Would want to belong to Nigeria. One of the best threads on NL.

Excellent thread. I am learning a lot.
Did not know that the 3rd mainland bridge started long before IBB. I was always under the impression that he started and finished THE WHOLE thing during his time, especially when some people even call it IBB Bridge

good job

Thank Good for these History lessons, it brought back memories leaving at Dodan Barracks, at least as a young man i witnessed The change of power from Shagari to Buhari to Babagida( Okar's attempted foiled coup). till they left lagos to Abuja, meen it was not fun at all leaving in the barracks, when there is a change of power. Okar's foiled coup was my very first experience of seeing Soldiers shooting and running at the Federal radio Cop Nig and the ikoyi cementary. That story will come some other day, i dont pray to be in a war zone at all.

Thanks GenBUHARI

Very Good job, GenBuhari. Please keep it up.

Excellent Thread!

This is really Enlightening. And i thought i knew A LOT about my country. With some of the efforts our past leaders have put to keep Nigeria as one, it is fully understandable why they don't want us to separate.

But fair is fair. Since some people have refused to accept the fact that we can be a powerful nation, then if splitting will put their mind at rest, then splitting it shall be.

But I'd love for my country to remain WHOLE

[size=18pt]8th May 1984 - The NY Times
Buhari announces plans for hefty cuts in government spending and reduction of imports[/size]

LAGOS, May 7— Nigeria's military head of state, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buhari, announced a tough austerity budget today for 1984 featuring hefty cuts in Government spending, higher interest rates and cuts in credit growth.

General Buhari said in a nationwide broadcast that Government spending this year would be cut by 15 percent from a budget presented by the ousted civilian Government only two days before its overthrow on New Year's Eve.

He said the Government would continue to try to cut imports, while giving priority to raw materials and spare parts for industry and agriculture, to reduce the country's balance of payments deficit.

General Buhari also said the Government would make every effort to keep oil production, which accounts for more than 90 percent of foreign exchange, up to the 1.3-million-barrels- a-day quota set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.











Thanks everyone for the encouragement, I am finding it very fascinating - I do not think I could stop now even if I tried







[size=18pt]17th May 1984  - ITN News
QUEUES FORM OUTSIDE BANKS AS CURRENCY CHANGEOVER TAKES EFFECT.[/size]

Queues stretched outside the banks of Lagos on May 4 as people waited to hand in their invalid bank notes. Nigeria's military rulers ordered the currency changeover as part of an anti-corruption campaign.

The old notes had to be deposited in banks before May 6. After that date, new bank notes would be issued. But Nigerian banking sources have since conceded that an acute shortage of the new currency existed. On May 15, it was reported that there were still queues outside banks, with some people so short of cash they were going hungry. Before the currency changeover, petrol stations and food prices dropped. few people were able to obtain cash with which to purchase goods.

The military government of General Muhammad Buhari took power when the civilian administration of President Shehi Shagari was overthrown on December 31, 1983. Since then, Buhari has instituted a number of reforms, announcing on May 7 an austerity budget for 1984 which government spending by 15 per cent and reduced imports.

A tough new press law was published in April, giving the government the power to close radio stations and newspapers.

Buhari also turned his attention to cleaning up the streets of Lagos, creating a task force to remove all abandoned cars from the city. Offending vehicles were towed away and crushed. Major Oladimeji was given charge of this mission

what a nice thread.

I almost cried reading this thread. One important lesson for me is as Nigerians we have a story to tell. One thing though is that we seem to have been plagued by the same problems all along our history as a country bad leaders, corruption, no sense of discipline as a people and most dangerous MISTRUST between different people who make up the entity called NIGERIA. Thank you for starting this thread it makes me able to see our country in perspective.

Naija o ni baje o

Balewa was well spoken men! KAI!!! KAIII!!!

