I am not a student of political history but I am a curious Nigerian and would like to know if anyone has done some socio-scientifi­c work in comparing all the past Regimes that has ruled Nigeria but doing that within the context of the circumstances when they ruled.
However, I will like to hazard a simplistic approach in comparing the previous Heads of State that have ruled Nigeria. It is by a simplistic comparison of the performance of each regime with the previous one before it, using only few key indicators that stand out as milestones.
Based on that premise, I think that only the following past regimes performed better that the one preceding it;
1. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Belewa as a Civilian Head of State gave Nigerians independence and hope. This feeling of independence is far better than what existed during the Colonial regimes. There was healthy competition for development among the regions and there was remarkable advancement despite the fact that Crude oil was not a major player then.
2. General Yakubu Gowon as a Military Head of State ended the Civil war and subsequently brought peace to the nation. He constructed a number of critical infrastructures­ during his regime. His regime was better than that of General Aguiyi Ironsi which was short lived.
3. General Olusegun Obansanjo as a Civilian Head of State grew our foreign reserve (though some would argue that we must increase our reserve but not at the expense of investing in national development interventions).­ There should always be a balance between saving for the future and implementing development projects. His regime showed some promise in fighting corruption and he brought Mobile telephone system to the country which has transformed the way we communicate. Through critical infrastructure further deteriorated during his regime, his regime is far better than General Abacha’s and the short lived regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar which preceded it.
4. President Goodluck Jonathan regime is yet over but he has shown wisdom in handling the BH issue. He made effort to de-regulate the oil industry and already additional funds have been released from the subsidy reinvestment programme for national development and despite the increase in fuel prices inflation has been at manageable levels. A number of corrupt practices by Government and other officials (some preceding the regime) came to the limelight. He has the potential to become the overall best President that has ever ruled the country, if he can fight corruption effectively, stabilize electric power supply and rehabilitate critical infrastructure and amenities in the country before 2015.