Declassified

The Heartbreaking Story of Nigeria’s Dying President 17.06.2026 33min

A quiet chemistry teacher is handpicked to lead Africa's most populous nation — but the election that put him there was stolen, his body was already failing, and the people closest to him would use his dying days to fight for control of a country of 150 million people.This is episode 13 of Power & Plunder, a documentary series chronicling every head of state Nigeria has had since independence on October 1, 1960. My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/14xxfmTYCeSsZNG9Y43H0ZlHIhFNCwVkzzz51xLgeQ08/edit?usp=sharing

The Ex-Prisoner Who Built Modern Nigeria 15.06.2026 1h 32min

In June 1998, a broke ex-general walks out of a Nigerian prison cell. Eleven months later, he's the president of Africa's most populous nation and almost none of it was his idea.This is episode 12 of Power & Plunder, a documentary series chronicling every head of state Nigeria has had since independence on October 1, 1960. My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cuIY0z8rQzHn-JazubvhSIAflXzgmrJKfsTw3_24jVM/edit?usp=sharingYou can now support my work by donating here: https://judebela.com/donate

The General Who Sold Nigeria's Democracy 10.06.2026 31min

General Abdulsalami Abubakar presided over the most consequential 11 months in modern Nigerian history. A compressed, turbulent, and deeply contradictory transition from military dictatorship to civilian rule that began with one suspicious death, was punctuated by another, and ended with a flawed election that nonetheless inaugurated the Fourth Republic. This is episode 11 of Power and Plunder, a 16-episode documentary series chronicling every head of state Nigeria has had since independence on October 1, 1960. Each episode covers a single leader — from the moment they seized or received power to the moment they lost it or gave it away.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V_3OgXoCgdxEhZRY6Y4uK86TYwPECvJ79RFqvMFD2NU/edit?usp=sharing

Sani Abacha & The Cartel That OWNS Nigeria 07.06.2026 1h 13min

General Sani Abacha ruled Nigeria from November 17, 1993 until his death on June 8, 1998 — a period that produced the worst human rights abuses, the most brazen kleptocracy, and the deepest international isolation in the country's post-independence history. This is the story of how he did it all.This is Episode 10 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z_OUKYYuVwQuqO3N94PzomQxFWWxIo9Of48wlJl6dhI/edit?usp=sharing

The 83-Day President Nigeria Tried To Forget 03.06.2026 30min

When Nigeria's military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida annulled Africa's freest election in 1993 and installed a corporate boardroom chairman as a civilian placeholder, the 83-day presidency that followed was a meticulously engineered trap designed to hand power to the one general who had been positioning himself for it all along.This is the story of The 83-Day President Nigeria Tried To Forget.This is Episode 9 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ocwgCCOdOpcyQVV738wlIYRy4aDBM26dxQcwVwlhwg/edit?usp=sharing

The Evil Genius Who Stole a Country and Got Away With It 31.05.2026 45min

How did one military officer hold power for eight years, preside over the disappearance of $12.4 billion, build Africa's most sophisticated system of political corruption, annul the freest election his country ever held, and retire to a mansion without ever being prosecuted?This is the story of Ibrahim Babangida, the Smiling Dictator Who Stole Nigeria’s DemocracyThis is Episode 8 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.

The Rise and Fall of Africa's Most Brutal Tyrant 27.05.2026 42min

Between December 1983 and August 1985, Nigeria endured one of the most brutal military governments in Africa. It jailed 100s of politicians, executed drug offenders under retroactive law, attempted to kidnap a former minister from London using Israeli intelligence operatives, imprisoned Fela Kuti, and lost a power struggle that was rigged from day one.This is the story of Dictator Nigeria wants to Forget. This is Episode 7 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/18zZHAPXMjmATeTniGpKHzpKAmoJiTdV2p_e7DCGymuQ/edit?usp=sharing

Nigeria's WEAKEST President Who Let Everyone Steal 24.05.2026 33min

Shehu Shagari, a gentle, scholarly Fulani teacher who never truly sought the presidency, presided over a republic that squandered an estimated $16 billion in oil wealth, expelled two million West African migrants, rigged its own re-election so blatantly that citizens cheered when soldiers arrived, and ended with a brigadier shot dead in a predawn firefight at the presidential villa. This is Episode 6 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ng-sWHPdSHvLKOjFyM5MMtPCDFbB1EbEGk-9BJwHcKs/edit?usp=sharing

The General Who Designed Nigeria...And FAILED! 20.05.2026 34min

He inherited a traumatized state reeling from the assassination of Murtala Mohammed, and handed over to an elected civilian president, becoming the first African military ruler to voluntarily surrender power. But before walking away, what he did with that absolute power was interesting.This is Episode 5 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TA-eY7ndJ0qzsgBnFpyIjA45OBxii71BLl1ZqpYqD4M/edit?usp=sharing

