The Republic
Federal Budgets

Obasanjo1979· ₦10.91bn collected · ₦7.41bn spent· Chapter I · Money

Federal fiscal outturn, 1979

A second oil shock and a tightly held transition budget produced the last federal surplus for sixteen years. The federation collected ₦10.91bn — 81 per cent of it from oil — and the Federal Government spent ₦7.41bn, closing the year with a surplus of ₦1.46bn.

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These are actual outturns as later published by the Central Bank, not the figures announced in the budget speech.

• Total federally collected revenue: ₦10.91bn • Gross oil revenue: ₦8.88bn (81%) • Federal Government total expenditure: ₦7.41bn • Recurrent: ₦3.19bn · Capital: ₦4.22bn • Overall balance: +₦1.46bn

Why revenue and spending do not match simply: 'federally collected revenue' is everything that entered the Federation Account before it was shared with the states and councils, while 'expenditure' is only the Federal Government's own spending. From 1970 to 1985 recurrent spending excludes statutory transfers to the states; from 1992 to 1997 it includes extra-budgetary spending. Naira figures are nominal — the currency lost most of its value after 1986, so later years look larger than they were in real terms.

A second oil shock and a tightly held transition budget produced the last federal surplus for sixteen years.

What it cost — political & economic reality

The political and economic reality

Nigeria in 1979: who was in charge, the cabinet of the day, the GDP, and the crises that defined the period.

Head of State · Military

Gen. Murtala Muhammed → Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo

1975–1979

National reality

Murtala assassinated 13 February 1976; Obasanjo completed the transition. Universal Primary Education launched 1976. Land Use Act 1978. 1979 Constitution and handover to the Second Republic.

Crises of the period

  • Dimka coup attempt + Murtala assassination (1976)
  • 'Ali Must Go' student protests (1978) — students killed over a 50-kobo fee increase

GDP (World Bank)

$28 bn (1975) → $47 bn (1979)

Cabinet (selected portfolios)

  • Education

    Col. Ahmadu Ali (1975–78)

  • Education

    J.O.J. Okezie (1978)

Sources · Federal Gazette · Constitution Drafting Committee records (1976–78)

President · Second Republic

Alhaji Shehu Shagari

1979–1983· NPN

National reality

First executive presidency. Oil-price crash from 1981 destroyed the boom. Ghana Must Go expulsion of West African migrants (1983). Disputed re-election in 1983, then the Buhari/Idiagbon coup on 31 December 1983.

Crises of the period

  • Oil price collapse 1981–83
  • Maitatsine riots Kano (1980)
  • Ghana Must Go (1983)
  • 31 December 1983 coup

GDP (World Bank)

$64 bn (1980, oil peak) → $30 bn (1983, bust)

Cabinet (selected portfolios)

  • Finance

    Sunday Essang → Onaolapo Soleye

  • Education

    Sylvester Ugoh; later others (being compiled)

Sources · Federal Gazette 1979–83 · CBN Annual Reports

Methodology

Tier 1 · primary

Courts. Gazettes. National archives.

Tier 2 · corroborating

OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.

Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged

Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.