ABSTRACT
General Ibrahim Babangida had considerable knowledge and experience of Nigerian government and a strong following within the army. He was a member of the Supreme Military Council under the Mohammed-Obasanjo and Buhari governments. During the Second Republic, he had been responsible for Operations and Military Planning. Ministerial appointments brought in critics of the former regime as well as technocrats and some radicals. The appointment of Kuye Ransome-Kuti as minister of health was an astute move. The regime strengthened the Office of the President. It had strong reservations about the competence and efficiency of the civil service. One result of the disillusionment with the civil service was the tendency to set up a parallel bureaucracy with presidential committees, directorates, and executive aides that was expected to move faster than the traditional bureaucracy. After the initial period of relaxation and debate, the government was confronted with opposition to its programme of economic reforms.
