Amidst OPEC’s announcement to cut oil production by 5 percent, a development that will further push gas prices upward and increase the anxiety of Nigerian residents who are already caught in an economic dilemma resulting from the persistence fall in value of the Naira (recently at all-time low of 490 per dollar on the black market on as at Friday 30^th September 2016), the country’s external reserve fell to $24.59bn.

1960 October – Independence, with Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa leading a coalition government.
1966 January – Balewa killed in coup. Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi headed military administration.
1966 July – Ironsi killed in counter-coup, replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon.
1967 – Three eastern states seceded as the Republic of Biafra, sparking bloody civil war.
1970 – Biafran leaders surrendered, former Biafran regions reintegrated into country.
1975 – Gowon overthrown, flee to Britain, replaced by Brigadier Murtala Ramat Mohammed, who began process of moving federal capital to Abuja.
1976 – Mohammed assassinated in failed coup attempt. Replaced by his deputy, Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo, who helped introduce American-style presidential constitution.
1979 – Elections brought Alhaji Shehu Shagari to power.
1983 January – The government expelled more than one million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, saying they had overstayed their visas and were taking jobs from Nigerians. The move was condemned abroad but popular in Nigeria.
1983 August, September – Shagari re-elected amid accusations of irregularities.
1983 December – Major-General Muhammad Buhari seized power in bloodless coup.
1985 August – Ibrahim Babangida seized power in bloodless coup, curtailed political activity.
1993 June – Military annulled elections when preliminary results showed victory by the late Chief Moshood Abiola.
1993 August – Power transferred to Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Sonekan

SANI  ABACHA'S ERA
1993 November – General Sani Abacha seized power, suppressed opposition.
1994 June – Abiola arrested after proclaiming himself president.
1995 – Ken Saro-Wiwa, writer and campaigner against oil industry damage to his Ogoni homeland, was executed following a hasty trial. In protest, European Union imposed sanctions until 1998, Commonwealth suspended Nigeria’s membership until 1998.
1998 June – Abacha died, succeeded by Major-General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
1998 July – Chief Abiola died in custody.
1999 – Parliamentary and presidential elections. Olusegun Obasanjo sworn in as president.
2000 – Adoption of Islamic, or Sharia law by several northern states in the face of opposition from Christians. Tension over the issue resulted in hundreds of deaths in clashes between Christians and Muslims.
2001 – Tribal war in Benue state, in eastern-central Nigeria, displaced thousands of people.
In October, army soldiers sent to quash the fighting killed more than 200 unarmed civilians, apparently in retaliation for the abduction and murder of 19 soldiers.
2001 October – Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, South African President Mbeki and Algerian President Bouteflika launched New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) with the objectives, among others, of fostering development, enhancing open government and ending wars in return for aid, foreign investment and the lifting of trade barriers to African exports.

ETHNIC VIOLENCE
2002 February – Some 100 people were killed in Lagos in clashes between Hausas from mainly-Islamic north and ethnic Yorubas from predominantly-Christian south.
2002 November – More than 200 people died in four days of rioting over the planned Miss World beauty pageant in Kaduna in December. The event was relocated to Britain.
2003 April (12) – First legislative elections since end of military rule in 1999. Polling marked by delays, allegations of ballot-rigging. President Obasanjo’s People’s Democratic Party won parliamentary majority.

OBASANJO RE- ELECTION
2003 April (19) – First civilian-run presidential elections since end of military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo elected for second term with more than 60% of vote. Opposition parties reject result. EU poll observers cite “serious irregularities”.
2003 July – Nationwide general strike called off after nine days after government agreed to lower recently-increased fuel prices.
2003 August – Inter-communal violence in the Niger Delta town of Warri killed about 100 people, injured over 1,000.
2003 September – Nigeria’s first satellite, NigeriaSat-1, launched by Russian rocket.
2004 January – UN brokered talks between Nigeria and Cameroon about disputed border. Both sides agreed to joint security patrols.
2004 May – State of emergency was declared in the central Plateau State after more than 200 Muslims were killed in Yelwa in attacks by Christian militia; revenge attacks were launched by Muslim youths in Kano.

