Word: shagari
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...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 plunge oil-rich Nigeria into a still continuing spiral of poverty. Last week Babangida was in the vanguard of yet another takeover, only this time he took the prize for himself. In a carefully planned coup, the short, stocky...
...Last May, Buhari ordered the brutal expulsion of 700,000 illegal immigrants from neighboring African states, jailed hundreds of political opponents and muzzled a once aggressive press. He also soured Nigeria's relations with its former colonial master, Britain, with a clumsy attempt in July 1984 to kidnap President Shagari's brother-in-law, former Transport Minister Umaru Dikko, and ship him from London to Lagos in a wooden crate...
...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, according to Oil Minister Tam David-West, $1 billion in petroleum was secretly diverted from state oil terminals to foreign tankers, with Nigerian businessmen and politicians taking the profits. Some reports say $1 million...
Nigerians elected Alhaji Shehu Shagari, but his administration failed to meet the requirements of democracy. Instead, his officials sought their own personal gain. I believe Nigerians would prefer to be ruled by soldiers who will strive for the good of their country...
...addition, the government has raised taxes and devalued the Zimbabwe dollar in order to qualify for $375 million in IMF and World Bank loans to improve railroads and roads. Before General Buhari's coup, Nigeria had hoped to receive a threeyear, $2 billion IMF loan. But like the Shagari government...