In the vast land of Africa, there is a country rich in mineral and oil resources, with a population of more than 200 million and fertile farmland. However, instead of leading the country to prosperity and prosperity, such an innate advantage has become mired in infighting and chaos.
The complex political situation and unstable ** have made this country a member of a strange alliance, which is the number one country in sub-Saharan Africa - Nigeria.
Nigeria has a long history and is one of the few countries in Africa with a long history. In the 14th-16th centuries, the mighty Songhai Empire ruled here and was unable to resist.
However, with the rise of colonialism, Nigeria was unable to resist the invasion of the Western powers and became a British protectorate in 1914, being included in the colonial system of the Empire on which the sun never sets.
After the end of World War II, Britain was unable to maintain a large colonial system, and various colonies sought independence, and Nigeria was no exception. Britain was powerless to resist and had no choice but to compromise and make Nigeria an independent country.
Nigeria gained internal autonomy in 1954, and nine years later, officially became the Federal Republic of Nigeria, declaring independence. However, after independence, Nigeria did not achieve the expected development, but fell into a political circle.
At that time, Nigeria was divided into two factions, one was dominated by the Hausa people in the northern region, who were "good citizens" during the colonial era, self-governing officials who assisted the British in administering the locals, and had good education and political capital.
The other faction is dominated by the Igbo people in the east, who are mostly oil-based, wealthy, but have relatively little political capital.
Due to the disagreement between the two sides on the distribution of interests, a series of conflicts have arisen. The situation culminated on 16 January 1966 when a group of disgruntled Igbo officers led the army in a coup d'état, with the Prime Minister of the Federation and the rest of the districts, as well as most of the officers with the rank of major and above.
At that time, the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian army, Major General Irunsi, the leader of the Igbo people, took over** and eventually reached the top of Nigeria**. However, it was not a long-term solution to rise to power by killing, and Ronsi was not a genius leader, and after half a year in power, he was overthrown by the Hausa officers, and he himself died.
Subsequently, the Chief of Staff of the Army, Lieutenant Colonel Goon, took over power and began a liquidation of the Igbo.
Deeply aware that the Igbo were in danger of being wiped out by the Hausa, the new leader of the Igbo, Ojugu, announced on May 30, 1967 that the Eastern District would secede from Nigeria and form a new state, the Republic of Biafara, led by the Igbo.
You must know that the eastern region is the main oil producing area of Nigeria, and if it loses the eastern region, Nigeria will lose its financial resources. In order to stop the country**, Nigeria** launched a full-scale offensive, and the Nigerian Civil War broke out.
This war made countries realize that this was an excellent opportunity to win hearts and minds, and Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union cultivated their own ** people in Nigeria in an attempt to extract more benefits from the war.
During the Nigerian Civil War, Britain, as a former suzerain, supported the federation** led by Goon and provided substantial arms aid in order to protect its colonial interests.
This upset the balance of the Nigerian civil war and provoked discontent among other interest groups. As the "showcase of the West" in sub-Saharan Africa, the United States has always regarded Nigeria as the number one aid recipient, but at the same time, it has also provided aid to Biafara** in the name of "humanitarianism".
France, as a sworn enemy of Britain, feared that the oil interests of the East Sector would fall into the hands of the British after the victory of the Confederation, so it provided a lot of resources to Biafara, and prompted the countries of the former French West Africa to recognize Biafala.
As France's partner in promoting European integration, the Federal Republic of Germany and some Western European countries also recognized the independence of Biafara, which gave the Igbo people more international support.
The intervention and wrestling of the great powers added more variables to the Nigerian civil war, and although they provided material assistance to both sides, they did not solve the problem at all. In order to break the deadlock, Goon decided to turn to the Soviet Union for help.
At this time, the Soviet Union, under the leadership of Brezhnev, was dominating the Cold War and urgently needed to find new ** people in Africa, and the appearance of Goon happened to fill this gap.
In the international political arena, Brezhnev was widely praised for his generous style. In order to help the Nigerian army, he did not hesitate to increase the amount of aid to the limit and equipped them with the most advanced and sophisticated Soviet-made equipment.
This Soviet-style equipment was a huge boost to the Nigerian Federation**, which made it soar in the battle against the Biafala army, and finally succeeded in defeating their opponents in January 1970, ending the two-and-a-half-year war.
However, the war has caused great trauma to Nigeria, especially in the East Sector, where the Igbo death toll is as high as 2 million, which has significantly weakened their power and can no longer be re-emerged, and can only become a marginal force in Nigeria.
On the contrary, General Goon became a national hero in the hearts of Nigerians for his successful efforts to preserve the unity of the country, and began his colourful political career.
During the civil war, Goon was made aware of Nigeria's strategic importance by aiding the Great Powers, whose abundant oil resources allowed him to manipulate countries and use them as bargaining chips at the table.
However, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and despite Brezhnev's assistance, it was not for free. After the war, the Soviet Union began to prop up pro-Soviet political groups within Nigeria and provided free admission to Soviet universities for young Nigerians.