SOUTHERN NIGERIA UPRISING
2004 August-September – Deadly clashes between gangs in oil city of Port Harcourt provoked strong crackdown by troops. Rights group Amnesty International cited death toll of 500, authorities said about 20 died.
2005 July – Paris Club of rich lenders agreed to write off two-thirds of Nigeria’s $30bn foreign debt.
2006 January onwards – Militants in the Niger Delta attacked pipelines and other oil facilities and kidnapped foreign oil workers. The rebels demanded more control over the region’s oil wealth.
2006 February – More than 100 people killed when religious violence flares in mainly-Muslim towns in the north and in the southern city of Onitsha.
2006 April – Helped by record oil prices, Nigeria became the first African nation to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of rich lenders.
2006 May – The Senate rejected proposed changes to the constitution which would have allowed President Obasanjo to stand for a third term in 2007.

BAKASSI PENINSULA DEAL
2006 August – Nigeria cedes sovereignty over the disputed Bakassi peninsula to neighbouring Cameroon under the terms of a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling. A special transitional arrangement for the Nigerian civilian administration would be in place for five years.
2006 October – Spiritual leader of Nigeria’s millions of Muslims, the Sultan of Sokoto, was killed in a plane crash, the country’s third major civilian air disaster in a year.
2007 April – Umaru Yar’Adua of the ruling People’s Democratic Party wass proclaimed winner of the presidential election.
2007 September – The rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) threatened to end a self-imposed ceasefire and to launch fresh attacks on oil facilities and abductions of foreign workers.
2007 November – Suspected Nigerian militants killed 21 Cameroon soldiers in Bakassi peninsula.
Nigerian senate rejected Nigeria-Cameroon agreement for hand-over of Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.
2007 December – Anti-corruption chief, Nuhu Ribadu became sidelined, but a high-profile graft-related arrest followed soon after.
Oil prices soar
2008 January – Oil trades at $100 a barrel for the first time, with violence in oil producing countries such as Nigeria and Algeria helping to drive up prices.
2008 February – Mend leaders Henry Okah and Edward Atata extradited from Angola on suspicion of involvement in attacks on oil companies. Report that Okah was subsequently killed in custody proved to be untrue.
2010 May – President Umaru Yar’Adua died after a long illness. Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, already acting in Yar’Adua’s stead, succeeded him.
2010 October – Nigeria marked 50 years of independence. Celebrations in Abuja marred by deadly bomb blasts.
2010 November – Nigeria intercepted arms shipment from Iran, reports filed to UN Security Council.
2010 December – Christmas Eve bomb attacks near central city of Jos killed at least 80 people. Attacks claimed by Islamist sect, Boko Haram sparked clashes between Christians and Muslims. Some 200 killed in reprisal attacks.
2011 March – Goodluck Jonathan won presidential elections.
2011 July – President Jonathan said he would ask parliament to amend the constitution so that presidents will serve a single, longer term of six years in office.
Government said it wanted to start negotiating with the Boko Haram Islamist group blamed for a series of recent attacks across northern Nigeria.
2011 August – Suicide bomb attack on UN headquarters in Abuja killed 23 people. Radical Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility.
2011 November – At least 63 people were killed in bomb and gun attacks in north-eastern town of Damaturu. Boko Haram claimed responsibility.
President Jonathan sacked the head of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, saying that the body had failed to get to grips with graft during her tenure.
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CHRISTMAS DAY ATTACKS

2011 December – Nearly 70 people killed in days of fighting between security forces and Boko Haram militants in north-eastern states of Yobe and Borno.

