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18-557: Though the party was formed to create a national outlook, the exit of Waziri Ibrahim , led to an erosion of politics without borders. Waziri's exit was precipitated because he wanted to be the chairman and also the presidential candidate of the party. The party later came to be seen as an eastern Nigerian party, though it had scores of support in Plateau State , Rivers State and Lagos. The party tried to promote social justice and social change as vital ingredients of its mission. In 1979,

36-776: A candidate of the GNPP, he won almost 10% of the national vote in the Nigerian presidential elections of 1979. Ibrahim was born on 26 February 1926 in Yerwa, Maiduguri. His father, Baba Alhaji Ibrahim Ibn Mohammed was an Islamic scholar; he named the new born boy after a friend who was then Waziri of Borno. Waziri's early childhood was in Damaturu where his father was the imam of a local mosque. He attended Damaturu Elementary School (1936–1939), followed by studies at Maiduguri Middle School (1940–1943) and then Kaduna College , 1944–1947. At Kaduna College , he

54-453: A cashier and storekeeper at U.A.C.'s, Maiduguri branch in 1951. He then worked at Jos in 1952 before becoming a labour and staff manager for Benue division in 1953. By the time he left the firm, he was district manager of Kaduna. In politics, Waziri was initially a member of NEPU ; he organized the Damaturu branch of the association in 1950 and was the branch chairman in 1951. However, towards

72-602: A defence consultancy firm. Waziri established a group of companies under the corporate name Herwa which included a tin mining venture in Jos and a soap and flour mill in Maiduguri. He opened a 5 million naira Herwa clinic in Kano. He entered the fishing industry after buying out Stephen Tolbert's fishing concern and in addition, imported frozen fish under the corporate name Nigeria Cold Stores. In 1978, Waziri joined politics again; he co-founded

90-451: Is 65 metres (213 ft) high. Kanji Dam is one of the longest dams in the world. The dam was designed to have a generating capacity of 960 megawatts (1,290,000 hp); however, only 8 of its 12 turbines have been installed, reducing the capacity to 760 megawatts (1,020,000 hp). The dam generates electricity for all the large cities in Nigeria . Some of the electricity is sold to

108-550: The NPP with members of Club 19 and the Council for National Unity. However, a disagreement arose between Waziri and some party members who were largely disciples of Azikiwe such as Adeniran Ogunsanya . Leaders of Club 19 and Council for National Unity opposed Ibrahim's ambition of becoming both the party's chairman and its presidential candidate. The conflict deepened after the party's first convention in 1978 and subsequently led to his exit from

126-613: The Eastern region of inflating population figures while the southern leaders labelled the Northern head count as over-inflated. The controversy generated by the head count led the cancellation of the census results and official figures were never publicly acknowledged. After the military coup of 1966, Waziri went into private business. During the Nigerian Civil War, he was involved in arms dealing and consultancy and afterwards, he established

144-592: The House of Assembly led to an alliance between the NPP and the NPN. The NPP submitted a few candidates for ministerial appointments to consummate the alliance. NPP personalities such as Ishaya Audu , a vice presidential candidate of the party, were selected as ministers. However, the accord hit the rocks in 1981, and Adeniran Ogunsanya , the chairman of the party, asked all ministers to resign; many did not heed his call and some transferred to

162-593: The NPN. Waziri Ibrahim Alhadji Waziri Kolo Ibrahim (26 February 1926 – 1992) was a Kanuri business man from Borno State , Nigeria , who became a prominent politician and party leader during the Nigerian Second Republic . He was one of the original founders and financiers of the Nigerian People's Party , but in 1978 left the party to form the Great Nigeria People's Party (GNPP). As

180-522: The construction of the dam and its reservoir, the Kainji Lake . Kainji Dam extends for about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), including its saddle dam , which closes off a tributary valley . The primary section across the outflow to the Niger is 550 metres (1,800 ft). Most of the structure is made from earth, but the centre section, housing the hydroelectric turbines , was built from concrete. This section

198-736: The end of the 1950s, Waziri joined NPC and was appointed the Federal Minister of Health in 1958. In 1960, he was part of the Nigerian delegation to the United Nations when the country was accepted as the 99th member of the organization. In 1962, as minister for Economic Development, he presented to the Nigerian Parliament an ambitious capital expenditure budget over a six-year span based on a projected 4% annual growth in GDP and investment of resources in productive projects to foster development. Among

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216-487: The major planks of the budget, was the development of the Kainji Dam . However, close to half of the capital expenditure resource was to be obtained through foreign aid. In 1962, Nigeria conducted a controversial census that was rejected by political leaders from the Eastern and Western region; the office of the census officer was under Waziri's ministry. Accusations of over counting were made on all sides, with Waziri accusing

234-792: The neighbouring country of Niger . In addition, occasional droughts have made the Niger's water flow unpredictable, diminishing the dam's electrical output. The dam has a single-lock chamber capable of lifting barges 49 metres (161 ft). In October 1998, in response to upstream flooding , a torrent of water was released from the dam, bursting the river banks . Nearly 60 villages were flooded. Domestic animals drowned and dikes as well as several farms were washed away. Dam officials were criticized for waiting too long before starting and then dumping too much water. Kainji Lake measures about 135 kilometres (84 mi) long and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) at its widest point, and supports irrigation and

252-579: The party chose former president Nnamdi Azikiwe as its presidential candidate. In states like Imo State , leaders such as the governor, Sam Mbakwe were elected with landslide victories (over 80%) in the Imo State Legislative, Gubernatorial and Presidential Elections in Nigeria in 1979. In Imo State , the NPP Campaign Director, Party Secretary and principal architect in electing Sam Mbakwe,

270-649: The party. He then formed the Great Nigeria People's Party. He was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in the 1979 election, but was popular in the Kanuri base. His party won the gubernatorial election in Borno where the Kanuri formed a majority, and also nearby Gongola state . Waziri's first marriage was to a Shuwa Arab woman, Fatime; he later married two other wives, the last being Fatimah, daughter of Kashim Ibrahim. He

288-533: Was Dr. Sebastian Okechukwu Mezu . Before the 1979 elections, the party took some political hits, about 254 of its candidates were disqualified from contesting electoral seats, the second most out of the five major parties. Nevertheless, the party won about 17% of the House of Representative seats and three gubernatorial elections. During the Second Republic, the National Party of Nigeria 's (NPN) weak hold on

306-452: Was a classmate of Professor Umaru Shehu ; before completing his studies, it was the desire of the then Chief Education Officer of Borno, Kashim Ibrahim that Waziri should enter the teaching service after graduation. However, Waziri did not go further in training after Kaduna College nor did he teach; instead he chose to work with U.A.C. as a trainee manager in 1948. At the firm, he rose through clerical and administrative ranks from acting as

324-572: Was the father of Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim . Kainji Dam Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria . Construction of the dam by Impregilo (a consortium of Italian civil engineering contractors) began in 1964 and was completed in 1968. Its total cost was estimated at US$ 209 million (equivalent to about US$ 1.5 billion in 2023 dollars ), with one-quarter of this amount used to resettle people displaced by

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