₦airaland Forum

Three pages, no knowledge passed, no cover story on the picture, no additional info from users...

Nigeria has become progressively illiterate in recent years.

TheWrita:
Doesn't look like a cobra.

That's a forest cobra

dexla:
Learnt it's a common krait specie known to be found in Asia, a twitter user actually mentioned its impossible to find such snakes in Africa, might have been smuggled in by some Asians living within that vicinity just the same way a lion was smuggled in.
Asians, especially Indians are known to keep snakes as pet so it wouldnt come as a surprise if her neighbor was an Indian.
Also, theres no correlation between the first picture and second picture. The original poster on twitter didnt post the 1st picture, I guess the OP just wanted to depict the imagery of a snake in a toilet.

All the symptoms mentioned are known to be caused by krait's venom; blindness, deafness, swelling of the affected area and stomach cramp after several hours of being bitten. The pain from the bite is said to be like a mosquito bite or ant bite so it's possible not to pay attention when bitten, especially if you have no idea what bit you.

That's not a krait.. It's a west African forest cobra.. Very dangerous, neurotoxins in its venom kill faster than that in kraits.. You should google it up

This made front page from 2017?

nervorum:
Are you sure he committed fraud or you read it somewhere? The reality maybe different (i'm not his church member).

Obviously, leaders need to up their games with respect to administration, accountability and governance compliance, in church business.

Its not very easy to run a big church in the UK, especially cos they are registered as charities and the Charity commission has regulatory oversight. Some churches are facing a tough time with the govt, in a society that is happily non-religious. No doubt some churches are 'for-the-money', thgh many genuine ones have been caught up, and cast in the light of fraud. A few instances are, where, even muslims have been appointed to manage churches, just cos they fail to comply with governance guidelines, some of which frankly speaking, may not be fit for churches, since they are not companies per se.

Govt control over churches (and invariably a potentially persecutory tool) , is subtle. UK church leaders who are genuine servants of God need to adapt. The era of founding fathers being the 'emperor' is over.

This is the only reasonable comment on this thread...
In the first paragraph of the story, it says they found evidence that the church, MAY/MIGHT have laundered money.. I find this rather confusing, how do you become 100% sure that you're not 100% sure?? How do you generate evidence and conclude with a probability

They also claimed the independent manager had to pay a churchgoer who sustained an injury in church, "an undisclosed amount as compensation", due to the church lacking 3rd party insurance cover.. I find this extremely hard to believe, it is an attempt to give a dog a bad name..

Like you rightly pointed out, secularism is on the rise, and the UK now prides itself as being irreligious, thus tools like the Charities Act could become persecutory. Following the story, there's no direct evidence of wrongdoing asides the obvious shortage of relevant paperwork.. There was even part where the report casted aspersions on Christ Embassy's preference for LoveWorld media as broadcaster instead of other broadcasters.. I feel a simple contractual agreement could have prevented that..

All these being said, the crux of the matter is that Christ Embassy tries to use her shell companies to handle her services, paying them and reducing taxable income. IMO this is unnecessary, just pay Caesar his due and move on.. And get a good lawyer too. Jesus Christ paid tax, I don't see the point in registering as a religious charity in the first place, it puts them in the line of fire

Judeerons32:
Old man without shame. This is the same Charles who took advert in a national daily to resign his membership of APC in 2018 because Obaseki was not respectful to elders. It was this same Oshiomhole he now insults who invited him to his house and Obaseki and advised Obaseki to accommodate him.here he is.running down the same Oshiomhole.
I honestly am glad the Binis can now see those working against their interest. An Oshiomhole who nominated Odubu or and Obaseki who is fighting tooth and nail to pull him down. With the hole Obaseki has dug for himself he cannot come out. His people have seen him for what he is.

Don't mind the slowpoke.. And for his information, Aisha's brother lost at the primaries..

ijustdey:
https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/11/12/fight-back-or-resign-arewa-youths-tell-osinbajo/

This was the same person who said " the north would hold on to power at all costs in 2023"

Today he's claiming Osinbajo should fight back his detractors who are trying to remove him from the presidential game now and in 2023.