The Nigerian Leader Who Had A Target On His Back 17.05.2026 45min

A 37-year-old Hausa-Fulani military officer from Kano, he came to power in a bloodless coup and was assassinated in a Lagos traffic ambush led by Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka exactly 33 days after delivering his famous "Africa Has Come of Age" speech at the OAU, in which he directly confronted the United States over Angola. Declassified US State Department documents reveal that Washington viewed Murtala as "erratic, vainglorious, impetuous, corrupt, vindictive, intelligent, articulate, daring" and that American intelligence-gathering on Nigeria intensified dramatically during his tenure.This is Episode 4 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VCKhBbuhG0-LFqfizrNL75S0H0PAiicW2GsuLgxdMlI/edit?usp=sharing

From War Hero To Africa's MOST Corrupt Regime 13.05.2026 1h 2min

Yakubu Gowon inherited a nation soaked in the blood of two coups. He then presided over a civil war that killed up to two million people. His government oversaw an incredible oil boom that turned Nigeria from a groundnut exporter into a petro-state. Yet he watched as the system around him became the most corrupt government Nigeria had ever seen.This is the story of how trust built a presidency — and destroyed it.This is Episode 3 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L_bgWkzUOq6hQre9wVoEEt7qdYFcRk9D9euVevmaF48/edit?usp=sharing

Aguiyi-Ironsi & Nigeria's Six Months Of Blood 11.05.2026 46min

On January 15, 1966, a group of young Nigerian officers launched a coordinated assassination plot that killed the Prime Minister, the Northern Premier, and nearly every senior political and military figure in the country. The one man they were supposed to kill but missed — Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi — ended up ruling the nation by the next morning.He didn't plan the coup. He didn't want the job. But for the next 194 days, everything he did was used against him.This is Episode 2 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1whhmgEzvbeRnW42HtWYjJJtItMaMbA35o3ZqwLCHsUk/edit?usp=sharing

Tafawa Balewa - Nigeria’s UNLUCKY Prime Minister 06.05.2026 42min

In 1914, Britain smashed two completely different territories into one colony — because it was cheaper. They rigged the constitution, found oil, changed the rules, and handed it all to a man who knew the whole thing was broken.His name was Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The Golden Voice of Africa. He was Nigeria's Unlucky prime minister who was set up to fail.This is Episode 1 of Power & Plunder — a 16-part series covering every head of state Nigeria has had since independence. Built on declassified British and American archives, court records, and primary sources.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qTavbF3rpMKse122oEeGXygHtaVqM8J9msvW3ElZbdI/edit?usp=sharing

How America Made Al-Shabaab 05.05.2026 38min

The Bush administration classified Somalia as part of the "Global War on Terror." They saw a failed state, an Islamist movement taking power, and they saw a potential al-Qaeda haven. What they did next was something straight out of thrilling spy movies. A secret operation aimed at preventing terrorism in East Africa. However, things went South pretty fast and that covert action instead created the very monster now hunting them.This is the story of how the United States 'accidentally' made Al-Shabaab.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G86txCYx548Sf_LTftx-rgUstLOP4qlOUwdZUELkhxw/edit?usp=sharing

How African Countries Are Getting Paid To Stay Poor 05.05.2026 28min

The IMF was created many years ago with the intention of providing loans to countries in financial need, but the conditions attached to these loans seem to be causing more harm than good for poor African countries. This is the story of one of the world's biggest financial scams, where one of the most respected financial institutions in the world keeps paying African countries to stay poor.

Africa's Richest Mafia You've Never Heard Of 05.05.2026 34min

On one remote hillside in northern Tanzania lies the only source of tanzanite on Earth — a gem a thousand times rarer than diamonds. This documentary follows how that single mountain became the centre of a global criminal economy, where foreign corporations, corrupt officials, and international smugglers stole billions in blue stone while the people living on the mountain were left in poverty or buried in its tunnels.

Nigeria's Most Dangerous Mafia You’ve Never Heard Of 05.05.2026 32min

Beneath the dry, red soil stretching from Zamfara through Kaduna and into Niger State lies one of West Africa's most lucrative gold deposits. For generations, villagers dug these pits by hand, crude tools, modest yields, enough to sustain a family. But sometime around 2011, something shifted. What had been a humble artisanal livelihood began transforming into a criminally engineered enterprise. One that now sits at the heart of Nigeria's worst security crisis.

Africa's Most Ruthless Dictator - Teodoro Obiang 05.05.2026 33min

This is the story of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MXH-etGZ13klSj2QaUTPboh5O04n58VKIGC3ujCrlf8/edit?usp=drivesdk

The Lebanese Billionaire Who OWNS Nigeria 02.05.2026 21min

A Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire convicted of laundering a dictator's stolen billions has, three decades later, become the single largest private infrastructure contractor in the country — awarded Nigeria's second-highest honour by a president whose son shares a company with his.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SEztdh_xj3VfUdlLemRbzZ1A_RzoHD8Xe-Y42Hp6Xf8/edit?usp=sharing

Drug trafficking in Africa's Presidential villas 28.04.2026 37min

How A wanted drug lord infliltrated the President's Family. This is the story of the most dangerous highway in West Africa.My Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1St63cbTg886ivryvBuVyHKaXwdX5JpdcvYgj3k4DAUU/edit?usp=sharing