country let us pray that God will be with us. May GOD bless the federal republic of Nigeria.