What I can infer from shitty man's statement, is that he's goading Osinbajo to retaliate and get emasculated once and for all..

We know friends and we know enemies

NGOs deal directly with the people. The govt's desire for a cash transfer policy means that political actors want a cut from the monies NGOs are dashing out.
.it is also a fact that NGOs spy for their parent countries, however that claim is often overstretched, residents of border areas in the north often hold multiple nationalities, and their allegiances tend towards tribe than country. Aren't these spies already!?

[quote author= post=83580362]We had not seen each other for about 30 years. The Lord has been kind to me. When I saw him again - this time at a hotel lobby - he was looking simple. He wore simple Ankara attire. I felt touched. He walked up to me and was glad to see me again. But deep within me I was not impressed with his status compared to mine and poor me, I couldn't hide it. We exchanged contact details and I could see the joy in him as he collected mine.

I told him I will drop him home in my brand new Range Rover and I pointed it to him. He declined and said he had already called for his car. It looked old, a 2001 Honda Accord.

I invited him the next day for lunch at my house. A part of me wanted to impress him - To show off my success and affluence to him, while another was to discuss opportunities and possibly help him.

He drove to Parkview where I lived. He looked impressed with my home. I had taken a heavy mortgage. In fact I was heavily in debt. We had lunch. He told me he was into small business and particularly real estate. I brought up more business discussions, but he didn't sound too interested. I asked him how I could help him. He said he was fine. I even told him if he was interested, I could help him secure some loans... He looked at me and smiled.

He told me he would invite me over soon to his place. His old car came for him. I was grateful to God for what I had. “Fingers are not all equal”, I thought to myself...I was lucky. I worked in a good place.

Two weeks later, we went to see him in Ikeja. My wife and I. She was reluctant to go because she was not impressed with the man's status as to warrant our visiting him in his house. I was able to convince her that we were close friends in college. We saw the Estate. *Wuraola Estate.* We asked for directions to his home. Those leading us spoke his name with deference.

It was a simple but lovely home. A 4 bedroom bungalow. I saw 4 cars parked in front. We entered his home. It was simply elegant with a touch of class inside. He welcomed us warmly.

Lunch was well served. His wife called him Baba Wuraola

During lunch, he asked about my MD. He said they were friends. I saw a company gift on one of his tables nearby. That company owned about 38% shares where I worked. I enquired from him about it. He smiled. He told me he owned the company. He also owned the estate.

I did not know when I called him sir... I was in awe of him too.

I had learnt a lesson in humility - A big one. Appearances are deceptive. He noticed my discomfort.

Driving back home, I was very quiet. My wife was humbled and extremely calm. I could perceive the thoughts in her mind. I looked at myself. Living on loans, heavy loans and showing off while someone who pays my salary is quite modest and living a simple life!
Indeed Deeper Rivers Flow In Majestic Silence![/quote]Bearing in mind that ass-licking the govt is what characterizes the majority of your posts, it didn't come as a surprise that this reasonable one was stolen..

Please post the author's name at the top, in CAPS... Post thief

There's a problem.

The govt cannot deregulate and regulate at the same time. If the govt wants to regulate rice production, she must do it up to the point of sale.

The story claims that there's low demand for local rice, yet the price has skyrocketed.. Even when you factor in the absence of its close substitute (foreign rice), the price hike still doesn't make sense economically, it doesn't obey laws of demand-supply-rice equilibrium.
As it stands, the unregulated price millers, retailers and govt are looking to starve Nigerians into submission. Or we might as well have commodity boards and go back to 1984 proper

Officially, Medical Doctors starting on level 12 is due to the difficulty of their profession and the number of years to study medicine. IMO the major reason is due to the bargaining/blackmailing power of their labour union, the NMA.

Awol1:
I smell Red Haring.

Finally, someone who has a brain!!! *herring* btw

lastmanstandn:
My take.

As a core member and follower of APC, I find the OP knowledgeable to even put this topic up for debate. Mr President could still have emerged the winner in a better organized election. However, everything about this election suggested that INEC could have been manipulated from the election itself to local and state collation processes.

# of Accredited Voters should remain constant across the three elections more so since voting only starts after accreditation. Indeed some might have returned home frustrated at the process without voting, yet they should still have been accounted for either as rejected votes or invalid votes.

