By Eteteonline
A Child of Circumstance
Following the stepping aside of General Babangida, and the state of confusion and panic that ensued, the Interim National Government (ING) was born on August 26, 1993. The head of the ING, Chief Ernest Shonekan, referred to it as a Child of Circumstance: “You will recall that the Interim National Government is a child of circumstance; it was conceived in crisis and born into crisis.”
The ING was formed principally to conduct another presidential election in a few months to bring the last phase of the transition programme to an end. To many, however, the ING was merely a collection of men and women at loggerheads with one another and with the rest of the populace, and without a clear idea of how to move the country forward. Despite this fact, the ING was at that time seen to be the most credible or viable option and the only alternative to anarchy or even civil war. The supporters of the June 12 election wanted the annulment reversed, or there would be war. ‘The opponents wanted the annulment upheld, or there would be secession. The going was not easy for the interim government. Either way, there was serious trouble about to engulf the nation.
This government was beset with a lot of problems, many more than it could solve. As the head of the interim administration rightly put it, it was conceived and born into crisis. The political and economic problems escalated. Tension increased everywhere. The ING had no answers to the numerous problems of the time and suffered a terrible credibility deficiency. It was seen by some analysts as a mere shadow or ghost of its predecessor and therefore lacked anything new or useful to offer. ‘The interim administration was also thought to be purposeless and without any sense of direction. Some Nigerians merely referred to it as a farce, and others as a sham. The people, therefore, resisted it.
The dilemma of the ING
The travails of the interim government did not end with the refusal of the people to accept it. It also faced stiff opposition from some states, namely Oyo, Ogun, Osun, and Ondo. These states refused to recognize the ING as the legitimate government of Nigeria and refused to cooperate or have anything to do with it. Their Governors boycotted routine meetings with the federal Government on national issues. The ING responded to this hostility by threatening to withhold grants from the four states.
It was also common knowledge that six states out of the seven that constituted Eastern Nigeria then threatened to secede from the federation if the presidential election were successfully concluded. The democratically elected Governors of the six states from the National Republic Convention (NRC) held a meeting on the state of the nation and issued a communique to the effect that they were ready and prepared to pull their states out of the federation if the annulment were reversed. Being elected representatives of the people, the threats were taken seriously. Apart from this, the East had gone to war of secession before against the rest of the federation. It was a bitter war that lasted for three years (1967-1970) and consumed millions of lives. The war also caused massive destruction never seen or heard of in the history of this country. Therefore, another threat of secession sent a dangerous signal and shock waves across the country, putting everyone on alert.
The National Assembly was sharply divided on how to deal with the interim national government. Some members outrightly rejected this government, while others withheld their recognition. Notable among them was the Senate President. He successfully organized a Senate boycott of a joint session of the National Assembly, which was to be addressed by the Head of the ING, Chief Ernest Shonekan. The problem of credibility and acceptability of the interim government was not merely a domestic one. Abroad, the United States of America and the European Union Countries withheld recognition for the administration.
An act of terrorism added a new dimension to the impasse in the country. For the first time, Nigerians witnessed the incidence of hijacking. An airliner on a domestic flight was hijacked and diverted to the Niger Republic. The demands of the hijackers were political and connected with the annulled election. The hijackers spread petrol on the plane and threatened to blow it up unless their demands were met. Niger’s Security forces stormed the aircraft, shot the hijackers, and liberated the hostages.
Several suits were filed in courts challenging the legality of the Interim National Government. Issues were joined, and on November 10, 1993, the High Court of Lagos State presided over by Justice Dolapo Akinsanya delivered its verdict. The Interim Government was declared unconstitutional. This was another terrible setback for the embattled regime. The court held that the Interim National Government (Basic Constitutional and Transitional Provisions) Decree No. 61 of 1993 was null and void, having been signed into law at a time General Babangida no longer had power to do so.
The Shonekan-led government also had to contend with public discontent, demonstrations, strikes, and the emergence of terrorism, an entirely strange phenomenon in the Nigerian political landscape. The situation was compounded when the regime took a very unpopular decision to increase fuel pump price by 600 per cent at a time most Nigerians were managing to survive. The people’s response was quick and predictable. They took to the streets in protest. The stay-at-home call of the Nigeria Labour Congress was generally heeded. Commercial vehicles were absent in most major cities. University students set up barricades and a huge bonfire. The police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, and a running battle ensued. All attempts to resolve the crisis peacefully failed. A meeting summoned by the Interim Government on November 15, 1993, did not take place because the officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress failed to show up.
Meanwhile, some top politicians and elites continued to beat the drums of war and secession with greater intensity. Thus, Nigeria was gradually sliding into anarchy and civil war. Biafra was revisited. The scenes of the Nigerian Civil War were being re-enacted, and the sequence of events compared. The horrors of the war again resurfaced. The wounds, pains, and agonies of that civil war and the memories of the terrors and endless bloodshed haunted Nigerians. It soon became apparent to most Nigerians that no nation can afford civil war twice or disintegration at a time when other countries and peoples are coming together for a stronger and united mankind. But some were prepared for the worst. A Kaduna-based publisher, in an interview granted Poise Magazine, said:
“I don’t care, I’m telling you, as far as I’m concerned, there was no election. I gave you my reasons… There was a court injunction. The day of the election, there was a letter written by the NEC to cancel the election. Then there was a court injunction for NEC not to announce the results. It obeyed that one because it saw the danger… I’m saying we’re ready to live in peace, but when people say we cannot live in peace, I don’t care if we go in pieces.”
Like the publisher, many other people were poised for trouble or even war. Such was the mood of most Nigerians. There is no doubt that many of them had been divided along ethnic and regional lines. The protagonists had succeeded in introducing ethnic and religious sentiments into the crisis. Given the totality of the events and circumstances of that time, analysts maintained that Nigerians were sitting on a time bomb which could explode at any moment with highly unpredictable consequences.
The inability to control the desperate situation in the country led to serious splits within the already beleaguered and endlessly wobbling ING. This was described by experts as the last straw, and the Shonekan-led administration crumbled like a pack of cards in the ensuing inferno. The head of the interim government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, put it this way in his resignation statement:
“However, I regret to inform you that in the light of recent events and after due consideration of all the facts, I am left with no alternative but to take the most honourable and dignified step of resigning, with immediate effect, my appointment as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
The events and facts stated above by Chief Shonekan were clearly beyond the control of his government, which had become completely helpless in the circumstances.
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