Shehu Shagari

Shehu Shagari
6th President of Nigeria
In office October 1, 1979 – December 31, 1983
Vice President	Alex Ekwueme
Preceded by	Olusegun Obasanjo
Succeeded by	Muhammadu Buhari
Personal details
Born	(1925-02-25) February 25, 1925 Shagari, Sokoto State, Nigeria
Political party	National Party of Nigeria

Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, Turakin Sakkwato (born February 25, 1925, ) served as the 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 title of Turakin Sakkwato 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.

Early life

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.

The village of Shagari was founded by Fulani Jihadist and cattlemen and later dominated by Hausa traders. Like many Jihadist founded towns, religious recitals was important for children growing up. 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.

Early career

Kaduna College originally was created to be a teachers training school. There were few high level civil service professions open to indigenes in Northern Nigeria and coupled with the lack of a post-graduate school except the Yaba Higher college; the teaching profession became the dominant career path early graduates of Kaduna college took and Shagari was no exception. 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 World War 2, 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.

Marriages

After, becoming the science teacher for Sokoto Middle School, he had a close look at arranged marriages. His uncle Magaji Basharu and his brother, Bello had tried to have him marry Basharu's granddaughter. However, Shagari gave the visiting bridal train a tauting look, after the visitors left, the bride sensing the atmosphere followed them briskly. Shagari later married twice to Hadiza and Aishatu Shagari.

Presidency

Shagari's Ministers
OFFICE	NAME	TERM
President	Shehu Shagari	1979–1983
Vice President	Alex Ekwueme	1979–1983
Transportation	Umaru Dikko	1979–1983
Agriculture	Ibrahim Gusau	1979–1982
	Adamu Ciroma	1982–1983
Commerce	Maitama Bello Yusuf	1981–1983
Communications	Akanbi Oniyangi	1979–1981
	Isaac Shaahu	1981–1983
Minister of Defence	Iya Abubakar	1979–1981
	Akanbi Oniyangi	1981–1983
Housing	Wahab Dosumu	1979–1982
	Alhaji Ahmed Musa	1982–1983
Abuja	John Kadiya	1979–1982
	Abubakar Iro Danmusa	1982–1983
Education	Sylvester Ugoh	1982–1983
Foreign Affairs	Ishaya Audu	1979–1983
Justice	Richard Akinjide	1979–1983
Steel	Ali Makele	1979–1983

File:Shagariandakinyemi.jpg

Shagari (center) with Bolaji Akinyemi (right), Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, and Akinyemi's wife (left).

Shagari won the 1979 election with the help of his campaign manager, Umaru Dikko, political men of prominence in the North and among southern minorities, and some money bags interested in protecting their interest. Nevertheless, the party captured the ethnic and social demographics as good or even better than his adversaries. The party's motto was "One Nation, One Destiny" and it tried to promote this motto even to its detriment. Shagari, made Housing, Industries, Transportation and Agriculture as the major goals of his administration, particularly in his early stages of governance during the oil boom. However, most of his programs had incongruous outcomes. In Housing, he launched a large scale housing program that built estates such as "Shagari Estate" but also launched the careers of Nigeria's legendary money bags who swamped the Nigerian ports with imported cement to complete the housing projects. In Industries, Shagari completed the Delta Steel complex in 1982, and spent hundred of millions of dollars on the Ajaokuta Steel complex and the Steel rolling mills. However, allegations of kickbacks to prominent politicians hovers like a cloud on those projects. In transportation, he launched road networks across the country, the ministry headed by Umaru Dikko, was vital in the programs of the NPN led government. In terms of agriculture, a Green Revolution program was initiated to foster the use of mechanical machinery in farming. It favored large scale farmers in order to produce mass products. However, it was hampered by the prevalence of retired military officers, who had acquired land as parting gift under the previous administration and had the necessary hectares to influence large favors under the program.

Economic stabilization

Sharari is greeted by BGEN Archer Durham upon his arrival for a visit. Location: Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, United States

The fall in oil price that started since 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 steward the economy towards positive growth. Key objectives of the program was to limit import licences, already abused by money bags and officials, reduce government spending and raise custom duties. However, the results from the stabilization program was minimal and the country fell into further economic quagmire.

Allegations of corruption and maladministration

The prominence of money bags who financed the elections of 1979 and lapse ethical judgement by ministers under Shagari heightened allegations of corruption. This included the Nigeria election of 1983 marked by accusations of electoral fraud, coupled with a decline in world oil prices, led to a marked deterioration in the national finances under Shagari's watch, while religious and political violence became so endemic that his overthrow by General Muhammadu Buhari on New Year's Eve in 1983 was actually looked upon with relief by most of the Nigerian public at the time.

Further reading

• Shehu Othman: Classes, Crises and Coup: The Demise of Shagari's Regime. African Affairs > Vol. 83, No. 333
• "Special advisers to the Nigerian President", 1979. The British Broadcasting Corporation.
• "Nigerian Cabinet Changes", the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, February 17, 1982.

See also

• List of Presidents of Nigeria
• Sokoto