Also no one seem to be talking about the lack of an automated collation systems that would’ve made collation faster, safer and more transparent.

In a centralized electoral system with only the minimum efforts and technology, every Nigerian should be able to see the results from every wards and unit in the country.

War torn territories have voters too, but what explains their lower voter apathy compared to peaceful states? Perhaps it is the case that electoral monitoring is a little harder in places like Borno and Yobe. In places where monitoring is high, the race appeared tighter with more acceptable outcomes (Buhari still won but not with such margin).

INEC needs 21th century administrators. Way too many brilliant young Nigerians for the country to rely on such expensive piece of sh*t.

If you voted, you would have known that accreditation and voting was done simultaneously.

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theNOISEmaker:
Has anyone here had cataract surgery or knows anybody who had it?
And how much does cataracts surgery and ioL lens implant cost in Nigeria?

The cheapest reliable cataract surgery is done at FMC Katsina and FMC Yola... N12,000 only. Surgery done by consultants. The procedure is small incision cataract surgery.

The cheapest reliable Phacoemulsufication Cataract surgery is at ECWA eye hospital, Kano.

Buhari and conductors have one thing in common... They don't like giving people their change

optm:
I do not think it's right to change his docs RX here . after all they are same class of antibiotics fluoroquinolone. it would be better you guide than recommend tx here. he should go bk to his doc if there re no improvements fr a reevaluation and if not satisfied, seek treatment somewhere else

I weighed the risks vs benefits.
Moxifloxacin is a 4th generation fluoroquinolone, less bacterial resistance, has better tissue penetration and is the preferred drug for managing corneal ulcers clinically. I don't see why a 'doctor' would give ofloxacin for bacterial corneal ulcer in 2018.
A doctor would have added a cycloplegic and maybe a fungal cover except a fungal infection is highly unlikely. And a good doctor would do an MCS

I admit it is unethical, but with poor care, the patient would definitely lose his vision.

theNOISEmaker:
okay the name is "ofloxacin"

Go to the pharmacy and get Moxifloxacin.. Instill one drop every 4 hours.
It is more effective and more suitable

thunder74:
This people will kill Tinubu untimely for calling him the Jagaban of universe. God said "my glory I will share with no man"

"Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people's worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died" Acts 12:23.

Where in the Bible did God say " I am the JAGABAN" ?

theNOISEmaker:
i met an eye doctor who told its corneal ulcer.. he gave me two eye drops namely "zeenat" and "dicloeye* i dont know if its steroid or not.. but will that white spot on my eyes ever heal? now my vision has increased alil bit but I'm always having that feeling of smokes around me.

Zeenat is the company name... The name of the drug should be under zeenat ... Check and gimme feedback. Your vision could improve but it depends on the management instituted and the timeliness

Delta (PDP), Imo (5% + APC figurehead gov), Benue (PDP), Rivers (PDP) and Osun (INCONCLUSIVE)!

The writer and interested people could request for the UTME scores of candidates given Medicine and Law in the last 5years from select federal schools. The request would be made citing the FOI act. The findings would obviously be shocking, then we could have a senate hearing or move straight to court

Zombie way na 1-way.

The author is right, it is baffling the way poor, downtrodden, impoverished and dehumanized Nigerians rise up in defense of their oppressors at every given opportunity. Their fervor is almost diabolical. That's why it is hard to have a french-style social revolution in Nigeria, because your poor neighbour would shield the Governor even without the latter asking

Even if Abba Kyari were to own up today, some Nigerians would still defend him.

We have been blinded by party politics and we cannot handle simple issues of morality anymore.

Nigeria is not ripe for democracy. The political party system is eroding the remnants of our value system, and destroying our future - the youth

Monfrini would not lie. He has his reputation to protect.

Malami on the other hand, has no reputation nor integrity whatsoever. Barring the SAN attached to his name, is there any landmark case Malami won? Or any brilliant research he has carried out?

As usual, the presidency would turn a blind eye... If APC can be this insensitive when they have a second term at stake, how would the second term be when there's nothing at stake??

