On August 27, 1985, a calm voice came on the national radio and television. Major General Ibrahim Babangida made an announcement that the military had taken over to “rescue the nation from imminent collapse.”
That sentence alone has been the contention of debate for 40 years. But before we judge the doctor, we must first read the patient’s file. What exactly was the state of affairs in Nigeria that
Babangida inherited?
1. AN ECONOMY IN FREE FALL By 1985, Nigeria was impoverished.
The oil boom of the 70s had ended in disaster. Crude oil prices crashed from over $40 per barrel in 1980 to less than $15 by 1986. Since oil accounted for over 90% of our foreign exchange,
government revenue collapsed instantly.
The result was predictable. Factories were shut down because there was no foreign exchange to import raw materials. According to economic records of the time, Nigeria lost nearly half of its
industrial capacity between 1982 and 1985.
Government borrowing had gone out of control. External debt rose from $1.1 billion in 1977 to $19 billion by 1985. We were spending nearly 30% of our export earnings just to service debt.
Workers were owed salaries for months. Prices of basic goods like rice, milk and fuel had tripled within two years.
Both the Shagari and Buhari governments had tried and failed to get the economy working. The Shagari administration faced mass retrenchment. The Buhari government introduced austerity
and currency controls, but hardship deepened. By mid-1985, the country was at a standstill.
2. A POLITY FRACTURED AND EXHAUSTED
Politically, Nigeria was politically fractured.
The Second Republic ended in shame. The 1983 elections were marred by widespread rigging,
violence, and court battles. Public trust in civilian institutions hit rock bottom.
The military coup of December 31, 1983 brought in General Muhammadu Buhari with the promise
of discipline. The War Against Indiscipline, WAI, restored some order on the streets. But 20 months later, the economy was worse, press freedom was curtailed, and detention without trial under Decree 2 had made the government unpopular.
Babangida and his colleagues struck in 1985, they cited the same reasons Abacha gave in 1983: “the grave economic predicament and uncertainty which an inept and corrupt leadership had
imposed on the nation.” The difference was that by 1985, even the military’s own solution was no longer working.
3. A SOCIETY UNDER STRAIN*
Socially, Nigeria was bleeding!
Our hospitals had become mere consulting clinics. Schools lacked books and teachers. NEPA, now called Power Holding Company, was epileptic. Roads were collapsing.
With unemployment rising, crime followed. Armed robbery, thuggery, and the exploitation of jobless youths by politicians became national problems. In early 1983, the government had to expel over 2 million undocumented West African immigrants in the “Ghana Must Go” exercise, hoping to reduce pressure on jobs. That did not work
Agriculture, once the backbone of our Nigerian economy, was in crisis. The Green Revolution program had been grievously mismanaged. Drought, pests, and rinderpest further destroyed food
production. Families were in survival mode.
4. A WORLD THAT OFFERED NO EASY ANSWERS
It is also important to remember the global context.
1985 was the height of Africa’s debt crisis. Ghana, Zambia, Kenya and others were all going to the IMF. Nigeria was under intense pressure to devalue the naira and accept Structural Adjustment,
SAP. Whether it was Buhari, Babangida, or a civilian, the question of IMF and economic reform was inevitable. There was no internet, no GSM, no alternate sources of revenue. Nigeria’s choices were few and all of them were painful.
CONCLUSION: CONTEXT MATTERS
I am not saying everything done between 1985 and 1993 was perfect. No government is. But to argue that General Ibrahim Babangida is the sole cause of Nigeria’s problems is to ignore history. He inherited a nation that was economically bankrupt, politically divided, and socially broken. The real conversation we should be having at 85 is not about blame. It is about lessons. What
choices were available in 1985? What did we do right? What did we do wrong? And how do we ensure we do not repeat the mistakes?
History will not remember us for the criticisms we made. It will remember us for the solutions we provided.
After all, a critic is one who knows the way but cannot drive.
_Comrade Edwin Uhara is a United Nations-trained Negotiator and Public Policy Analyst_
