Ernest Shonekan
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Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (9 May 1936 – 11 January 2022) was a
Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
lawyer and statesman who served as the interim Head of State of Nigeria from 26 August 1993 to 17 November 1993. He was titled Abese of
Egbaland The Egba people are a subgroup of the Yoruba people, an ethnic group of western Nigeria, a majority of whom are from the central part of Ogun State that is Ogun Central Senatorial District. Ogun Central Senatorial District comprises six local ...
from 1981 (in addition to a variety of other
chieftaincy A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categori ...
titles). Prior to his political career, Shonekan was the chairman and chief executive of the United African Company of Nigeria (successor of The Niger Company), a vast Nigerian conglomerate, which at the time was the largest African-controlled company in Sub-Saharan Africa.


Early life

Shonekan was born in
Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...
on 9 May 1936. The son of an
Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surrounding a ...
-born civil servant, he was one of six children born into the family. Shonekan was educated at CMS Grammar School and Igbobi College. He received a law degree from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, and was called to the bar. He later attended Harvard Business School.


Early business career

Shonekan joined the
United Africa Company of Nigeria The United Africa Company of Nigeria is a Nigerian publicly listed company based in Lagos. Its areas of operation include manufacturing, services, logistics and warehousing, agricultural and real estate. UACN's food operations include UAC Fra ...
in 1964, at the time a subsidiary of the
United Africa Company The United Africa Company (UAC) was a British company which principally traded in West Africa during the 20th century. The United Africa Company was formed in 1929 as a result of the merger of The Niger Company, which had been effectively owne ...
which played a prominent role in British colonisation. He rose through the ranks in the company and was promoted to assistant legal adviser. He later became a deputy adviser and joined the board of directors at the age of 40. He was made chairman and managing director in 1980, and went on to cultivate a wide array of international business and political connections.


Crisis of the Third Republic

On 2 January 1993, Shonekan assumed office simultaneously as head of transitional council and head of government under
Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as C ...
. At the time, the transitional council was designed to be the final phase leading to a scheduled hand over to an elected democratic leader of the
Third Nigerian Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. Founded (1993) The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamasi ...
. Shonekan learned of the dire condition of government finances, which he was unable to correct. The government was hard pressed on international
debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
obligations and had to hold constant talks for debt rescheduling. In August 1993, Babangida resigned from office, following the annulment of the 12 June elections. He signed a decree establishing the
Interim National Government The Interim National Government was the government of Nigeria following the crisis of the Third Republic after General Ibrahim Babangida handed power over to Ernest Shonekan as interim Head of State on 27 August 1993. The largely powerless gover ...
led by Shonekan who was subsequently sworn-in as
head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
.


Interim government

Shonekan was unable to control the political crisis which ensued following the election annulment. During his few months in power, he tried to schedule another presidential election and a return to democratic rule, while his government was hampered by a national workers'
strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
. Opposition leader
Moshood Abiola Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola , also known as M. K. O. Abiola (24 August 1937 – 7 July 1998) was a Nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician. He was the Aare Ona Kankafo XIV of Yorubaland and an aristocrat of the Egba clan. M.K. ...
, viewed Shonekan's interim government as illegitimate. Shonekan released political prisoners detained by Babangida. Shonekan's administration introduced a bill to repeal three major draconian decrees of the military government. Babangida made the interim government weak by placing it under the control of the military. Shonekan had lobbied for debt cancellation but, after the election annulment, most of the Western powers had imposed economic sanctions on Nigeria. Inflation was uncontrollable and most non-oil foreign investment disappeared. The government also initiated an audit of the accounts of NNPC, the oil giant, an organisation that had many operational inefficiencies. Shonekan served as an executive of Royal Dutch Shell while acting as the interim president of Nigeria. Shonekan tried to set a timetable for troop withdrawal from
ECOMOG The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...
's peacekeeping mission in Liberia. General
Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...
, was the minister of defence and chief of defence staff who had full control over the military.


Out of office

In November 1993, three months into his administration, Shonekan was overthrown in
palace coup A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
by Abacha. In 1994, he founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group an advocacy group and think-tank for private sector-led development of the Nigerian economy. Since then Shonekan went on to feature prominently as an elder statesman.


Personal life and death

Shonekan was married to
Margaret Shonekan Margaret O. Shonekan (born 28 October 1941) is a Nigerian civil servant, she spent much of her career with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). She was appointed a Federal Civil Service Commissioner from 1 October 1986 until 31 March 1 ...
. He died on 11 January 2022, at the age of 85 at Evercare Hospital in Lagos. At the time of his death, he was the third oldest surviving Nigerian head of state by age after
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
and
Yakubu Gowon Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquishe ...
.


Citations


General references

* "Military swears in transitional government", Agence France Presse—English, 4 January 1993 * "Nigeria prepares medium-term plan", ''Financial Times'' (London, England), 28 January 1993 * "NIGERIA: HARD ROAD AHEAD FOR INTERIM GOVERNMENT", IPS-Inter Press Service, 26 August 1993 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shonekan, Ernest 1936 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople 20th-century Nigerian lawyers 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople 21st-century Nigerian lawyers Alumni of the University of London Businesspeople from Lagos CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni Harvard Business School alumni Heads of state of Nigeria Lawyers from Lagos Nigerian Anglicans Nigerian chairpersons of corporations Nigerian chief executives Politicians from Lagos Prime Ministers of Nigeria United Africa Company Yoruba businesspeople Yoruba legal professionals Yoruba politicians