Alhaji Shehu Shagari
Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, Turakin Sakkwato was born February 25, 1925. He was
the second President of Nigeria’s
Second Republic (1979–1983), after the handover of power by General
Olusegun Obasanjo's military government.
Shagari is a northerner of Fulani extraction and holds the aristocratic title
of the Turaki of Sokoto in the Sokoto Caliphate. He worked as a teacher for a
brief period before entering politics in 1954 upon his election to the federal
House of Representatives.
Shehu Usman Shagari was born in Shagari village to the family of Magaji Aliyu
and Mariamu in 1925. His name, Usman, means "Companion". He was raised in a
polygamous family, and was the sixth child born into the family. Prior to
becoming Magajin Shagari, Aliyu, Shehu's father was a farmer, trader and
herder.
However, due to traditional rites that prevented rulers from participating in
business, Aliyu relinquished some of his trading interest when he became the
Magaji, or village head, of Shagari village. Aliyu died five years after
Shehu's birth, and Shehu's elder brother, Bello, briefly took on his father's
mantle as Magajin Shagari.
Shagari was taught recitals at home and later went to a Quranic school at the
age of four. However, he was obliged to attend elementary school at Yabo, a
town close by. After, he went to the Sokoto Middle School and later to Kaduna
college.
After finishing secondary school, he was called on to become the new
pupil-science teacher of Sokoto Middle School, shortly after, he was appointed
the science teacher for Zaria Middle school. In 1945, after the end of World
War II, he moved back to become the science and also history and geography
teacher of the Sokoto Middle School. There, he was re-united with his extended
family who lived nearby. Six years after, he was posted to Argungu as the
headmaster of the new primary school there.
In 1946, Shagari and Mallam Gambo Abuja started the Youth Social Circle, a
political organization centered around Sokoto. They were supported by noble
men such as Ahmadu Bello, Ibrahim Gusau, and Mallam Ahamdu Dabbaba. By 1948, a
consolidation idea was initiated in the region to merge all the nascent
political organizations under one group. The youth social circle of Sokoto
agreed to the merger, and together with other groups formed the Northern
People's congress. Later on, the organization became a political party and
went on to win the national parliamentary election in 1959. Before 1959,
Shagari was elected to represent the constituency of Sokoto Southwest. In
1958, he was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa. Shagari later went on to hold the positions of minister of
Economic Development in 1960, minister of Internal Affairs in 1962 and
minister of Works and Survey in 1965. However, the first republic was cut
short by a military coup. Shagari returned to Sokoto to work on his farm and
later to work as a councilor for the Sokoto Native Authority. In 1970, as part
of a movement to broaden the government,
Yakubu Gowon
made Shagari a minister of Economic affairs and later of Finance.
Gowon's government was later overthrown as part of a military putsch by some
military officers. A new democratic return timetable was initiated by the new
Administration. As part of its preparation for democratic return, the
government of
Obasanjo
established a constitutional conference. Members to the conference where both
elected and selected. Within the conference, a national organization was
formed among some members, the organization was called National Movement, it
later metamorphosed to become the National Party of Nigeria and contested the
1979 election with Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari as its presidential candidate.
Shagari won the 1979 election with the help of his campaign manager, Umaru
Dikko. The campaign had the support of many prominent politicians in the North
and among southern minorities. The party's motto was "One Nation, One Destiny"
and was seen as the party best representing Nigeria's diversity.
The fall in oil price that began in 1981 affected the finances of the Nigerian
government. Shagari initiated an Economic Stabilization Program to help
protect the country against a hard landing from prior highs of the 70's and to
steer the economy towards positive growth. Key objectives of the program were
to limit import licenses, reduce government spending and raise custom duties.
However, the result from the stabilization program was minimal.
The Shagari administration was plagued by allegations of corruption, including
allegations of electoral fraud in the 1983 election. This, coupled with a
decline in world oil prices, a deterioration in the national finances, and
endemic religious and political violence lead to the regime becoming deeply
unpopular with citizens. Shagari was overthrown by General
Muhammadu Buhari
in a military coup on December 31, 1983 and in which one of the senior
officers who planned the coup, Brigadier Ibrahim Bako, died under murky
circumstances.
You May Also Like
Related Posts via Categories:
No comments