Jan 01, 1984 - The Buhari Coup New York Times

[Gee Kay]

A Conversation on the Trials of Democracy in Nigeria. 

The real reason Nigeria’s economy tanked in 1982/83. And a band of overzealous soldiers overran democracy and pushed us centuries back! 

New York Times, Jan 01, 1984

“The country was particularly hard hit by the world oil surplus and its $14 billion debt seriously restricts its economic planning. Oil revenues, which were $22.4 billion in 1980, slumped to $9.6 billion in 1982. Nigerian officials wanted to increase the production quota set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to two billion barrels a day by March, up from 1.3 billion, the nation's current OPEC limit. However, OPEC nations said the world market was too weak to accommodate the increased output.”

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/01/world/nigeria-army-says-it-has-forced-out-the-civil-regime.html

[JEROME NIANG YAKUBU]

Na wah for those OBIDIOTS oo,

Now that TINUBU is the PRESIDENT,

 Those MOTHERFUCKERS will now be WISHING for

a MILITARY COUP SONGS EVERY DAY.

Please read this Iyanminrin Igbo Gee Kay below this.

After those forever-idiots, OBIDIOTS threw everything NEGATIVE at TINUBU and they FAILED,

their only hope left is a MILITARY COUP

that they wish may derail his presidency.

Guess what?

A MILITARY COUP WON'T HAPPEN IN NIGERIA.

Just go ahead .... YOU MOTHERFUCKERS,

Go ROPE-AM-FOR-NECK,

or JUMP-AM-FOR-BRIDGE,

or SWALLOW-AM-FOR-POISON,

and KICK-AM-FOR-BUCKET.

Live with it or die miserably .... fools.

ASIWAJU of AFRICA, and the JAGABAN of NIGERIA

will occupy that ASO VILLA comfortably for EIGHT years.

Please read this Gee Kerley idiot below this,

IGBOS' last hope now is a MILITARY COUP.

But, who among the RATS will bell the CAT?

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[JEROME NIANG YAKUBU]

Na wah for those OBIDIOTS oo,

Now that TINUBU is the PRESIDENT,

 Those MOTHERFUCKERS will now be WISHING for

a MILITARY COUP EVERY DAY.

Please read this Iyanminrin Igbo Gee Kay below this.

After those forever-idiots, OBIDIOTS threw everything NEGATIVE at TINUBU and they FAILED,

their only hope left is for a MILITARY COUP

with which  the presidency of TINUBU can be derailed.

It is a case of ....

IF WE CAN'T HAVE IT,

and you have it,

THEN, YOU WON'T ENJOY IT. 

[Nebukadineze Adiele]

I don't know why you posted this link, George Kerley, but not everyone is subscribed to NYT, so if you really intended to educate people, through reminding them of past events, you should have excerpted and posted the article. I herby do so.

Nebukadineze Adiele
Organized religion sired irrationality.

NIGERIA ARMY SAYS IT HAS FORCED OUT THE CIVIL REGIME

By Clifford D. May, Special To the New York Times

    Jan. 1, 1984

NIGERIA ARMY SAYS IT HAS FORCED OUT THE CIVIL REGIME

Credit...The New York Times Archives

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President Shehu Shagari of Nigeria was overthrown today in a military coup, according to Nigerian broadcasts monitored here.

An army officer, Brig. Saleh Abacha, said in a broadcast that a military government had been set up to replace the civilian administration, which he said had been ''inept and corrupt.''

The armed forces suspended the 1979 Constitution, banned all political parties and imposed a nightly curfew.

(Diplomats in Paris said President Shagari, several ministers and members of the two-chamber National Assembly had been arrested, Reuters reported. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Reuters said, Vice President Alex Ekwueme and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Chaha, were taken from their homes before dawn by armed soldiers.) Fifth Military Intervention

The coup, if confirmed, would mark the fifth military intervention in Nigeria since its independence from Britain in 1960. The last, a 13-year period of army rule, ended in 1979 with the restoration of a civilian administration. Brigadier Abacha said that Nigerians had been living under ''intolerable conditions'' and that the civilian leadership had continued to squander money despite deteriorating economic conditions. Nigeria, a leading oil producer, has been losing oil revenues because of a decline in demand.

