Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the man who became Nigeria’s First Executive President

Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari, who died on Friday, December 28, 2018, was Nigeria’s first executive president from 1979 to 1983.

Shagari was 93 years of age when he died. He was born on February 25, 1925.

His grandson, Bello Shagari, announced on Twitter that the former Nigerian President died at the National Hospital Abuja at about 7pm.

Shagari was born in the Sokoto village of Shagari—a community founded by his great grandfather Ahmadu Rufai, who was also the village head and took the name Shagari as his family name.

Shagari made his name in politics before the 1970s. In 1951, Shagari served as Secretary of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) in Sokoto.

In 1954, Shagari was elected into the federal House of Representatives where he represented Sokoto West.

In 1958, Shagari was appointed parliamentary secretary to then Nigerian Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafewa Balewa. He was also Nigeria’s Minister for Commerce and Industries from 1958 to 1959.

From 1959 to 1962, Shagari served as Minister for Internal Affairs, Minister for Pensions and Minister for Economic Development.

Following the Nigerian civil war which lasted from 1970 to 1971, Shagari was appointed by then Military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, as federal commissioner for economic development, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Late-Shehu-Shagari-with-President-Muhammadu-Buhari

From 1971 to 1975 he served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister. During his spell as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Shagari was also a Governor for the World Bank and a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) committee of twenty.

In 1978, Shehu Shagari was a founding member of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). In 1979 Shagari emerged presidential flagbearer for the general election. He won the election, becoming the president and Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Shagari ran for a second four-year term in 1983 and won the general election. However, on December 31, 1983, Shagari was sacked by a military coup and Major General Muhammadu Buhari was handpicked by the coupists to succeed him.

Shagari governed Nigeria during the country’s first real oil boom years. He built the Kaduna refinery from the oil boom and noticeably oversaw Nigeria’s recession of the ‘80s.

It was also during Shagari’s time as president that Ghanaians were massively sent back home, with their wares packed in giant polymer bags which became known as ‘Ghana Must Go’ bags.

Alhaji Shehu Shagari retreated into a quiet life after he was overthrown in 1983

As president, Shagari was accused of superintending over massive corruption in the Nigerian federation and pointing members of the NPN and government officials to the nation’s cookie jar. Corruption was one of the major reasons the coupists cited for sacking him in 1983.

Shagari was quiet throughout Nigeria’s political life afterwards. The Turaki of the Fula caliphate of Sokoto was only visible when former presidents held meetings with the ruling president and his ministers.

He died a quiet man—one who never uttered much as Nigeria went from the military dictatorships of the ‘80s and 90s, to the lunacy of the democratic dispensation spanning 1999 to the present day.

His signature northern cap defined his era and became a symbol of some sort in the intervening years.

He was Nigeria’s first elected president, described after his death by Senate President Bukola Saraki as “the last of the First and Second Republic titans”.