Christmas Day bomb attacks killed about 40 people. Boko Haram claimed responsibility.
President Jonathan declared state of emergency to contain violence by Boko Haram.
2012 January – Fuel price strike caused major disruption. Unions suspended action when government reversed decision to drop fuel subsidies.
More than 100 killed in single day of co-ordinated bombings and shootings in Kano, shortly after Boko Haram gave quit notice to Christians in the north.
2012 April – Chadian President Idriss Deby called on countries neighbouring northern Nigeria to set up a joint military force to tackle Boko Haram militants as they continue their attacks. He warns of the danger of the Islamist group destabilising the whole Lake Chad basin area.
2012 June – Boko Haram claimed responsibility for attacks on two churches in Jos city and Borno state, in which one person died and dozens of others were injured. An angry crowd killed six Muslims in Jos in retaliation.
2012 July – Nigeria signed a preliminary $4.5bn deal with US-based Vulcan Petroleum to build six oil refineries. Nigeria lacks refinery capacity and has to import most of its fuel needs, despite being a major oil producer.
2012 August – The army killed 20 Boko Haram fighters in a shootout in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. The government said it had started informal talks through “backroom channels” with Boko Haram to try to end attacks. Boko Haram ruled out peace talks shortly thereafter.
Maiduguri clashes
2012 October – Boko Haram bombed army bases in Maiduguri. The army said it killed 24 Boko Haram fighters in subsequent clashes.
2012 November – At least 100 people were charged with treason after a march supporting independence for Biafra in the region’s main town, Enugu.
2012 December – At least 20 Christians were killed in attacks by suspected Islamist militants in the northern states of Yobe and Borno over the Christmas/New Year period.
2013 May – Government declared state of emergency in three northern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa and sent in troops to combat the Boko Haram militants.
2013 July – Secondary schools were closed in Yobe state after a massacre of 22 pupils at a boarding school, which the government attributed to Boko Haram.
2013 September – Boko Haram murdered more than 150 people in roadside attacks in the northeast. Separately, security forces fought Boko Haram insurgents in the capital Abuja.
2013 November – Six state governors defected from the governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and merged with main opposition All Progressives Congress, leaving the PDP with fewer governors supporting it than the opposition.
SCHOOLGIRLS KIDNAPPED
2014 April – Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 girls from a boarding school. The US and Britain sent planes to help search for them and West African leaders agreed to co-operate to fight the insurgents.
2014 July – Nigeria and neighbours agreed to form a joint military force to combat the growing regional threat posed by Boko Haram.
2014 August – Boko Haram proclaimed a caliphate – an Islamic state – in the territory it controls in the northeast, a declaration dismissed by the government.
2014 October – Nigeria’s military said it had agreed a ceasefire with Boko Haram militants, and that the schoolgirls the group abducted would be released. The group denied the agreement on a ceasefire and said the girls have been married off.
President Goodluck Jonathan said he would seek a second term in office in elections, but these are postponed from February 2015 because of the Boko Haram insurgency.
2014 November – Boko Haram launched a series of attacks in northeastern Nigeria, capturing several towns near Lake Chad and running raids into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon in early 2015. Hundreds of people in the north-east were killed and thousands more displaced.
2015 February-March – Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger formed military coalition against Boko Haram, claim successes in pushing it back in all these countries.

Nigerian army captured Gwoza, believed to be Boko Haram’s main stronghold, in late March, leaving the armed group with only two towns under its control.
2015 March – Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election, becoming the first opposition candidate to do so in Nigeria’s history.
2015 June – Nigeria assumed command of a regional military force to counter Boko Haram, to include troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin…

 

Compiled By Tope Olaiya Templer

The Independence Day of a country, as the qualifier suggests, is a triumphant expression of liberation. As always, it is a day of soulful national reflection and commemoration of the gallant attempts to lead the people away from the stranglehold of oppression and subjugation and to orientate them towards the best possible attainment of their destiny. However, as Nigeria marks 56 years of Independence tomorrow, any celebration, pomp and merry-making on Independence Day may be hollow, if proper stock-taking of the people’s national life is glossed over.

Despite the increasing hopelessness, confusion and lethargy occasioned by the present economic recession and seeming rudderless leadership that is unveiled in the perception of the common Nigerian, Independence Day enables all to reflect on the enormous challenges facing the country. Yet, it does more than that. It also points towards the future; it extricates us from lamentation and points us to genuine liberation.

Truly, Nigerians are justified to be angry and confused. In the last one year, the challenges have been overwhelming. Widespread insecurity has threatened national cohesion and promoted mistrust; the absence of sound economic policies and projections has put the nation in dire financial straits; nearly all states of the federation are unable to pay salaries. The lack of foresight, financial recklessness, imprudence, and the lack of will to consummate projects have been the bane of our nation. Nigerians have a right not to celebrate.

Notwithstanding these enormous challenges, this year’s Independence Day, the second for the Muhammadu Buhari administration, should also make us remember that countries pass through difficulties in order to become stronger and more prosperous. Nations get stronger, more viable and more respected only after they have genuinely withstood the throes of historical shortcomings thrust upon them by social needs. Given this truth about development dynamics, the commemoration of Nigeria’s Independence speaks to all Nigerians to review the present precarious existence with some hope.

