Coups, civil war and the splitting of the North

On 15 January 1966 a group of young army officers seized power. Ahmadu Bello and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa were killed, and the coup ended the first republic. A counter-coup in July put Yakubu Gowon in power, and the violence of 1966 against people from the south and east living in northern towns helped to push the country towards civil war in 1967. For the Hausa-speaking communities of the North this was a period of both shock and loss of political leadership.

In 1967 Gowon replaced the four regions with twelve states, and the Northern Region was divided into six. More states were created in 1976 and afterwards, and Nigeria now has thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory, of which nineteen lie in the former Northern Region. Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and part of Kaduna and Bauchi are the main Hausa-speaking states. The change broke the political unity of the North, but also gave local governments, emirates and universities new roles.

Military rule alternated with civilian governments until 1999. Northern leaders who held the presidency include Shehu Shagari (1979–1983), Muhammadu Buhari (as military ruler in 1983–1985 and as elected president in 2015–2023) and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (2007–2010).