Babangida ousts Buhari
The palace coup on Monday which ousted General Buhari from power has set people speculating as to whether the new strongman would give the people a real break. We publish the text of the speech announcing the coup.In what can best be described as a palace coup, Major General Ibrahim Babangida, the chief of army staff, who was also regarded as the third most powerful man in the country's 20 month military regime, has ousted Major-General Muhammadu Buhari as head of state.
This is the fifth successful military takeover since Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960 and comes 20 months after the military aborted the second republic by seizing power from the elected civilian government of President Shehu Shagari.
There has so far been no official word about the whereabouts of Gen Buhari but some sources indicate that he was arrested last Sunday after he came back from the mosque where he had performed the prayers of Id-el. He arrived at Dodan barracks to discover that the guards had been changed and his number was up, and detained at the Kirikiri maximum security prison. His number two man Major General Tunde Idiagbon who was generally referred to as the regime's strong man, was initially reported to be in Saudi Arabia for this year's hajj but the same sources indicated that he arrived back last Monday at Murtala airport from where he was driven also to Kirikiri prison.
The coup announcement followed the previous practice where it was made by an officer other than the one who eventually emerges as head of state. Brigadier Dogonyaro who first made the announcement on Radio Nigeria at 6am on Tuesday is the principal staff officer of the army's armoured corps. But it was Major-General Sanni Abacha, the officer to announce the coup of 1983, who in a television broadcast on Tuesday afternoon named Major General Ibrahim Babangida as the new head of state.
Major General Ibrahim Babangida, aged forty four is, like his predecessor, also a muslim. He comes from the northern state of Niger. Since 1983 he is reported to have concerned himself with the military administration thereby allowing Generals Buhari and Idiagbon to take the political decisions. Through this he won the respect and support of the professional soldiers who must have felt embarrassed by some of the unpopular decisions of the military regime.
It is said that on a few occasions when General Babangida tried to influence political decisions, his advice had been ignored by Generals Buhari and Idiagbon who have consequently been accused of being insensitive to the wishes of Nigerians.
With the support of officers in key positions such as Maj-Gen Sanni Abacha, the commander of the famous mechanised 2nd Division, Gen Babangida effected the leadership change. Among the actions taken so far by the new regime are: closure of the country's air and sea ports in in addition to the land borders which have remained closed since the 1983 coup, repeal of Decree 4 and release of journalists detained under it, pledge to respect human rights and review cases of detainees and a purge of the military police.
We reproduce here the text of the address in which Brigadier Joshua Dogonyaro announced the coup.
I, Brigadier Joshua Nimero Dogonyaro of the Nigerian Army, hereby make the following declaration on behalf of my colleagues and members of the Nigerian Armed Forces:
Fellow countrymen, the intervention of the military at the end of 1983 was welcomed by the nation with unprecedented enthusiasm. Nigerians were unified in accepting the intervention and looked forward hopefully to progressive changes for the better.
Almost two years later, it has become clear that the fulfilment of expectations is not forthcoming. Because this generation of Nigerians, and indeed future generations, has no other country but Nigeria, we could not stay passive and watch a small group of individuals misuse power to the detriment of our national aspirations and interest.
No nation has ever achieved meaningful strides in its development where there is absence of cohesion in the hierarchy of government. Where it has become clear that positive action by the policy makers is hindered because the body lacks untiy of purpose, it is evident that the nation will be endangered with the risk of continuous misdirection. We are presently confronted with that danger. In such a situation, if action can be taken to arrest further damage, it should and must be taken. This is precisely what we have done.
The Nigerian public has been made to believe that the slow pace of action of the federal government headed by Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari was due to the enormity of the problems left by the last civilian administration. Although it is true that a lot of problems were left behind by the last civilian government, the real reason, however, for the very slow pace of action is due to lack of unanimity of purpose among the ruling body. Consequently, the business of governance has gradually been subjected to ill- motivated power play considerations
The ruling body, the Supreme Military Council (SMC), has therefore progressively been made redundant by the actions of a select few members charged with the day-to-day implementation of the SMC's policies and decisions The concept of collective leadership has been substituted by stubborn and ill-advised unilateral actions, thereby destroying the principle upon which the government came to power.
Any effort made to advise the leadership met with stubborn resistance and was viewed as challenge to authority or disloyalty. Thus, the scene was being set for a systematic elimination of what was termed opposition. All energies of the rulership were directed at this imaginary opposition rather than to effective leadership. The result of this misdirected effort is now very evident in the county as a whole
The government had started to drift. The economy does not seem to be getting any better as we witness daily increased inflation. The nation's meagre resources are once again being wasted on unproductive ventures. Government had distanced itself from the people and the yearnings and aspirations of the people as constantly reflected in the media have been ignored.
This is because a few people have arrogated to themselves the right to make the decisions for the larger half of the ruling body. All these events have shown that the present comp- osition of our country's leadership cannot therefore justify its continued occupation of that position. Further- more, the initial objectives and programmes of action which were meant to have been implemented since the accession to power of the Buhari administration in January 1984 have been betrayed and discarded. The present state of uncertainty and stagnation cannot be permitted to degenerate into suppression and retrogression. We feel duty bound to use the resources and means at our disposal to restore hope in the minds of Nigerians and renew aspirations for a better future.
We are no prophets of doom for our beloved country, Nigeria. We therefore count on everyone's cooperation and assistance. I appeal to you, fellow countrymen, particularly my colleagues in arms, to refrain from any act that will lead to unnecessary violence and bloodshed among us. Rest assured that our action is in the interest of the nation and you in the armed forces.
In order to enable a new order to be introduced, the following bodies are dissolved forthwith pending further announcement: a) The Supreme Military Council; b) The Federal Executive Council; c) The National Council of State.
All sea ports and airports are closed. All borders remain closed. Finally a dusk to dawn curfew is imposed in Lagos and all state capitals until further notice. All military com- manders will ensure effective mainten- ance of law and order. Further announcements will be made in due course.
God bless Nigeria.