One of the threatened values which Independence Day brings to mind concerns the unity of the country. Inherited structures of British colonisation that consolidated a forced unity as a people, and yet enabled us to carry on for the good of all Nigerians, are crumbling before our eyes. These structures, which include the armed forces, the civil service, among others, are being destroyed to our national peril. Independence Day, therefore, draws attention to a glorious past that gave Nigeria its greatness through these structures.

Besides this significance of unity, there is also the gargantuan image which Nigeria projects for the African and Black people in general. The success of Nigeria is a symbolic proposal of accomplishment for Africa and the Black race. Nigeria’s global exploits signal hope and promise for the Black people. As we mark this year’s Independence anniversary, Nigerian leaders and all should be cognizant of the challenge and responsibility that come with this impression: Nigeria is at the forefront of leadership in Africa, and if Nigeria disintegrates or is splintered, it will weaken the prospect of the Black race.

However, fostering this unity and sustaining a prestigious global image amount to nought if they are not determined by performance of the people. The well-being of Nigerians, their self-image, how Nigerian authorities govern their people, how Nigerians situate themselves in the scheme of global affairs, must reflect the powerful, united country and Africa’s iconic Big Brother which Nigeria connotes.

Although Nigerians expected too much from this administration given the excesses of the last regime and the promises of this ruling party are far from fulfilled, it would be uncharitable to dismiss the modest achievements of this government. True, Nigeria faces economic recession, and hunger stalks everyone in the land; yet, the progress made in the fight against Boko Haram is a commendable signature of this administration. The gains from the fight against Boko Haram and insurgency should not be sacrificed on the altar of hunger pangs.

That the government is making frantic efforts to address insecurity of that magnitude is something Nigerians can leverage upon.
October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day, is also another opportune moment to improve on such gestures. The ‘Change’ mantra of this administration and its militaristic anti-corruption drive, is a principle that Nigerians can refine to move on to greatness. But to get this done would require the right people, with the right knowledge to do the right thing.

In short, it would require the requisite personnel and manpower to turn innumerable good policies into measurable and realistic frame-works for action towards the common good. This demands the harnessing of knowledgeable, talented, skillful, nationalistic and selfless Nigerians who would get things done by solving problems; those who have the wherewithal for home-grown solutions and who can stimulate the modalities for job-creation or wealth creation along those lines.

These sorts of people abound in Nigeria; they run the stable economies abroad. If Nigeria is to attain its destined goal, these are the people Nigeria needs in foreign affairs to mop up our battered image abroad. They are the ones Nigeria needs in agriculture, and not armchair theoreticians occupying positions just because they are party cronies. They are the ones who should manage our defence, and other areas of our national life in need of attention.
The message for tomorrow on Independence is this: That Nigeria is blessed with such manifold socio-economic transformers should give us hope. This, therefore, points to the fact that our present economic condition is not an indication of the end for Nigerians.

United Nations Assistant Secretary General Toby Lanzer has said that if  more donor support is not reached the emergency caused by Boko Haram will become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis adding that suffering in northeast Nigeria and surrounding areas was the worst he had ever witnessed.

The US is investing at least $50m in a military air base in Niger that will be capable of deploying drones.

Gabon President Ali Bongo won last month's presidntial election, the country's Constitutional court has ruled rejecting opposition calls for a recount.

Sacked South Sudanese first vice president Riek Machar may be headed to South Africa after the country agreed to host him, a leading newspaper in Kenya reports.

A South Sudan newspaper says the government ordered its shutdown the day it published a front-page story on a U.S.-based watchdog group’s investigation into corruption by top officials.

Authorities in Tanzania are assessing the impact of a 5.7 magnitude earthquake which hit the north-western region of Kagera on Saturday killing 16 people and leaving more than 250 injured.

Tanzanian President John Magufuli has maintained his hard-line stand on signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, saying it threatens local industries.

A Brigade Commander is among 16 officers and troops being court martialed for selling arms to Boko Haram terrorists.

The United States does not believe sacked South Sudan vice president Riek Machar should return to his former position in the unity government given the continued instability in the country, Reuters news agency reports Washington’s special envoy for South Sudan to say.

Gabon's re-elected President Ali Bongo shrugged off international calls for a recount of last week's disputed vote, saying it was a matter for the constitutional court to decide.

More than 100 bulls and 700 sheep and goats will be slaughtered at the burial of former minister William Ntimama.