Nigerian political leaders were on Tuesday thrown into a state of mourning following the announcement of the death of a former boardroom guru and head of the Interim National Government, Ernest Shonekan, GCFR. He was aged 85. He was the 9th ‘President’ of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
At the time of his death, he was the third oldest surviving Nigerian head of state by age after Elizabeth II and Yakubu Gowon.
He died in Lagos in the early hours of Tuesday, January 11. He was also a former chairman of UAC and its first Nigerian managing director.
Shonekan was a boardroom guru before he was selected to head the Interim National Government of Nigeria between August 26 and November 17, 1993, after the exit of the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida following the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.
However, the Interim National Government was later sacked by the regime of late General Sani Abacha.
Born Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan on May 9, 1936, he was a British trained Nigerian lawyer, industrialist, business manager, entrepreneur, politician and statesman and held the title of ‘Abese of Egbaland’ from 1981 in addition to a variety of other chieftaincy titles.
Prior to his political career, Shonekan was the chairman and chief executive of the United African Company (UAC) of Nigeria (successor of The Niger Company), a vast Nigerian conglomerate, which at the time was the largest African-controlled company in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Shonekan joined UAC in 1964, at the time a subsidiary of the United Africa Company which played a prominent role in British colonisation. He rose through the ranks in the company and was promoted assistant legal adviser. He later became a deputy adviser and joined the board of directors at the age of 40. He was made chairman and managing director in 1980 and went on to cultivate a wide array of international business and political connections.
On August 26, 1993, Shonekan assumed office as the head of Interim National Government (ING) following the nationwide crisis over the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election which late MKO Abiola was assumed to have won. Abiola ran on the ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) with Bashir Tofa as running mate. Although both were Muslims, they still won the election with wide margin of votes as Nigerians voted with one voice devoid of ethnic and religious sentiments.
The ING was conceptualised by the then military president, Ibrahim Babangida as a stop-gap on the long search for peace in the country.
Indeed, the transitional council was designed to be the final phase leading to a scheduled handover to an elected democratic leader.
Before Shonekan’s appointment as head of the interim government, the country was gradually moving towards anarchy as wide protests led by members of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) had insisted on the swearing-in of MKO Abiola as president of Nigeria. A demand the military government rejected. Even the choice of Shonekan, a fellow Egba man like the winner of the election did not go down well with the Yoruba leaders and other political activists.
The cancellation of the June 12 elections received wide condemnation from the international community with most of the western powers imposing economic sanctions on Nigeria. Inflation was uncontrollable and most non-oil foreign investments disappeared. But the political problems continued.
While Abiola the presumed winner of the 12 June elections vowed to oppose the interim government, the democracy supporters of Southwest Nigeria, Shonekan’s region, considered him an obstacle on the nation’s path to democracy, social justice, and improving the welfare of the people.
However, Shonekan was unable to control the political crisis which ensued following the election annulment due to the forces beyond him. During his few months in power, he tried to schedule another presidential election and a return to democratic rule, while his government was hampered by a national workers’ strike. Opposition leader Moshood Abiola, viewed Shonekan’s interim government as illegitimate. Babangida made the interim government weak by placing it under the control of the military. General Sani Abacha, was the minister of defence and chief of defence staff who had full control over the military.
Furthermore, during his few months in power, Shonekan tried to create a new timetable for democratic return, while his government was hampered by workers’ strike.
For example, Shonekan released political prisoners detained by Babangida. He also tried to set a timetable for troop withdrawal from ECOMOG’s peacekeeping mission in Liberia. His government also initiated an audit of the accounts of the NNPC, accusing the corporation of having many operational inefficiencies. Shonekan’s administration introduced a bill to repeal three major draconian decrees of the military government.
However, his control of the military was loose. And that ultimately proved to be his undoing, as the military led by late Sani Abacha staged a coup and took control of power in November 1993, three months into the Shonekan’s administration
Late Ernest Shoenkan attended C.M.S grammar school and Igbobi College, Lagos and obtained his West African School Certificate (WASC). He later went to the University Of London for his Bachelor in Law (B.A Law) degree and from there to the Harvard Business School. He joined the UAC as assistant legal adviser in 1964 and rose to the enviable position of chairman and chief executive officer in 1993.
After leaving government, he, in 1994, founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group an advocacy group and think-tank for private sector-led development of the Nigerian economy. Thereafter, he went on to feature prominently as an elder statesman.
Many believe that his acceptance to lead Nigeria at the time saved the country from collapse and disintegration.
