Word: babangida
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Dates: during 1985-1985
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Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, a general in the Nigerian army, is a man who always seems to be at the center of the action. In 1975 he and his fellow officers ousted General Yakubu Gowon, who had taken power soon after the outbreak of the bloody four-year Biafran war. The following year, an unarmed Babangida confronted rebellious army officers in Lagos during an attempted coup and persuaded them to surrender. It was he too who masterminded the army coup that, on the last day of 1983, toppled Shehu Shagari, the civilian President whose winking acceptance of endemic corruption had helped...
...announcement that Army Chief of Staff Babangida, 44, had deposed the government leader Major General Mohammed Buhari without bloodshed caused only moderate surprise among Nigeria's 90 million citizens. Deposed with Buhari was his top aide, Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, who occupied the unofficial post of Vice President. Nigerians had watched despairingly as the Buhari regime's promises to revive the economy and wipe out rampant corruption withered during 20 months of heavy-handed, largely ineffective rule. Last May, Buhari ordered the brutal expulsion of 700,000 illegal immigrants from neighboring African states, jailed hundreds of political opponents and muzzled...
...Babangida, a career soldier trained at U.S. and British military schools, declared in his first address as head of state that Buhari was "too rigid and uncompromising." Later the new President repealed a law that banned criticism of the government, released several journalists from prison, reviewed the cases of an estimated 500 political prisoners jailed by Buhari, and promised to curb excesses by the secret police. Radio Lagos reported he had also approved the appointment of 28 military and police officers to the governing Armed Forces Ruling Council. Perhaps the most important promise made by the new military leaders...
...Nigerians. Despite Buhari's increasingly repressive regime and his mismanagement of the economy, his fate may not have been sealed until earlier this year when he ordered the dismissal of 30,000 soldiers as a cost-cutting measure. The cashiered troops reportedly began terrorizing and looting the countryside. Babangida indicated his dissatisfaction with Buhari in a rare speech this year in which he warned, "Those who advocate less spending on defense cannot win." He also proposed supplementing oil revenues by turning Nigeria into a major arms-manufacturing country...
...Muslim, Babangida waited to make his move until the religious holiday of Id al-Kabir, when Buhari returned to his native town of Daura in Kaduna state, and Idiagbon was on the hajj to Mecca. In July, Babangida had made a visit to army troops around the country, during which he is said to have gathered support for the takeover. Some Western diplomats believe that Babangida's ability to hold on to power depends on his success in turning around the Nigerian economy. Whatever his plans, he knows he must act quickly and | decisively. He has only to look...