Under the import-licence regime of the Second Republic, the FX allocation system was monetised by senior officials. Import bills peaked at $14bn in 1981. By the December 1983 coup, external debt had reached $19bn — from near-zero a decade earlier — and arrears triggered the Paris Club process that culminated only in 2005.
Shagari1979 — 83Documented failure· $19bn external debt· Chapter I · Money
Second Republic Import Binge
Licence Raj. Import bill of $14bn in 1981 alone. External debt grows from near-zero (1975) to $19bn (1983).
Sources
- · CBN Annual Reports 1979–83
- · Pius Okigbo, Reorganisation of the Central Bank (1994)
What it cost — political & economic reality
The political and economic reality
Nigeria in 1981: who was in charge, the cabinet of the day, the GDP, and the crises that defined the period.
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)
Source: Federal Gazette 1979–83; CBN Annual Reports
Methodology
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Redline
Wikipedia is never a source.