GenBuhari:

[size=18pt]30th April 1984  - ITN News
BUHARI SCRAPS OLD NAIRA NOTES AND CIRCULATES NEW CURRENCY IN ORDER TO RENDER STOLEN / SMUGGLED CASH WORTHLESS.[/size]

Nigerians waited in long queues outside banks in Lagos on April 25 to change old notes for new. Nigeria's decision to scrap its currency and start again with a new Naira marked a sudden stepping-up of the military government's attack on corruption.

The government announced on April 24 that banks would start changing new notes for old the next day.
Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, who ranks second in the new administration, said in a national television broadcast that the country's land borders would be closed immediately in a move to render the old Naira worthless abroad.

The changeover will extend to May 6.In that time people will be allowed to change up to 5,000 old Naira for new notes. Anything over that amount must be deposited in banks, accomplished by affidavits proving source and ownership -- another move to pinpoint corruption.
Brigadier Idiagbon said the withdrawal of the old notes had become necessary because rampant smuggling of Naira had been a key factor in the sabotage of the Nigerian economy.

He said that hundreds of thousands of Naira had been found in the homes of several former state governors after the civilian government was ousted on December 31 last year. (remember in 1984  1Naira  fetched more than 1 dollar)
Since April 25,  bank officials have been trying to move the new money across the counters as fast as they were receiving it, but many have complained that people were forced to queue for hours outside banks which had run out of money to distribute.

This is desperately needed again. . Very brilliant idea. Some people will die!

history reloaded

I TRIP FOR THIS MAN'S ANTI CORRUPTION STRATEGIES, GEN. BUHARI NEEDS ANOTHER CHANCE THOUGH I AM NOT SURE THE RULERS WILL GIVE HIM A CHANCE, I KNOW THEY WILL RIG AGAIN AND AGAIN TO KEEP THE GAME ON, THEY WILL EVEN EXTEND 4YRS OF LOOTING TO 7YRS.

A STRONG MOVEMENT WILL RISE ONE DAY TO CHALLENGE THESE LEADERS THAT'S IF THEY DON'T LABEL US AS TERRORIST ( BOKO BOYS ) AND BOMB US ALL.

[size=18pt]10th June 1984 - The NY Times
Former Gov. Melford Okilo of Rivers State is jailed for 21 Years for having Foreign Bank Accounts[/size]

.LAGOS, Nigeria, June 9— Former Gov. Melford Okilo of Rivers State has been jailed for 21 years by a military tribunal for illegally holding bank accounts abroad, newspapers reported today.

The reports said that he had been given four concurrent 21-year sentences in a trial in Enugu rather than 84 years, as reported on television Friday.

The charges involved two bank accounts held in Britain and in the United States. It is illegal for a public official in Nigeria to have a foreign bank account.












[size=18pt]18 June 1984  - ITN News
GENERAL BUHARI LAUNCHES ALL-OUT DRIVE AGAINST CORRUPTION.[/size]

After months of indecision the military rulers of Nigeria have launched a major crack-down on corruption and indiscipline. Decrees have been issued by the government of Major General Mohammed Buhari curbing the country's press and threatening with jail any adult Nigerian who has held foreign currency over the past five years.

The government of the oil-rich country of 80 to 100 million people, has announced a campaign against disorderliness, inefficiency, sloth and disregard for hard work.

It has also empanelled military tribunals to try deposed civilian office holders accused of corruption. The campaign seems to have achieved an initial degree of popular acceptance but there has been widespread criticism of the military tribunals holding hearings in secret.

amdman:

"I want you to bear in mind the need to emphasize self-discipline and leadership by good example.
Begin by drawing public attention to little but important everyday manifestations of indiscipline such as rushing into buses, driving on the wrong side of the road, littering the streets, parks and dwelling compounds, cheating, taking undue advantage of scarcity to inflate prices for quick monetary gains, constituting ourselves into public nuisances, walking without commitment and devoting little or no time to the upbringing of our children.

Up to this moment there has been no formal declaration of war against indiscipline, it is my pleasure therefore to declare today a launching day for the war against indiscipline."
- BRIGADIER TUNDE IDIAGBON; 23 March 1984


This is so apt! Given time, this would have redefined Nigeria and moved us closer to the Nigeria that should be.

