Nigeria’s population in 1999 was estimated at 126 million people, with a growth rate of 2.8%. The economy of Nigeria was largely dependent on its oil sector, which accounted for around 95% of the country’s exports. This was supplemented by the agricultural and manufacturing industries. Foreign relations in 1999 were largely positive with the country enjoying strong ties with many African nations and the wider international community. Politically, Nigeria had been a multi-party state since 1979 when it formally adopted a democratic system. The ruling party at this time was the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which had been in power since 1999. In 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo was President and had been since 1999. See ethnicityology for Nigeria in the year of 2018.
Yearbook 1999
Nigeria. Visit Countryaah official website to get information about the capital city of Nigeria. The state elections in January and the parliamentary and presidential elections in February completed the return to democracy. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) largely dominated. The PDP won in 20 out of 35 states and gained its own majority in both chambers of parliament. In the presidential election, the PDP’s Olusegun Obasanjo triumphed over Olu Falae, who represented the opposition. Foreign observers complained of cheating in the presidential election, but their and Falee’s complaints were rejected.
- Also see Abbreviationfinder.org to see the acronym of NG which stands for Nigeria and other definitions of this 3-letter abbreviation.
Obasanjo, who was military president from 1976-79, took over a Nigeria in deep crisis. Oil revenues had almost halved in two years, and GDP was estimated to decline by at least 1.6%. The foreign exchange reserve fell from $ 6.7 billion to $ 4 billion in the first quarter, and the budget deficit of $ 668 million for the same period was almost twice as projected for the entire year. The economic race was believed to be mainly due to the outgoing military junta’s looting of the Treasury.
Obasanjo’s main promise was to fight corruption. He canceled all business contracts entered into since June 1 and replaced the management of the state oil company NNPC. The rules for trade in crude oil were tightened to remove the middlemen who won contracts by having high-ranking officers or politicians as “sponsors”. This abuse is believed to have cost NNPC up to $ 1.5 billion a year.
Obasanjo also fired high-ranking officers who held political missions and appointed a human rights commission to investigate abuses since N’s first military coup in 1966.
At the government’s request, Swiss bank accounts belonging to the estate were blocked by former dictator Sani Abacha and his co-workers. The accounts were believed to contain more than two billion dollars stolen from the Nigerian state.
Abacha’s son Mohammed and other representatives of the former regime were brought to justice for the 1996 assassination of Kudirat Abiola, wife of the then incarcerated opposition leader Moshood Abiola.
The ethnic conflicts that plagued Nigeria during the dictatorship continued after the regime change. In the poor Niger Delta, the center of oil recovery, young people from the ijaw people demanded a larger share of the oil income. The riots culminated in the murders of twelve policemen in November. The military was deployed and between 65 and 200 people were killed. Over 20,000 civilians fled to the forest. Old contradictions between the dominant groups Hausa and Yoruba gained momentum when Hausa considered that the Christian Yoruba from the southwest benefited after the change of power. At least 70 people were killed in fighting in Kano in northern Nigeria in July. In November, clashes in Lagos demanded about 90 casualties.
The peace talks in Abuja were followed by analysts in the world’s oil markets and by the world’s governments, because if civil war broke out as the rebels threatened, it would push oil prices well above the US $ 50 a year. barrel it was already on, thus triggering global recession.
The surplus from oil production in the Niger River delta goes into the treasury or in the pockets of the foreign oil companies and the foreign oil workers. Oil extraction has already ruined the business opportunities for most residents of the area. Despite some oil companies’ programs for environmental recovery or to raise the standard of living of the locals, the deep poverty of the population has not changed in the end. Acc. the government is Asari’s men a gang of oil thieves. Still, human rights organizations emphasized that the two armed gangs operating in the area are controlled by the government.
The four-day general strike in the oil sector in October 2004 prompted the suspension of the country’s oil exports.
117 people – including the president’s wife – died when a plane from Bellview Airlines crashed in October 2005 shortly after taking off from Lagos airport. Obasanjo immediately met with his Minister of Aviation to implement stricter air traffic guidelines. This was the 4th major plane crash in Nigeria within 13 years.
From January 2006, militants from the Niger Delta began attacking oil pipelines, oil installations and abducting foreign workers in the oil industry. Their demands were increased control of the area’s oil wealth. With record high oil prices, Nigeria became the first country to pay its foreign debt to the Paris Club in April.
The political climate prior to the 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections was characterized by protests and violence. Acc. the opposition carried out the regime persecuting its political opponents. Several candidates were detained during the period leading up to the elections and a number of demonstrations were attacked by security forces, which cost over 40 people their lives.
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of the PDP who was governor of the northern state of Katsina ended up in April 2007 being elected president with 70% of the vote. Both the opposition and EU election observers criticized various forms of electoral fraud, violence, “ballots that went up in smoke” and so on.
Nigeria’s rapid economic growth continued through 2008 and -09, with the economy growing by 9 and 8.3% respectively. Growth was borne by the right oil prices.
In January 2010, 300 people were killed during ethnic and religious riots in the Plateau state of central Nigeria. 10,000 were driven on the run. In March, another 200 were killed and thousands more fled. During the year, the Boko Haram terror group became increasingly active in the state of Borno in northeastern Nigeria. About 30 were killed by suspected Boko Haram perpetrators during the year, and on December 24, the group attacked 2 churches in Maiduguri. 6 people were killed. The group spread its activities to the states of Bauchi and Yobe and in September, the group went to attack the federal prison Bauchi. 700 inmates were freed, including 123 members of Boko Haram.
