Declassified CIA file of 1984 reveals real reason Buhari was slow in fixing his cabinet, as lower military officers plot coup

A recently declassified CIA file of 1984, obtained by Naij.com. has revealed that the then military president - Major-General Buhari was slow in setting up his cabinet, due to corruption that was eating deep into the Nigeria military ranks.

Declassified CIA file of 1984 reveals real reason Buhari was slow in fixing his cabinet, as lower military officers plot coup

According to the CIA document, some officers of the consulate spoke to officers who complained about slowness in getting the new administration going, rooting out corruption and controlling prices.

The files further noted that there was a great chance that Buhari's indecision may lead to coup.

How Buhari came into power

Buhari was selected to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup d'etat that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983.

At the time, Buhari was head of the Third Armored Division of Jos. Buhari was appointed Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration).

Buhari justified the military's seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt.

Hence he stressed that he emerged as part of the military's bid to save Nigeria from total collapse.

Declassified CIA file of 1984 reveals real reason Buhari was slow in fixing his cabinet, as lower military officers plot coup

Changes within the Buhari-led government

When he came into power, the military government did away with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1979), suspending it, except those sections of it which were exempted in the constitution.

According to Buhari, the change became necessary in order to put an end to the serious economic predicament and the crisis of confidence now afflicting the nation.

Consequently, the Nigerian armed forces constituted themselves into a Federal Military Government comprising of a Supreme Military Council, a National Council of States, a Federal Executive Council at the centre and State Executive Councils to be presided over by military governors in each of the states of the federation.

Declassified CIA file of 1984 reveals real reason Buhari was slow in fixing his cabinet, as lower military officers plot coup

Declassified CIA file of 1984 reveals real reason Buhari was slow in fixing his cabinet, as lower military officers plot coup

Corruption and the emergence of council members

The Federal Military Government before Buhari's, drew up a programme with the aim of handing over political power to the civilians in 1979. The programme was implemented to the letter.

The 1979 constitution was promulgated. However, little did the military realise that the political leadership of the second republic will circumvent most of the checks and balances in the constitution and bring a state of general insecurity.

The premium on political power became so exceedingly high that political contestants regarded victory at elections as a matter of life and death struggle and were determined to capture or retain power by all means.

As of the time, Buhari opined that there was a worldwide economic recession. However, in the case of Nigeria, he said the impact was aggravated by mismanagement. He however believed that the appropriate government agencies had good advice but the leadership disregarded their advice.

The situation he noted could have been avoided if the legislators were alive to their constitutional responsibilities; Instead, the legislators were preoccupied with determining their salary scales, fringe benefit and unnecessary foreign travels, et al, which took no account of the state of the economy and the welfare of the people they represented.

Buhari further stressed that as a result of the government's inability to cultivate financial discipline and prudent management of the economy, the nation came to depend largely on internal and external borrowing to execute government projects with attendant domestic pressure and soaring external debts, thus aggravating the propensity of the outgoing civilian administration to mismanage our financial resources.

Nigeria was already condemned perpetually with the twin problem of heavy budget deficits and weak balance of payments position, with the prospect of building a virile and viable economy.

Buhari noted in his take-over speech that while corruption and indiscipline had been associated with the nation's state of under-development, "these two evils in our body politic have attained unprecedented height in the past few years. The corrupt, inept and insensitive leadership in the last four years has been the source of immorality and impropriety in our society.

Declassified CIA file of 1984 reveals real reason Buhari was slow in fixing his cabinet, as lower military officers plot coup

Since what happens in any society is largely a reflection of the leadership of that society, we deplore corruption in all its facets. This government will not tolerate kick-backs, inflation of contracts and over-invoicing of imports etc. Nor will it condone forgery, fraud, embezzlement, misuse and abuse of office and illegal dealings in foreign exchange and smuggling."

According to Buhari, as of the time, arson was used to cover up fraudulent acts in public institutions. The fire incidents that gutted the P&T buildings in Lagos, the Anambra State Broadcasting Corporation, the Republic Building at Marina, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Capital Development Authority Accounts at Abuja and the NET Building, were all pre-planned.

Most of these fire incidents occurred at a time when Nigerians were being apprehensive of the frequency of fraud scandals and the government incapacity to deal with them. Corruption became so pervasive and intractable that a whole ministry had to been created to stem it.

The Federal Military Government (FMG) under Buhari's leadership was prepared to reappraise policies with a view to paying greater attention to the economy, as to give it a new impetus and better sense of direction.

FMG of 1984 was also prepared to ensure that corrupt officials and their agents were brought to book.

In view of this position, nineteen military governors were formally appointed by the new Head of State, Major-General Mohammed Buhari, and other members of the country's Supreme Military Council (SMC) in Lagos on January 4 to run Nigeria's federal states.

General Buhari attended the official swearing-in ceremony, which came four days after he led a bloodless coup ousting former President Shehu Shagari.

Speaking at the ceremony, Buhari reminded his new governors of their duties.All were chosen, he said, for their ability to discharge their responsibilities in the best interests of the country.

He went on to warn them that crime and corruption for personal gain, one reason for the coup, would be ruthlessly punished.

General Buhari added the corruption and hoarding in the private sector would not be tolerated.

He ended his speech by telling the assembled governors they were answerable to the country's military chiefs of staff and subject to redeployment at any time.

All former state governors have been given a week to report to police.