Nigerian History Series – Shehu Shagari

Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (GCFR) – 1925 to 2018

Shehu Usman Shagari was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria. He succeeded Olusegun Obasanjo during the formation of the Second Nigerian Republic. He served with Alex Ekwueme by his side, as Vice President. 

Before delving into politics, Shehu Shagari was a teacher. He was first elected into the House of Representatives in 1954. At various times, he held a cabinet post as a federal commissioner. As president, Shehu Shagari presided over the mass deportation of West African immigrants, which particularly impacted Ghanaian immigrants in Nigeria. The deportation occurred following an executive order from President Shagari, forcing undocumented immigrants to leave the country or face arrest.

Early life

Shehu Usman Shagari was allegedly born on 25 February 1925 to a Muslim Fulani Family. He was the sixth child born into a polygamous family. His father, Aliyu Shagari, was the village head. Aliyu died when Shehu was five, thus his elder brother took over the role of village head.

Shagari enrolled in a Quranic school where he started his education. And later went to live with relatives, and was enrolled into Yabo elementary school, in a nearby town between 1930-1940. Around 1940, he moved to Sokoto where he attended Barewa College. Between 1944-1952, Shagari matriculated at the Teachers Training College in Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria. He got a job as a visiting teacher while also being a member of the Federal Scholarship Board.

Personal life

Shehu Shagari was married to three wives: Amina, Aisha and Hadiza. He had several children including Muhammad Bala Shagari. On 24 August 2001, how wife, Aisha died in a London hospital following a brief illness. At the age of 80, Hadiza died from Covid-19 complications on 12 August 2021, in Abuja, Nigeria.

Political career

Shehu Shagari ventured into politics in 1945, while he was still a teacher. In 1951, he became the secretary of the Northern People’s Congress in Sokoto, Nigeria.

When Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of the NCNC was touring Nigeria to raise funds in 1948 to send a delegation to London to ask the Colonial office to abrogate Richard’s constitution as undemocratic, Shehu Shagari who was a keen reader of the West-African Pilot paper was the only man of Sokoto origin to attend this meeting. When the British Provincial Educational Officer was informed of Shagari’s attendance, his salary increment was postponed that year to serve as a punishment.

The West-African Pilot was banned in the northern region schools and Shagari wrote for it an article for its revival in 1948. At the same time, Shagari had started advocating for the departure of colonial rule that he had produced a Hausa pamphlet carrying poetry which he named “Anti Colonialist” and put it in circulation. In 1950, Shagari, a young teacher at 25, was nominated by a British District officer H.A.S Johnson to participate in the Ibadan Conference to debate the Richards Constitution.

Appointments

In 1964, Shagari was elected as a member of the federal House of Representatives for Sokoto West. This was the first public office he held, and in 1958, he was appointed as parliamentary secretary to the Nigerian Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa leaving the post in 1959.

From 1959-1960, Shehu was the pioneer Federal Minister for Economic Development of independent Nigeria. From 1960-1962, he was the Federal Minister for Pensions which undertook the mission of Nigerianization of the civil service. From 1962 to 1965, Shagari was made the Federal Minister for Internal affairs. From 1965 up until the first ,Shagari was the Federal Minister for Works. In 1967 he was appointed as the secretary for Sokoto Province Education Development Fund. From 1968 to 1969, Shagari was given a state position in the North-Western State as Commissioner for Establishments.

Shagari also represented the Prime Minister on different occasions including when President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt invited the Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar to inspect Egypt’s security arrangements. He also  represented the Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa at Winston Churchill’s funeral.

After the 1966 Nigerian coup d’etat, Shagari was among the government officials who handed over government to the military leadership of Maj. Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi. He returned to Sokoto to promote education.

Following the Nigerian Civil War from 1970 to 1971, Shagari was appointed by the military head of state General Yakubu Gowon as the federal commissioner for economic development, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. From 1971 to 1975 he served as the Federal Commissioner (a position now called minister) of finance. In 1978, Shehu Shagari was a founding member of the National Party of Nigeria.[18] In 1979 Shagari was chosen by the party as the presidential candidate for general election that year, which he won the 1979.

Achievements

Shagari made Agriculture, Industry, Housing and Transportation the major economic goals of his administration. There was abundant oil revenue in 1980? Shagari finished building the Kaduna refinery, which started operating that year. Also with the oil revenue, Shagari started the construction of Ajaokuta Steel Mill which was near completion by 1983. 

Shagari’s government has recorded a number of successes in Education. In his four-year term, there was a dramatic improvement in secondary schools and teachers in Teaching colleges multiplied. In 1981; a mass literacy campaign was launched, and in 1982, a 6–3–3–5 system of education was introduced. Shagari’s government also built several tertiary institutions in Nigeria. New Universities of Technology were also established in Bauchi, Benue, Adamawa, Ondo, Imo, and Osun States.

The Shagari Presidency will be remembered for its giant strides, in encouraging women and youths in nation-building. On assumption of office, he gave directives to States to provide at least woman and one youth out of the seven nominees. Shehu selected a woman from Imo State during his campaign as his running mate, to be his Vice President.

Coup

President Shagari was succeeded in office by, General Muhammadu Buhari as Military Head of State. Buhari with Major Babatunde Idiagbon led the coup d’etat that truncated the Second republic and the dethronement of the Shagari’s administration.