CHoccolaTE:
You're a doctor ba?
I just tire for those shouting cataract and glaucoma upandan.
Cloudy vision must always be cataract in some people's minds.

Yeah... I think the foreign body that entered his eye scratched the cornea or inadvertently while trying to remove it, and the eye drop he was given exacerbated it or it got infected outright!

@thenoisemaker should see a doctor first thing tomorrow morning or today if possible

That's neither cataract nor glaucoma.

That is a corneal infiltrate/Corneal ulcer as a result of Keratitis, and yes it is potentially blinding if not managed urgently and it extends to cover your pupil.

It is an emergency, you should see an eye specialist as soon as possible.

Is there any discharge? What is the name of the eye drop you used? A steroid?

THE COUP SPEECH THAT OVERTHREW BUHARI

I, Brigadier Joshua Nimyel Dogonyaro, of the Nigerian Army, hereby make the following declaration on behalf of my colleagues and members of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Fellow country men, 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 fulfillment of expectations is not forthcoming.

Because this generation of Nigerians and indeed future generations have 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 can ever achieve meaningful strides in its development where there is an absence of cohesion in the hierarchy of government; where it has become clear that positive action by the policy makers is hindered because as a body it lacks a unity of purpose.

It is evident that the nation would 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 Major-General 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; subsequently, the business of governance has gradually been subjected to ill-motivated power play considerations. The ruling body, the Supreme Military Council, 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 decision.

The concept of collective leadership has been substituted by stubborn and illadvised unilateral actions, thereby destroying the principles upon which the government came to power. Any effort made to advise the leadership, met with stubborn resistance and was viewed as a challenge to authority or disloyalty.

Thus, the scene was being set for systematic elimination of what, was termed oppositions. All the 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 country as a whole. The government has started to drift. The economy does not seem to be getting any better as we witness daily increased inflation.

The nation’s meager resources are once again being wasted on unproductive ventures. Government has 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 part of the ruling body. All these events have shown that the present composition of our country’s leadership cannot, therefore, justify its continued occupation of that position.

Furthermore, the initial objectives and programmes of action which were meant to have been implemented since the ascension 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 the armed forces.

In order to enable a new order to be introduced, the following bodies are dissolved forthwith pending further announcements: (a) The Supreme Military Council (b) The Federal Executive Council (c) The National Council of States. All seaports and airports are closed, all borders remain closed.

Finally, a dusk to dawn curfew is hereby imposed in Lagos and all state capitals until further notice. All military commanders will ensure effective maintenance of law and order. Further announcements will be made in due course. God bless Nigeria.

With the civilian population powerless to terminate military rule, it was clear that only the military could do away with Buhari. From this perspective, the Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Ibrahim Babangida was his greatest threat. Babangida was a contrast to Buhari. While Buhari was stern, serious and resolute, Babangida was deft, tactical and extremely devious. He had systematically cultivated a loyal following of sycophantic mid-ranking officers over the years by making grandiose gestures and buying lavish presents for officers junior to him. These officers now owed allegiance to him rather than to their nation, institution, or to the Head of State Buhari. Babangida had managed to create a mini-personality cult within the military. It is amazing that Buhari, knowing Babangida’s ambition and propensity for coup plotting allowed him to sit with his finger on the trigger as the Chief of Army Staff for so long.



As the net of Buhari’s anti-corruption drive widened, the trail of investigations led back to the Ministry of Defence. There were allegations that senior army officers were involved in drug dealing and rumours of some suspicious financial dealings at the Defence Ministry. Some accusatory fingers were pointed at Babangida. Nigerians never did get to find out the extent or nature of the allegations as a coup led by Babangida swept Buhari away before matters could proceed further. Not long after Buhari was replaced by Babangida, a senior and well respected journalist (Dele Giwa) was killed by a parcel bomb while he was working on a story that accused senior army officers of involvement in drug dealing. Giwa’s murderers have never been found, although attempts have been made to prosecute Babangida, and two military intelligence officers: Colonel Tunde Togun and Brigadier Halilu Akilu, for his murder.

