five years until new elections led the Igbo (a minority group from the north - Hausa) civil servants to maintain authority over most of the west and the Yoruba nation. This angered the Yoruba, who had been struggling with the Hausa for many years, and caused riots, until January 1966, when the Nigerian army held their first coup, directed at the Igbo, leaving over 30,000 dead, and a country without a stable leader/government. Those of the Igbo culture that had survived the massacre fled to Southeast Nigeria (full of rich, moneymaking soil, starting the Republic of Biafra, almost immediately being sought out and at war against Nigeria. (Jones, 1998, chart on African History)Later in May, 1967, the Nigerian General Yakubu Gowon pronounced himself as the country's new chief, and started things off by abolishing the old three state system, and changed it to a federation of twelve states, weakening local governments, but strengthened the military's power, and the even the federal government, should the army succumb the slightest bit of control. In 1974, Gowon promised to return the system back to civilian rule, in the year 1976, but in October of the next year, there was another coup directed by General Murtala Muhammad, who held power until General Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded him, in 1976. Under Obasanjo, the constitution was amended so that there would be 19 states, instead of twelve, and under rule of parliament, civilian control was resumed. The constitution was changed so that the country had more "checks and balances," imitating more of an American style, than a British one, and that there would be fair elections with parties in competing with one another. In 1979, the first election of the Second Federation of Nigeria took place, where five parties honestly competed, and Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) became president.During the time when General Obasanjo was in "office," oil prices skyrocketed and Nigeria...