IBB why?

self-discipline 4 naija? It would av bn a very gud programme. . . na real whyyyyyyy

[size=18pt]5th July 1984 - ITN News
TWO GUARDIAN JOURNALISTS JAILED BY LAGOS MILITARY TRIBUNAL FOR PUBLISHING INACCURATE STORY .[/size]

Two journalists from a leading Nigerian newspaper, the Guardian, were jailed on July 5 by a Lagos military tribunal because they published an incorrect story about the naming of a new envoy to Britain. The one-year sentences were the first handed down under recent regulations covering press operations.

Guardian diplomatic correspondent Tunde Thompson and assistant news editor Nduke Irabor were found guilty of falsely reporting on April 8 that an army officer who replaced a civilian as Nigeria's ambassador to Britain would not get the post. The publishers were fined about 67,000 US dollars and ordered to pay by the following day. Thompson and Irabor, in detention since mid-April, were acquitted on two other charges. Judge Ayinde, heading the special tribunal, ruled that stories published on March 31 and April 1 were true.

The reports said Nigeria was closing eleven foreign missions, and that eight military chiefs were to be appointed as ambassadors. The journalists were charged under a decree which gives Major-General Mohammed Buhari's government powers to punish journalists and publishers and close newspapers for reports which are false or which ridicule or dispute public officials. In his judgement, Ayinde said the April 8 story was false in every detail. The report said Major-General Halidu Hannaniya, recently posted to London as Nigeria's new high commissioner, had been dropped in favour of retired army officer Major-General Ibrahim Haruna. Since the new year, a total of six journalists have been detained.











[size=18pt]6th July 1984   -  ITN News  (Video Clip)
UK: Exiled ex-minister wanted in Nigeria for  embezzlement, discovered by British Police in crate bound for Nigeria (Video Clip)[/size]

http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1984/07/06/AS060784001/?s=nigeria+&st=2&pn=95&sortBy=date

Scenes from Stansted Airport where exiled former Nigerian minister, Umaru Dikko, was yesterday  (5.7.84) found drugged in a crate.
17 people have been arrested - three of whom were in crates at Stansted with Mr Dikko.

Nigerian govt deny involvement with the kidnapping, but the crate in which Mr Dikko was found was sent from the Nigerian High Commission and addressed to the Ministry of External Affairs in Lagos, where Mr Dikko is wanted for embezzlement.
A British Caledonian plane is being detained at Lagos in a diplomatic move by the Nigerian govt.

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyTMMoh7xUQ?version=3[/flash]

Nice thread keep it up Gen Buhari

i so love dis tread man,good job

am seriously gettin informed, archivin dis for my kids, i need dem to start readin stuffs abaout 9ja from dis little age.seun mak sure dis thread neva leaves d front page oooo ur own contribution towards information about9ja abi?

Thanks OP for this thread. I hope it is not a veiled attempt to promote Buhari's credibility post-election. I just hope.
Btw, does anyone have Lagos State budget figures from 1975 or earlier?

@seguno2
I post the news report and people can come to their own conclusions.

For ease of reading, I mainly post a shorten version of the news reports.
I am trying to avoid commenting on the news for fear of it appearing that the thread is biased against or for  any particular leader.

seguno2:

Thanks OP for this thread. I hope it is not a veiled attempt to promote Buhari's credibility post-election. I just hope.
Btw, does anyone have Lagos State budget figures from 1975 or earlier?

[size=18pt]6th July 1984 - ITN News (video clip)
Umaru Dikko case continue to reverberate in the UK [/size]
http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1984/07/06/AS060784002/?s=nigeria+1984&st=0&pn=1


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIfIzsd47VA&list=PLRzmuN0KKXK9WjHW14Wmbe6K7F7pL7Y4V&index=21

[size=18pt]9th July 1984 - ITN News (Video clip from 8/7/84[color=#990000][/color])
Nigeria releases detained British Airliner .[/size]

http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1984/07/08/AS080784001/?s=nigeria&st=2&pn=1&sortBy=date

The British Caledonian airliner was seized by the Nigerian military authorities in reprisal for the detention of a Nigerian Airways Boeing 707 freighter at Stansted Airport, near London.