In Washington, financial specialists said that the lower revenues, by making it difficult to keep up with payments on Nigeria's foreign debt of $14 billion, might have been a factor in the military coup. (Page 10.) Takeover Without Bloodshed

Brigadier Abacha said in his broadcast from Lagos, the Nigerian capital, that the takeover had been accomplished without bloodshed. Broadcasts from other parts of Nigeria have reported no violence.

(In Washington, the State Department said the 7,000 Americans in Nigeria were apparently safe. A spokesman said contact was being maintained with Lagos through diplomatic channels.)

There were reports that troops in combat gear had taken up positions around Lagos, but that all appeared calm, with streets almost deserted.

Airports, seaports and border posts have been closed and both telephone and telex communications with Nigeria have been cut.

President Shagari began his second term only three months ago after Nigeria's first civilian-run elections. Elections in 1979 had been conducted by the army. The election campaign this year was a remarkably open and freewheeling affair and the elections themselves, though marred by irregularities, were viewed as an exercise in democracy.

''There were instances of fraud by all the parties involved in the elections,'' a Nigerian commentator said. ''But I don't think anyone can seriously claim that Shagari would have lost had all the rigging been eliminated.''

Scattered outbreaks of violence after the elections were quickly extinguished, and the courts overturned some results as fraudulent. In recent months, the situation has been generally calm.

Mr. Shagari had pledged to wage an aggressive fight against corruption and inefficiency during what, under the Constitution, would have had to be his final term in office.

Nigeria History

With a population of 85 million, Nigeria is the most populous African country. Its vast natural resources, particularly its rich oil reserves, have made it one of the most economically and politically important countries on the continent's West coast.

Nigeria was one of Britain's major colonial prizes in Africa. British traders and missionaries initially worked their way up the Niger River, forerunners of the British rule that began in 1861. However, it was not until the 1920's that the amalgamation of Nigeria's diverse tribal groups in a single colony and protectorate was finally accomplished.

Nigeria became independent on Oct. 1, 1960, joining the Commonwealth. A military coup abolished civil rule in 1966 and in 1967 a cruel and bitterly contested civil war erupted when the Ibo tribespeople of eastern Nigeria unsuccessfully sought independence as a nation called Biafra. The civil war is said to have cost a million lives.

After the military rulers allowed political activity to resume, Shehu Shagari, a mild- mannered Moslem, won the presidency in 1979 by a narrow margin. Re-elected by a huge majority last August, he was sworn in for a second term in October promising a more austere government that would take tough political and economic actions to revive Nigeria's faltering economy.

One of Mr. Shagari's most controversial decisions was the sudden expulsion last January of over two million West Africans working illegally in Nigeria. The mass deportions and the social and economic hardship they caused drew considerable international criticism and a bitter reaction from neighboring countries.

Patterned along federal lines, Nigeria has 19 states and a two-chamber legislature. Lagos, a coastal city with a population of three million, is the national capital. A new capital is being constructed at Abuja in central Nigeria. Population

Nigeria's tribal population exhibits extreme ethnic diversity, numbering at least 250 separate ethnic groups, with 10 of them accounting for about 80 percent of the people. Most of the population is centered in the south near Lagos and in the north around Kano.

About half the population is Moslem, primarily in the north and east, while the south contains millions of Christians. Although English is the official language, major African languages such as Hausa, Yoruba and Ibo are widely used. About 70 percent of the nation is illiterate and life expectancy is about 50 years. Geography

Nigeria, with an area of 356,667 square miles, is about twice the size of California and its name is derived from the Niger River, the third longest river in Africa. Compared with other African countries, Nigeria is comparatively flat and unspectacular, but it has rich oil and mineral deposits. Economy

Nigeria is far from economic self-sufficency, importing 70 percent of its food and raw materials. It depends on petroleum exports for more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange and it is the second-largest oil supplier to the United States. The country was particularly hard hit by the world oil surplus and its $14 billion debt seriously restricts its economic planning. Oil revenues, which were $22.4 billion in 1980, slumped to $9.6 billion in 1982. Nigerian officials wanted to increase the production quota set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to two billion barrels a day by March, up from 1.3 billion, the nation's current OPEC limit. However, OPEC nations said the world market was too weak to accommodate the increased output.

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 1, 1984, Section 1, Page 1 of the National edition with the headline: NIGERIA ARMY SAYS IT HAS FORCED OUT THE CIVIL REGIME. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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