|
??1960 |
? |
| 1 OCTOBER 1960: |
Nigeria gains independence from Britain. Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa of the Northern Peoples Congress emerges as Prime
Minister. Nnamdi Azikiwe of the National Council for Nigerian
Citizens becomes the first Nigerian Governor-General, and Nigeria's
first president when the country becomes a republic in 1963.
Obafemi Awolowo of the Action Group becomes leader of the opposition. |
| 15 JANUARY 1966: |
Prime Minister Balewa is killed in a failed coup
led by mostly Igbo army officers. Many other top members of
the government are also killed, including the powerful premier
of the Northern Region, Ahmadu Bello. The government collapses
and the most senior army officer, General Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi,
takes over as head of state. |
| 29 JULY 1966: |
Northern army officers stage a "counter-coup".
Ironsi is killed and Colonel Yakubu Gowon emerges new military
ruler. Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, governor of the Eastern
Region, refuses to accept Gowon's authority. Igbos and other
south-easterners are massacred across the north. |
| 27 MAY 1967: |
After several months of political crisis Gowon
announces the dissolution of Nigeria's four administrative regions
and their replacement by a 12-state structure. |
| 30 MAY 1967: |
Ojukwu declares the former Eastern Region the
independent Republic of Biafra. From this point on Nigeria is
technically at war. |
|
??1970 |
 |
| 12 JANUARY 1970: |
Biafran surrenders. More than one million people
had died in 30 months of civil war. Gowon declares "no victor,
no vanquished" and announces a programme of reconstruction and
rehabilitation. |
| 29 JULY 1975: |
Gowon is toppled by Maj-Gen Murtala Mohammed while
attending an Organisation of African Unity summit in Kampala,
Uganda. He goes into exile in Britain. |
| 13 FEBRUARY 1976: |
Gen Mohammed is assassinated in an aborted coup.
His next in command, Maj-Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, becomes head
of state. |
| 1 OCTOBER 1979: |
Gen. Obasanjo hands over power to President Shehu
Shagari, who won that year's elections on the platform of the
National Party of Nigeria, bringing to an end 13 years of military
rule. |
|
??1980 |
? |
| 31 DECEMBER 1983: |
President Shagari is toppled in a military coup
three months after winning a second term at elections marred
by violence and allegations of widespread rigging. The new military
ruler is Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari. |
| 27 AUGUST 1985: |
Buhari is overthrown by his army chief, Maj-Gen
Ibrahim Babangida, who makes it clear from the outset that he
prefers the title of president. |
|
??1990 |
|
| 22 April 1990: |
Babangida survives a bloody coup attempt by mainly
junior army officers. In the courts martial that follow more
than 200 soldiers are sentenced to death and executed. |
| 12 JUNE 1993: |
Nigerians vote in presidential elections to end
military rule. The candidates are Moshood Abiola of the Social
Democratic Party and Bashir Tofa of the National Republican
Convention. Early results show Abiola with a runaway lead. |
| 15 JUNE 1993: |
The electoral commission announces the suspension
of publication of the results, citing a need to obey a pre-election
ruling by a court, which had ordered that the election should
not be held. The commission had earlier disobeyed the court
ruling because a military decree had stripped the courts of
their power to accept election-related lawsuits. |
| 23 JUNE 1993: |
A statement from Gen Babangida's office declares
the election annulled. For the next two months massive demonstrations
organised by pro-democracy activists paralyse several Nigerian
cities. |
| 27 AUGUST 1993: |
Babangida steps down as president under intense
pressure. He hands over to an interim government headed by Ernest
Shonekan, a civilian businessman he handpicked, and mandated
to organise fresh elections. |
| 17 NOVEMBER 1993: |
The interim government is toppled by the defence
minister, Gen. Sani Abacha. He dissolves all civilian institutions,
including the national legislature and state governments. |
| 10 NOVEMBER 1995: |
Renowned writer and environmental campaigner,
Ken Saro-Wiwa, is executed along with eight other Ogoni minority
rights activists on murder charges, after a trail generally
perceived to be flawed. The execution draws international outrage
and the Abacha regime becomes an international pariah. |
| 8 JUNE 1998: |
Abacha dies suddenly of apparent heart failure.
He is succeeded by the most senior military officer, Gen Abdulsalami
Abubakar, who pledges rapid reforms to restore democracy. |
| 15 JUNE 1998: |
Abubakar frees former military ruler Gen. Obasanjo
from jail where he was serving a 15-year term. He had been convicted
in 1995 along with several military officers and civilians on
what was believed by many Nigerians to be trumped-up charges
of plotting Abacha's fall. |
| 7 JULY 1998: |
Abiola, who had been detained by Abacha since
1994 for laying claims to the presidency on the basis of the
annulled 1993 vote, dies suddenly in detention of apparent heart
failure. His release was being prepared by the Abubakar regime. |
| 23 FEBRUARY 1999: |
Nigerians vote in presidential ballot. The candidates
are Gen. Obasanjo of the People's Democratic Party and Olu Falae,
the joint candidate of the Alliance for Democracy and the All
People's Party. Obasanjo emerges victorious, winning nearly
70 percent of the vote. |
| 29 MAY 1999: |
Obasanjo is sworn in and a new civilian government
is inaugurated ending more than 15 years of domination of power
by unelected military rulers. |
| ? |
? |