Umaru Dikko, a former transport minister, was found drugged inside a wooden crate, bound for Nigeria, with one of his abductors.The cargo, labelled 'Diplomatic Baggage', was opened after suspicious customs officers contacted Scotland Yard.A Nigerian agent was reported to have been arrested along with two Israeli mercenaries.Dikko was placed in hospital under armed guard to recover from the effects of the drugs.Police searched the Nigerian airliner before it was allowed to return to Lagos.

The Lagos Authorities, while denying any participation in the kidnap attempt, would not allow the British Caledonian airliner to leave Nigeria until their aircraft at Stansted was released.

Thanks GenBuhari.

I read the thread with pride and tears almost running down my eyes.

A great country of owers has been destroyed by criminals

God bless Gen Muhammadu Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon

GenBuhari,

Thanks for the wealth of info.This is what NTA and any responsible TV station should be showing us, but instead they are not.

Am sure, GenBuhari, you are an elderly person to have archived thes now.

Please if you have more, release it.

We need to write history correctly

Shame to the present media, this cash and carry media we have now

Thanks everybody for your encouraging comments.

I am  humbled by the response of people like yourselve who appear to be truely moved by learning the truth about the noble history of our great country.  (@Bizhop, I am not elderly   )
I am 47  The news stories were found on ITN  (Britrish Television news)  website .

I am really learning with everyone else as I am posting it 

[size=18pt]12 August 1984  ITN News
Athletics:  Nigeria's  Men's 4X400m Relay team, win Bronze medal in Los Angeles Olympic Games[/size]

In the men's 4 x 400 metres final, another United States relay team struck gold. This time it was the team of Sunder Nix Ray Armstead, Alonzo Babers and Antonio McKay. The silver medal went to the team from Great Britain, and Nigeria came home strongly to take the bronze medal.

[flash=600,500]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NucA0Z3qs_I?version=3[/flash]

Sunday Uti, Moses Ugbusien, Rotimi Peters, Innocent Egbunike



[size=18pt] August 1984   
Olympic Boxing:  Nigeria's  Peter Konyegwachie wins silver medal in a very close final bout in featherweight division of Los Angeles Olympic Games[/size]
[flash=600,500]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOzJ48_k2G0?version=3[/flash]







[size=18pt]14th August 1984 - The NY Times
Nigeria Executes 7 Armed Robbers[/size]

LAGOS, Nigeria, Aug. 13— Seven convicted thieves were executed by firing squad in public Saturday in the southern towns of Uyo and Ikot Ekpene, the News Agency of Nigeria reported today. It said five of those executed had robbed a school headmaster of more than $7,800. The other two stole a taxi, the agency said.

[size=18pt]6th September 1984 - The New York Times
Buhari's government's Military Tribunal jails two former Governors of Kano to jail for 21 years[/size]

LAGOS, Nigeria, Sept. 5— Two men who were governors of the state of Kano before the military seized power in December have been jailed for 21 years by a military tribunal that found them guilty of taking $65,000 to facilitate a property deal and using the money to enrich an opposition party that has since been banned, Nigerian newspapers reported today. The two are Abubakar Rimi and his successor, Sabo Bakin Zuwo.










[size=18pt]22nd October 1984  - ITN News
SWITZERLAND: OPEC MINISTERS MEET TO PERSUADE NIGERIA TO RETURN TO OPEC OIL PRICING LEVELS[/size]

Ministers of the Organisation oil Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed in Geneva on October 22 to defend the present level of oil prices. But it emerged after informal talks, which included representatives of non-OPEC members of Egypt and Mexico, that oil producers were considering a cut of up to one fifth in output in order to maintain prices.

