Former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari dies at 93

LAGOS: Shehu Shagari, Nigeria's 2nd president, whose civilian tenure used to be sandwiched between two military rulers in an generation rocked by way of coups, has died. He used to be 93.


Nigeria's current President Muhammadu Buhari, who unseated Shagari 35 years in the past, stated on Saturday he mourns "the departure of a patriot, who served Nigeria with humility, integrity and diligence." Shagari's grandson Bello in a Twitter publish stated he died on Friday within the capital, Abuja, after a temporary sickness.

Shagari had an ambivalent courting with the army, which initially preferred his ascension to energy however held him in solitary confinement for 3 years after toppling his government.

After military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo lifted the ban on political task in Africa's most populous nation in 1978, Shagari beat regional political veterans in a hotly contested election the next yr. The polls followed 13 years of military rule by way of four different males.

At his swearing-in rite, Shagari stated the army had "succeeded in large measure in unifying us."

It had been lower than 20 years because the West African powerhouse had earned its independence from British rule, and it struggled to forge nationwide cohesion throughout the colonial borders which tied some 250 ethnic groups together.

Those years noticed a civil war, a toppled civilian government and a chain of military administrations together with that of Gen. Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, during which Shagari served as a civilian finance minister.

Shagari is claimed to had been the primary boy to visit faculty in his northern village of Shagari within the northeastern state of Sokoto. He started out as a science trainer earlier than entering politics. From 1954-1966 he used to be a member of the House of Representatives and later held a number of ministerial posts under each civilian and military governments.

Even though the army had voluntarily paved the way for democratic rule, the specter of its interference loomed over Shagari's time in place of job.

The oil-rich nation's financial system suffered from a sharp drop in international crude oil prices, fueling discontent. On Dec. 29, 1983, Shagari announced austerity measures in a rustic already affected by top unemployment charges and general disillusionment after the oil boom of the '70s.

Shagari's administration additionally used to be marred by way of corruption scandals. Even though the public thought to be him to be truthful, his incapability to rein in his government's avarice used to be sharply criticized.

On New Year's Eve in 1983, a gaggle of military plotters toppled his government, describing Shagari's administration as "inept and corrupt." Buhari, then an army ruler, took over the nation.

Shagari, who had been re-elected a couple of months earlier, gave the impression to have observed it coming.

"My greatest concern is that democracy survives in Nigeria," he advised a biographer simply earlier than the coup.

It used to be now not until Buhari returned to the presidency in 2015 that Nigeria noticed the primary peaceful switch of energy from one celebration to any other. The subsequent election is in February.