In The 90’s: The Events And Phenomenons That Made Waves

Nigeria in the 1990’s hold a lot of nostalgia for many of us. Relics of the bygone era where the pace of life was relatively slower still linger but some of us who have our childhood tied to that time often wish we could bring them back. It wasn’t all rosy neither was it all bad; there was a delicate balance between good and evil because in our own weird way we all looked out for one another. The advent of the new millennia came with more suspicion, more technology to keep even family members under the same roof in separate worlds and more pursuits to ensure we were all too busy to care about things that do not affect us directly. The 90’s had it glory days; events and happenings that dominated the mind of the populace. From political activities to TV programmes we couldn’t wait to get back from school to, here are a few I remember myself and a few others I learnt by word of mouth.
Politics and Elections: The 90’s saw the return of democracy. Presidential elections were held on 12 June 1993, the first since the 1983 military coup. The result was a victory for Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola of the Social Democratic Party, who defeated Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention. However, the elections were later annulled by military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, leading to a crisis that ended with Sani Abacha heading a coup later in the year. Abiola was the hero of the story we all loved but sadly he never made it to office as he died in detention due to heart complications.
Census: Although in 1991 I was barely a toddler myself, I can proudly say I was part of the census ( according to my mum).Despite the fact that census taking dates back to the middle of the 20th century, the critical and strategic question “How many Nigerians? Remained hardly satisfactorily sealed until the conduct of 1991 population census. The population census of Nigeria was successfully conducted from 27th to 30th November 1991. The provisional figures from the census were accepted and released by the federal government in March 1992, following which detailed processing commenced, The total population of Nigeria as recorded in the 1991 population census Was 88,992,220 of this figure 44,529,608 are males while 44,462,62 are females.The census showed a remarkably balanced distribution of males and females in Nigeria. There are only 66,996 more men than females. The census further revealed that for every 10,000 females, there are 10,015 males.
Media: The Press played a major role in Nigeria in the 1990’s. Historically, Nigeria has boasted the most free and outspoken press of any African country, but also one which has consistently been the target of harassment by the past military dictatorships. Many agents of Nigeria’s press have been imprisoned, exiled, tortured, or murdered as a result, among them being Ogoni activist and television producer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed for treason by order of the Sani Abacha dictatorship in 1995. Until the 1990s most publications were government-owned, but private papers such as the Nigerian Tribune, The Punch, Vanguard, and the Guardian continued to expose public and private scandals.
Nollywood: The Nigerian movie industry as we know it today got its infusion of life in the 90’s. The movie ‘Living In Bondage’ was not the first film produced in Nigeria, but it started the evolution that we now know as Nollywood. Other movies from the 90’s that made waves include, Nneka The Pretty Serpent, Glamour Girls, Igodo, Saworoide, Sango, Domitila, Karishika (the stuff of Nightmares) and a host of others.

Crime: Shina Rambo was the man who held Nigerian’s in his tight fist of terror. The Abeokuta, Ogun State-born Rambo was a menace in the 90s and the brain behind many crimes in the Western parts of the country where he robbed and killed with impunity.He was so feared even by the police that many thought he was invisible as he was thought to disappear anytime the police closed in on him.It is believed that the policemen who killed him did not even know that it was Shina Rambo.
Ritual Killings And Kidnap: A recap of events in the 90’s will not be complete without mentioning the alleged man-eater, Clifford Orji especially with the recent surge in ritual killings. Clifford was reportedly ensconced somewhere in Lagos, pretending to be a mad man and capturing unsuspecting people, killing them and selling off their choice parts to some interested buyers. When the story broke and the man was arrested, it was, as usual, big news in the papers. It was ‘rumoured’ in the papers later that Clifford Orji was only an agent of some ‘big men’ who needed human parts for rituals and other purposes. No one can say for sure now what happened to Clifford Orji. The story remains that Orji died in detention and that was the end of the matter.