Word: abuja
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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During the 1970s, on the strength of its oil revenues, Nigeria launched ill- planned, multibillion-dollar public works projects, such as the construction of a proposed new capital city at Abuja and numerous petrochemical plants. When the country's foreign debt ballooned, many of these were left unfinished. Once Africa's leading food exporter, Nigeria became a net importer as farmers abandoned the land for the promise of lucrative jobs in the oil industry. As a result, shortages of basic commodities quickly developed. The Shagari regime's tolerance of corruption only added to the country's woes. In 1983 alone...
When Shagari first took office, Nigeria was riding the crest of the oil boom. Its wells were producing up to $26 billion a year. The affluence led the government to press ahead with several expensive development projects, including the construction of a new capital city at Abuja, 325 miles to the northeast of Lagos. Shagari initially promised an end to corruption, but he soon learned that his room for maneuver was limited by the narrower aims of the northern political barons, whose support had ensured his election. Fueled by the oil boom, corruption flourished. Explains a newspaper editor...
...only reported bloodshed occurred in the partly completed capital, Abuja. When soldiers went to the official residence to arrest President Shagari, their commander, Brigadier Ibrahim Bako,.was shot dead by a bodyguard. Shortly afterward, Shagari surrendered and was taken into custody. The junta subsequently denied early reports that he had been brought to Lagos in handcuffs...
...Nigeria has spent $80 billion on economic development, and it now plans to spend $128 billion more by 1985. Housing programs alone call for $3.8 billion in new construction during the period. In addition, the government has been pushing forward with the development of an entirely new federal capital, Abuja, in Nigeria's sparsely populated central region, 300 miles inland from Lagos, the present capital. Spending for the project now runs at $2 billion a year...