This deeply disturbed Goon, who feared that young Nigerians would threaten his power when they returned from school. Therefore, he ordered the termination of the study abroad program in Nigeria and the expulsion of the Soviet military industry and experts who had come to instruct.
Goon suddenly turned his face and caught the Soviet Union off guard. Although Xunzong was very angry, he had no choice but to watch the Soviet influence in Nigeria be expelled. After that, Goon began to look for new allies and turned his attention to the former overlord, the United Kingdom.
In order to attract British investment, Goon offered a condition that Britain could not refuse: give priority to British refiners and cooperate with local Nigerian extractors.
At the same time, Goon also loosened controls on British capital, and even said that Nigeria would be willing to be the vanguard of Britain as long as it needed it in Africa.
Britain once acted like a little girl who was deceived by a scumbag, listened to Goon's promise, gave Nigeria a large number of low-interest loans and technical assistance, and helped Nigeria build a prosperous oil industry.
However, when Goon received these benefits, he suddenly reneged on his promise. In the seventies of the last century, black South Africans launched a large-scale campaign for the apartheid policy of the authorities.
In order to safeguard the interests of the British in South Africa, the United Kingdom chose to side with the South African authorities, and even brought in other Commonwealth member states and African brothers to support South Africa.
However, how could Goon, as a native black African, support apartheid policies? For him, intemperance was far more important than starvation. If he really followed the advice of the British, then what would the poor African buddies think of him in the future?
Goon firmly rejected the demands of the British** and publicly condemned South Africa's apartheid policies on a global scale, winning the favor of Third World countries. Despite the UK's displeasure, the fact is that if the aid program to Nigeria is abruptly terminated, it will only be the British themselves who will suffer in the end.
After reaping the benefits of the British, Goon turned his attention to the United States, which caused Goon's displeasure due to the double-sided strategy adopted by the United States during the Nigerian Civil War.
But Goon knows that there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. Now that peace has been restored in Nigeria, it is not kind to just stare at the British family. Therefore, under the guidance of Goon, Nigeria took the initiative to make overtures to the United States.
When the Americans saw this olive branch, they immediately expressed their support for Goon's idea of maintaining national unity.
Goon was able to pick up a lot of wool from the Western world with his repeated horizontal jumps. His abundant oil resources have enabled Nigeria to rise to the top of the continent in Africa.
In the early '70s, Nigeria under Goon's leadership became Africa's largest oil producer, joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and had more bargaining chips with Western powers.
However, the economic success did not bring more political benefits to Goon. On July 29, 1975, Goon's predecessor Garba was dissatisfied with Goon's ** rule and launched a bloodless coup d'état in the early morning.
When Goon was in Uganda for a summit, he was caught off guard by a coup d'état, turning him from Nigeria's head of state into a political refugee. However, Garba's reforms did not fundamentally change Nigeria, and the military remained powerful.
Since then, Nigeria's political situation has been volatile, military coups have been frequent, and the economy has come to a standstill. This ongoing turmoil and chaos has given birth to a new generation of political strongmen.
On November 18, 1993, Nigerian Defence Minister Abacha took over Nigeria** as the country's seventh military regime. Immediately after taking office, Abacha announced the dissolution of the ** and all levels of parliament and the dismissal of all local ** posts, replacing them with military officers and police officers taking over local ** powers.
However, Abacha's actions provoked strong discontent among the Nigerian people, and union-organized workers staged massive anti-military demonstrations in the capital. In the face of rising public opinion, Abacha declared that the military was only temporary, promising to hold new elections when the situation stabilized, as a sign of his determination to make a democratic transition.
However, all this is nothing more than Abacha's delaying tactics. In the 1998 election, Abacha allowed five national political parties to participate, and these five parties recommended only one candidate, and that was Abacha himself, so he became both a referee and an athlete.
Abacha, who became the "democratically elected"**, suppressed his former political enemies on the one hand, and used his power to his own benefit on the other. On June 8, 1998, Abacha, who had planned to visit overseas, left the ** house at four o'clock in the morning and went to a villa in the suburbs to have a carnival party, but suddenly fell ill during the carnival and died.
The next day, the authorities hastily buried him, and in this way, his absurd life was over.
Abacha died, and the Chief of the Defense Staff, Abukabar, took over the scepter as a matter of course, but he did not have the ambition of a **. Under his leadership, Nigeria successfully completed the transition of power, and in February of the following year, the country was put on a stable path of development.
Like other African countries, Nigeria has undergone four stages of evolution: colonial, independent, military** and democratically elected**. As a large country rich in resources, Nigeria is innocent, but it has always been seen as a target for competition and exploitation by Western powers.
Nigeria's military politicians skillfully reaped a lot of benefits from Western countries through their wisdom during the Cold War. However, this military approach to politics has shaken Nigeria's national foundations.
Even now, Nigeria is plagued by corruption and ***, and the Nigerian prince has become an icon of the country**. Nigeria's outlook remains very uncertain.