Shonekan dai lauya ne da kasar Ingila ta horar da shi, masanin masana’antu, kuma tsohon shugaban kuma Manajan Darakta na United African Company of Nigeria (UAC) Plc kafin Janar Ibrahim Babangida ya nada shi a matsayin shugaban rikon kwarya na Najeriya a shekarar 1993.
Haihuwarsa
An haifi Cif Shonekan a garin Legas, Najeriya a ranar 9 ga watan Mayu 1936. Mahaifinsa ma’aikacin gwamnati be haifaffen garin Abeokuta, Shonekan shi ne ɗa na shida da aka haifa a cikin danginsa.
Karatunsa
Shonekan ya yi karatu a CMS Grammar School da Kwalejin Igbobi. Ya sami digiri na farko a fannin shari’a daga Jami’ar London, kuma ya halarci “Call to bar”. Daga baya ya halarci Makarantar Harkokin Kasuwancin ta Harvard.
Harkokin kasuwanci
Shonekan ya fara aiki da Kamfanin United Africa Company of Nigeria a cikin 1964, a lokacin wani reshen Kamfanin Tarayyar Afirka ne wanda ya taka rawar gani a mulkin mallakar Burtaniya. Ya yi aiki a kamfanin inda har aka ba shi mukamin mataimakin mai ba da shawara kan harkokin shari’a. Daga baya ya zama mataimakin mai ba da shawara, sannan ya shiga kwamitin gudanarwa yana da shekaru 40. An nada shi shugaba kuma manajan darakta a shekarar 1980.
Bayan saukarsa, tare da wasu ’yan kasuwa ya kafa kungiyar Tattalin Arzikin Najeriya a shekarar 1993. An kirkiro ta ne a matsayin dandalin hada kan shugabannin kamfanoni masu zaman kansu da manyan jami’an gwamnati don tattaunawa da tattaunawa kan makomar tattalin arzikin Najeriya.
Tana gudanar da taron koli na shekara-shekara wanda ke baiwa gwamnati da kamfanoni damar duba irin ci gaban da aka samu a kokarin sake fasalin tattalin arziki. Taron ya kuma tattauna kan hanyoyin da za a bi don tafiyar da al’amuran da ka iya kawo cikas wajen aiwatar da manufofi. An gudanar da bugu na 27 na taron a shekarar 2021.
Gwamnatin riƙon-ƙwarya
Shonekan shi ne shugaban kasa na farko a Najeriya da aka nada, ya hau karagar mulkin ƙasa Najeriya ne ba ta hanyoyin da aka saba gani ba, wato zabe ko juyin mulki.
A ranar 2 ga watan Janairun 1993, Shonekan ya karbi mulki lokaci guda a matsayin shugaban majalisar rikon kwarya kuma shugaban gwamnati karkashin Ibrahim Babangida. A lokacin, an tsara majalisar riƙon ƙwarya ta zama mataki na ƙarshe da zai kai ga mika wa zababben shugaban dimokraɗiyya na Jamhuriyyar Najeriya ta uku.
Sai dai an yi zargin ba manufar da ta sa ya zama shugaban kasa ba ke nan. An fi alaƙanta zamansa shugaban ƙasa da cewa ya fito ne daga Abeokuta, wato mahaifar Cif Moshood Abiola, wanda bayan zaben 1993 da soke shi da sojoji suka yi, ya bayyana kansa a matsayin wanda ya yi nasara. Sokewar ya haifar da tarzoma a fadin kasar. Musamman tashe-tashen hankula a yankin kudu maso yammacin kasar ya ƙara tayar da fargabar cewa Najeriya za ta sake fuskantar yakin basasa. Don haka nadin na Shonekan wata hanya ce ta nuna cewa ba a mayar da kabilar Yarbawa saniyar ware a siyasance ba, kuma an yi hakan ne don huce musu zukata.
Shonekan ya kasa shawo kan rikicin siyasar da ya biyo bayan soke zaben. A cikin ‘yan watannin da ya yi yana mulki, ya yi kokarin tsara wani zaben shugaban kasa da kuma komawa kan mulkin dimokuradiyya, yayin da gwamnatinsa ke fuskantar cikas sakamakon yajin aikin ma’aikatan kasa.
Shugaban ‘yan adawa Moshood Abiola, ya kalli gwamnatin rikon kwarya ta Shonekan a matsayin halastacciyar gwamnati. Shonekan ya saki fursunonin siyasa da Babangida ya tsare. Ya kuma gabatar da daftarin doka don soke wasu manyan dokoki guda uku na gwamnatin mulkin soja.
Yunkurin da ya yi na neman a soke basussukan Najeriya, kasashen yammacin duniya sun ki amincewa da shi saboda soke zaben da aka yi. Haka nan umarnin ficewar dakarun Najeriya daga kungiyar sa ido kan tattalin arzikin kasashen yammacin Afirka shi ma an yi watsi da shi saboda ba shi da cikakken iko da sojojin.
Karɓe mulki
A ranar 18 ga Nuwamba 1993, wato wata uku ke nan na wa’adin gwamnatinsa, aka hambarar da shi a wani juyin mulkin da Janar Sani Abacha ya yi a saukake ba tare tayar da ƙura ba.
A cikin 1993, tare da wasu fitattun ’yan Najeriya da ’yan gudun hijira, ya kafa wata kungiyar Tattalin Arzikin Kasa ta Najeriya, kungiya ce mai fafutuka da nazarin hanyoyin bunkasa tattalin arzikin Najeriya da kamfanoni masu zaman kansu.
Mutuwarsa
Shonekan ya rasu ne a ranar 11 ga watan Janairun 2022, yana da shekaru 85 a duniya, ya rasu ne yana jinya a asibitin Evercare da ke Legas. A lokacin mutuwarsa, shi ne shugaban Najeriya na uku mafi tsufa da ya rayu bayan Elizabeth II da Yakubu Gowon.
Manazarta
Onor, K., & Ayodele, O. (n.d.). Ernest Shonekan obituary: an ineffectual leader during turbulent times in Nigeria. The Conversation.
Admin, L. (2022, January 13). LCCI MOURNS THE DEATH OF FORMER HEAD OF INTERIM NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, CHIEF ERNEST SHONEKAN – Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Daily Trust. (2022, January 18). Chief Ernest Adegunle Shonekan.Daily Trust.
Adewole, S. (2022, January 11). 10 things you didn’t know about Ernest Shonekan. Punch Newspapers.