The Press



The press had a field day under the civilian Government of Shagari. Freed by the absence of criticism-sensitive soldiers in Government, the press launched constant vitriolic attacks against public officials and often published articles that would not be tolerated in even the most liberal western democracy. The press quite literally abused the freedom given to it and the stinging criticism directed by the press actually resulted in some journalists being charged with sedition (inciting rebellion against the Government). As a reaction to this, on 1st January 1984 (day one of Buhari’s regime), the SMC promulgated Decree 4 of 1984: the Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree. Decree 4 made it a criminal offence to publish any article that brought the Government or any public official into disrepute. Tunde Thompson and Nduka Iraboh of The Guardian Newspapers were unfortunate enough to fall foul of Decree 4 and were imprisoned. Decree 4 was no doubt an overreaction by Buhari’s regime and strained relations between the FMG and the press.



THE BEGINNING OF THE END


While Buhari’s austere policies could be justified on the basis that he was battling against corruption and economic waste, his public relations machinery was poor. He made a number of strategic errors and failed to ingratiate himself with the mainly southern based print media. His regime was savaged by the press as a result (many of Nigeria’s print houses were then owned by the multi-billionaire businessman/politician: the late Moshood Abiola).



Loss of the South


There are several reasons for the Buhari’s loss of support in the south. Firstly, the governing National Party of Nigeria which Buhari replaced had a “zoning” system for key Government posts which provided that certain Government positions would be “zoned” or reserved to persons from certain geographic parts of the country. Since the presidency had been zoned to President Shagari (from the North), south-westerners logically thought that the presidency would be zoned to them when president Shagari completed his second and final term of office in 1987. They were wrong. One of those who hoped to benefit from the NPN’s zoning system was the multi-billionaire businessman, Moshood Abiola. Abiola assumed that when President Shagari’s term of office expired in 1987, the governing National Party of Nigeria (NPN) would “zone” the presidency to the south, and he would be allowed to run for president. How wrong he was. When Abiola articulated his presidential ambition, he was rebuffed by the powerful Transport Minister: Umaru Dikko, who told him that “the Presidency is not for sale to the highest bidder”. Abiola “retired” from politics soon after – totally exasperated with the NPN. Abiola was however to remerge from the shadows to play a key role in Nigeria’s political history.



The make up of Buhari’s SMC also troubled southerners. Virtually all of the senior positions in the SMC were occupied by northern Muslims: only five of the SMC’s sixteen members were from the south. Additionally, there has always been an unwritten rule that the Nigerian Head of State and his deputy cannot be from the same religion or part of the country. Buhari broke this unwritten rule when he appointed Tunde Idiagbon (who although Yoruba, was from the north and was also a Muslim). The other influential pro-Buhari figure in the regime was the Minister for Internal Affairs: Major-General Mohammed Magoro, who was a Muslim from Buhari’s home state of Sokoto. The lopsided ethno-religious composition of the SMC, coupled with the fact that Buhari’s ascension to power pre-empted the zoning of the presidency to the south prompted some mischievous southerners to claim that the New Year’s Eve coup was a deliberate plan to prevent the south from gaining political control of the country, and was nothing more than an orchestrated preservation of the north’s political control of Nigeria by transferring power from northern civilians to northern soldiers. The author personally believes that the personal ambition of the primary actors in the coup such as Babangida and Dogonyaro played the major motivating role for the coup rather than any Machiavellian plot to thwart the south (or any altruistic motives to benefit Nigeria as a whole). Nevertheless, southerners were irked by the perceived northern bias of Buhari’s regime.

Up till the time of the coup, Buhari had been the General Officer Commanding the 3rd Armoured Division in Jos. The disciplined, tough and stoic Brigadier (later Major-General) Tunde Idiagbon, was appointed as the Chief of Staff at Supreme Headquarters. Having neutralised the incumbent Chief of Army Staff – Lt-General Mohammed Wushishi, Major-General Ibrahim Babangida became the new Chief of Army Staff and de facto number three in the new regime. Wushishi was a symbol of the remarkable reconciliation that had occurred in Nigeria after the civil war of 1967-1970. At the end of the war in early 1970, Wushishi had entertained Conrad Nwawo (a leading officer on the opposing side) as his “guest of honour” at Onitsha barracks.



