1. Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan was a Nigerian lawyer and statesman who served as the interim head of state of Nigeria from 26 August 1993 to 17 November 1993.
18 Facts About Ernest Shonekan
1. 2.
Ernest Shonekan was installed the Abese of Egbaland in 1981.
3.
Ernest Shonekan received a law degree from the University of London, and was called to the bar.
4.
Ernest Shonekan joined the United Africa Company of Nigeria in 1964, at the time a subsidiary of the United Africa Company which played a prominent role in British colonisation.
5.
Ernest Shonekan rose through the ranks in the company and was promoted to assistant legal adviser.
6.
Ernest Shonekan later became a deputy adviser and joined the board of directors at the age of 40.
7.
Ernest Shonekan was made chairman and managing director in 1980, and went on to cultivate a wide array of international business and political connections.
8.
On 2 January 1993, Ernest Shonekan assumed office simultaneously as head of transitional council and head of government under Ibrahim Babangida.
9.
Ernest Shonekan learned of the dire condition of government finances, which he was unable to correct.
10.
Ernest Shonekan signed a decree establishing the Interim National Government led by Shonekan who was sworn in as head of state.
11.
Ernest Shonekan was unable to control the political crisis which ensued following the election annulment.
12.
Ernest Shonekan's administration introduced a bill to repeal three major draconian decrees of the military government.
13.
Ernest Shonekan had lobbied for debt cancellation but, after the election annulment, most of the Western powers had imposed economic sanctions on Nigeria.
14.
Ernest Shonekan served as an executive of Royal Dutch Shell while acting as the interim president of Nigeria.
15.
Ernest Shonekan tried to set a timetable for troop withdrawal from ECOMOG's peacekeeping mission in Liberia.
16.
Ernest Shonekan's government had to deal with the 1993 Nigerian Airways hijack.
17.
On 18 November 1993, three months into his administration, Ernest Shonekan was overthrown in a palace coup by General Sani Abacha.
18.
Ernest Shonekan died on 11 January 2022, at the age of 85 at Evercare Hospital in Lagos.