Ba Maw

born Feb. 8, 1893, Maubin, Burma [Myanmar]

died May 29, 1977, Yangôn

politician who in 1937 became the first Burmese premier under British rule; he later was head of state in the pro-Japanese government during World War II (August 1943–May 1945).

Ba Maw was educated at Rangoon College, Calcutta University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Bordeaux, Fr., where he received a doctorate in 1924. Admitted to the English bar the same year, he first came into prominence as defense lawyer for the Burmese rebel leader Saya San in 1931.

During the early 1930s Ba Maw became a prominent opponent of Britain's plan to remove Burma (Myanmar) from the jurisdiction of the Indian viceroy, since he believed that a separate Burma would receive a much smaller measure of self-rule than India as a result. In 1934, however, he reversed his position, agreeing to support the pro-separationists in a coalition government. That year he was made minister of education for Burma. When the new constitution, providing for separation of Burma from India, went into effect on April 1, 1937, he became the first premier, and he held office until he was defeated by a coalition in February 1939.

After his defeat, Ba Maw allied with other Burmese leaders to form the Freedom Bloc, which opposed Burma's participation with the Allies in World War II. In August 1940 he was arrested by the British for sedition and remained in prison until the Japanese invasion in 1942. During the Japanese occupation (1943–45), he was adipati (head of state) of a theoretically independent Burma, although the country was actually a Japanese satellite. He fled to Japan when the Allies reentered Burma. After a brief time in an Allied prison, he returned and unsuccessfully attempted to reenter politics. He later retired to private life.

Babangida, Ibrahim

born August 17, 1941, Minna, Nigeria

Nigerian military leader, who served as head of state (1985–93).

Born in northern Niger state, Babangida received military training in Nigeria, India, Great Britain, and the United States. He rose through the ranks and was known for his courage—he played a major role in suppressing an attempted coup in 1976 when he walked into a rebel-held radio station unarmed.

After Murtala Mohammed became the military head of state in 1975, Babangida joined his Supreme Military Council. He played a significant role in the coup that replaced the civilian government of Shehu Shagari with the military regime led by Muhammad Buhari. However, deep dissatisfaction with Buhari's restrictive governance led Babangida to oust Buhari in August 1985. Babangida lessened the governmental control of the press and released a number of detainees from the former civilian government. However, he faced the same economic problems that Buhari had struggled with and the same domestic dissatisfaction. He came to an agreement with the International Monetary Fund and received new loans from the World Bank, but the resultant devaluation of the naira, the local currency, led to social unrest, which he addressed by dissolving part of the National Labour Council and temporarily closing the universities.

Babangida announced early in 1986 that a civilian government would be formed by 1990, later extending the date by two years to allow more time for preparation. He decreed that no politicians from the civilian regimes or office-holding military officials could stand as candidates. He allowed no political parties during the transition period and approved only two political parties when campaigning began. Expressing dissatisfaction with the process of fielding new political parties, the Babangida government created its own parties, the National Republican Convention and the Social Democratic Party. As a further move to show that he was firmly in control, Babangida dissolved the Armed Forces Ruling Council in favour of smaller bodies and dismissed many of his closest military colleagues. An attempted coup in April 1990 led by Major Gideon Orkar, who represented various northern Muslim states in their attempt to secede from what they perceived to be a corrupt and—most important—non-Islamic country, was quickly contained. Babangida later announced that Nigeria had suspended its membership in the Islamic Conference Organization amid speculation among southern Nigerians that he was trying to make the country Islamic.

Civilian elections were finally held in 1993 and apparently won by businessman Moshood Abiola. However, Babangida did not agree with this assessment, annulled the elections, and then handed control of the country over to an interim civilian panel headed by businessman Ernest Shonekan. Babangida stepped down from government.

Babangida was instrumental in changing the orientation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Although it had been strictly an economic body, Babangida succeeded in having ECOWAS use ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) troops to protect Nigerian citizens in Liberia when civil war broke out there.