The new military regime suspended several parts of the constitution (primarily those relating to freedom of assembly, association and political activity), banned party politics, declared all borders closed, and began to arrest and detain ministers and officials from Shagari’s Government on charges of corruption and embezzlement.



WAR AGAINST INDISCIPLINE


Buhari and Idiagbon correctly identified corruption and indiscipline as the main constraints on Nigeria’s development. These twin evils have in the view of many, become a way of life for many Nigerians. For this reason, they launched a nationwide campaign called “War Against Indiscipline” (“WAI”). The WAI campaign was aimed at tackling the most anti-social Nigerian characteristics such as indiscipline, corruption, and lack of environmental sanitation. Nigerians learned and grudgingly accepted social behaviour that was the norm in other countries around the world. Queuing suddenly became all the rage in Nigeria! Buhari and Idiagbon understood that the undisciplined Nigerian psyche was not going to change by persuasion and that their WAI campaign had to backed by the threat of force. Although they had always cried out for a Government that would root out the rampant indiscipline in Nigeria, white collar workers were irked when they learned that the WAI campaign would lead to them being punished and that it would apply to them as well as the rest of “ordinary” Nigerians.



Corruption



There had been widespread allegations of corruption against many members of Shagari’s government. For this reason, military tribunals were set up to try ministers in Shagari’s administration that had been accused of embezzling public funds. These tribunals were chaired by military officers and had the power to impose massive prison sentences. The only right of appeal from the tribunals was to the SMC which was also exclusively comprised of military officers (and the Inspector-General of police). The military were effectively acting as prosecutor, judge and jury. Unsurprisingly the Nigerian Bar Association barred its member lawyers from participating in the tribunals. Undeterred, Buhari and Idiagbon pressed on with the tribunals and several prominent politicians were convicted of various corruption charges and given massive prison sentences ranging from twenty to over two hundred years. Given that most of the convicted were already over fifty years old, it was obvious that they would die in prison if they served the rest of their sentences. Among those convicted were prominent politicians such as Anthony Enahoro and Jim Nwobodo. The tribunals effectively put Nigeria’s political elite in jail.



Although the harsh sentences and nature of the tribunals were criticised, it is arguable that Nigeria needed these Nuremberg style trials in order to free itself from its corrupt past. The era of Buhari and Idiagbon was the first, and only time that Nigerian public officials were tried, and held accountable for their actions in office. The trials would have had more legitimacy if they had been held in civilian courts, presided over by civilian legal officers, and open to the public. This way Nigerians would have seen justice in action and had a chance to scrutinise the actions of their leaders who had so badly let them down and misused their resources. By virtue of their centrally regimented military training and outlook, Idiagbon and Buhari were fundamentally unable to grasp the niceties of, and the political legitimacy they could have derived from holding fair and open trials. The public fully backed their assault on the corrupt elite, if not their methods. The trials and WAI campaign also had a psychological impact on other “don’t know how he got rich” individuals in Nigeria. For the first time in Nigeria’s history it became unwise for those with ill gotten to flaunt their wealth – for fear of attracting the attention of Buhari’s anti-corruption drive.

If Shagari had taken a look at Nigeria’s history books, he would have noticed that the country’s military coups have almost always been carried out by the same group of soldiers. The young NCOs and Lieutenants that blasted Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi from power in 1966, became Colonels that overthrew his successor General Gowon in 1975, and they became the Brigadiers and Major-Generals that overthrew Shagari. Had Shagari acted decisively early during his term and retired these men, his Government may have survived (the only notable senior officer retired by Shagari was Major-General Joe Garba – who had double crossed his own brother in law during a military coup in 1975). Oversight of history and military postings played a part in Shagari’s downfall. Had he, in his position as the Nigerian Armed Forces’ Commander-in-Chief, paid more attention to sensitive military postings he would have noticed that many of the officers who took part in the coup were stationed in or in close proximity to the country’s commercial nerve centre in Lagos. Among the plotters stationed in Lagos were the army’s Director of Staff Duties and Plans: Major-General Ibrahim Babangida, the Military Secretary: Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, and a hitherto unknown brigade commander called Brigadier Sani Abacha.