The current reference price is 29 dollars a barrel, and oil production would have to be reduced by up to 3.5 million barrels a day to defend it. Former Libyan Oil Minister Kamel Hassan Al-Maqhour told reporters after the meeting there had been a general consensus and what he called a spirit of responsibility. He said decisions taken at the meeting would be good for the world as a whole.

The conference was called when OPEC member Nigeria broke ranks by cutting its price by up to two dollars a barrel. This move followed similar reductions by Non-OPEC Norway and Britain, which are competing to sell North Sea oil. Maqhour, who resigned last week but went to Geneva as a Libyan delegation consultant, said ministers would try to persuade Nigeria to return to OPEC levels.

The Nigerian Oil Minister Tam David-West had been due to meet his colleagues on October 23, but was not expected to go to Geneva before the formal conference the following week. Sources said a large cut in output would cause problems for the smaller OPEC members, including some Gulf states who have seen drastic falls in their income as a result of falling oil demand.

[size=18pt]30 October 1984 - ITN News
SWITZERLAND: OPEC MEETING DECIDES ON REDUCTION OF OUTPUT TO PROTECT MARKER PRICE.[/size]
Story
The decision by delegates of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to protect their marker price of twenty nine US dollars for a barrel of oil by cutting production by one and a half million barrels a day has meant continuing wrangling in Geneva on October 30 as they tried to decide how the cuts will be shared out among member states.

Nigeria has already said that it is not prepared to accept any reduction in its quota. Nigeria's unilateral price cut was one of the immediate events which made the OPEC meeting necessary.

[size=18pt]11th December 1984 - ITN News
WEST AFRICAN STATES SIGN EXTRADITION PACT.[/size]

Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin have signed a treaty on extradition, but excluded political offences from their agreement. The pact, signed on December 10, was one of three cooperation agreements signed after a meeting of the four countries' heads of state in Lagos.

It covered extradition for offences punishable by at least two years in prison, but excluded offences connected with religion and race.

Nigerian military leader Major-General Mohammed Buhari said the treaties had become necessary to combat crime in the region. The four leaders also agreed to cooperate in trade, customs and immigration in order to combat drug trafficking, arms and currency smuggling, but they decided to allow free movement of people and goods of little commercial value across their borders.

The accords ended months of negotiations between the four countries since Nigeria closed its land borders in April to check smuggling. The action was said to have harmed neighbouring states dependent of Nigeria for food and fuel.

14th December 1984  - ITN news[b]
[size=18pt]Nigeria appeals to the major Western Nations at United Nations to stop protecting white racist regime in South Africa[/size][/b]
The United Nations General Assembly on December 13 passed a resolution condemning South Africa's apartheid policy. The resolution, which also urged the Security Council to consider mandatory sanctions against Pretoria, was adopted by 146 votes with six abstentions.

One of the representatives, Joseph Garba of Nigeria, appealed to the major Western powers not to protect what he described as the racist regime. Despite his plea, both Britain and the United States opposed the resolution, although Sir John Thomson, the UK's Permanent Representative, said it was the government's view that apartheid was unacceptable



Photo: Joseph Garba was chairman of UN anti-apartheid committee

[size=18pt]22nd January 1985 - ITN News
NIGERIA: FOURTH CONGRESS OF OATUU OPENS IN LAGOS.[/size]
Story
The fourth congress of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) opened in Lagos on January 21, Nigeria's leader, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, opened the gathering, saying that Nigerians attach great importance to the fact that their county was hosting the first OATUU congress to be held in West Africa.

He added that it demonstrated the Organisation's confidence in Nigeria. Buhari told delegates the OATUU has lived up to its primary objective -- to foster unity among African trade unions. He said the bickerings, ideological differences and conflicts which plagued African trade unions before the OATUU was established were now a thing of the past. One of the subjects for discussion at the week-long meeting was the IMF's (International Monetary Fund) role in Africa.

The OATUU prepared a 15-page report on the "danger" the IMF poses to the African continent, and delegates were being asked to take a strong stance against it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuCdOkf4NxQ&list=UUMQOLBMYxeVLCX3cUWfmbOQ