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POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN PUBLIC ADMIN

AND POLICY
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AZARE
IN AFFILIATION WITH
UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI

LECTURE NOTES ON:

THEMES IN THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT AND


POLITICS
PGDPAP 621 – (2 UNITS)

COURSE OUTLINE:
The purpose of this course unit is to sensitize the students
with some of the developments in the politics of Nigeria
since independence.

TOPICS:
1. A critical appraisal of federalism and national question.
2. Constitutionalism, ideology and national integration
3. Party politics and political participation
4. Military incursion into politics.

1
A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF FEDERALISM AND NATIONAL
QUESTIONS
In modern times, federalism is a type of polity operating as
constitution which works on two or more levels of government;
as a nation and as a collection of related but self-standing units.
Under such an arrangement, there exists a central government
whose power is supreme and covers all parts of the country. In a
federation, responsibilities are shared among the component
parts. The items for which the central government takes
responsibility are listed under the “EXCLUSIVE LIST” while that of
the subordinate states come under the “RESIDUAL LIST”. There
is also the “CONCURRENT LIST” of issues or items over which the
central government and the states could legislate. But whenever
there is friction in such cases the power of the central
government prevails.

What the above means is that the component government of a


federation derives from the constitution and they accept the
superiority of the central authority. But the central authority
cannot strip the component states of the power given to them by
the constitution except the constitution is amended to that
effect. That is each component government is sovereign within
its own sphere of competence, and it is empowered to establish
all the apparatus of government for the implementation of its
activities and policies. Countries that operate federalism include:
United States of America, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia
(old federations) Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, the West
Indies and Zimbabwe (new federations).

THE ORIGIN OF NIGERIAN FEDERALISM


The Federal System of Government in Nigeria geminated during
the Colonial era, when in 1939 Sir Bernard Boudillon who took
over from Sir Hugh Clifford divided the southern protectorate
into the Eastern and Western Provinces. He did not introduce the
principle for regionalism, but proposed the establishment of
regional councils to serve as provincial legislatures which would
have advisory powers only. They were to be provincial councils
below the regional councils to serve as advisory committees on
matters of welfare and development. At the centre, he proposed
a Central Council in Lagos that would consist of regional council

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members to be known as Federal Council. However, the outbreak
of the Second World War in 1939 and his retirement militated
against the implementation of his proposals.

In 1946 when Sir Arthur Richards became the governor, he


adopted most of the Bernard Boudillon’s proposals in the 1946
Richards Constitution and retained the three regions and
consolidated them by the introduction of the principles of
regionalism. Having setup the three regions, Richards setup
regional legislature without introducing federalism. Members of
these regions met for the first time at the newly created
Legislative Council in Lagos, and that marked the beginning of a
political contact between the North and South. The Richard’s
Constitution was reviewed in a political conference in 1950 in
Ibadan. The conference recommended the adoption of a federal
system of government in Nigeria.

The Richard’s constitution was replaced by an “improved”


federal constitution in 1951 that is in the Macpherson
constitution which was drawn up after extensive consultations
with Nigerian political leaders. Hence, from 1950 Nigeria was
responsible for shaping their political system. Therefore, the
Macpherson Constitution laid a social foundation for Nigerian
federalism by the introduction of “quasi” federal system of
government in the country.

In 1953 the issue of federalism topped the agenda in a


conference in London from July 30th to August 22nd, 1953. The
three major political parties NCNC, NPC and AG were fully
represented at the conference. Before this, the Colonial
Secretary had in May, 1953 informed the House of Commons
that the 1946 Constitution of Nigeria would be received because
of the heterogeneous nature of the Nigerian society. Thus, in
1954 Lyttleton Constitution; federalism was officially adopted in
Nigeria with the power clearly divided among the central and
regional governments. Federal government was vested with
“EXCLUSIVE POWER”. The federal and regional government
legislated on “CONCURRENT LIST” while “RESIDUAL LIST” was
reserved for the regions.

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FEATURES OF A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
In a federal system of government the state is divided into
unequal parts or levels of government. Powers are shared from
the constitution among the levels of government. For example,
in Nigeria power is shared between the federal, the state and the
local government. The power of the federal government is
EXCLUSIVE which includes: defense, arms, ammunition and
explosives, currency coinage and legal tender, customs and
exercise duties, bankruptcy and insolvency, immigration,
deportation of persons who are not Nigerian citizens, diplomatic
consular and trade representation, drugs and poisons, export
duties, exchange control, external affairs, extradition,
incorporation, regulation and winding up of bodies, corporate
other than co-operative societies, local government councils and
bodies, corporate established directly by any law enacted by a
House of Assembly, insurance, maritime, shipping and
navigation, meteorology and mining. Under the 1979
Constitution, there are functions that both federal and state
governments can legislate upon and execute; this is known as
CONCURRENT POWER. Antiquities and monuments, archives,
collection of taxes, electoral laws, electric power, exhibition of
cinematograph films, industrial, commercial or agricultural
development, scientific and technological research, statistics,
university, post-primary education among others, but where a
state law is in conflict with that of the federal government on
these subject, the federal law will prevail.

The power given to the State/Local Government is known as


RESIDUAL POWER which include: the consideration and the
making of recommendations to state commission on economic
planning or any similar body on the economic development of
the state, collection of rates, radio and television licenses,
establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds
and homes for the destitute or infirm, licensing of bicycles,
trucks, canoes, wheelbarrows and cars, markets, motor parks,
registration of all births, deaths and marriages, provision and
maintenance of public conveniences and refuse disposal, the
provision and maintenance of primary education, the
development of agriculture and natural resources, the provision
and maintenance of health services, and such other functions as

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may be conferred on a local government council by the House of
Assembly of the state.
1. Written/Rigid Constitution.
2. Each level of government has co-ordinate supremacy with
regards to their respective functions.
3. States that practice federalism are likely to have multi-ethnic
groups (heterogeneous population).
4. There is duplication of ministries or dual public services.
5. It has very large land mass.
6. There must be an umpire (adjudicator), usually a supreme
court to resolve inter-governmental disputes over the
boundaries of their legal authority.
7. Once a federation is established, the component parts are
usually not allowed to secede or separate.

PRE-REQUISITES/CONDITIONS FOR FEDERALISM


In the establishment or adoption and continuance of a
federation, the following factors are desirable.
A. DESIRE FOR UNION: - the autonomous states must see the
need to unite and establish a common government for their
common interest. The union becomes necessary for security,
political or economic reasons, that is, it is only through union
that they could be protected against foreign encroachment,
strength in external relations to develop foreign trade,
remove internal trade barriers and internecine warfare and
through union that independence could be achieved.
B. GEOGRAPHICAL PROXIMITY: - states that are closed by,
forms a federation. Geographical nearness or contiguity of
states can make small states to form a federation.
Federation may not work out if the states that wish to form
the federation are not within the same geographical zone.
C. DESIRE FOR LOCAL INDEPENDENCE AND AUTONOMY: -
besides desiring for union, component units also desire to be
independent and autonomous, thereby preserving their
differences in culture, history, religion and language. Despite
their diversities and desire to be under one national
government, they still need to retain regional independence.
D. EXISTENCE OF HETEROGENEOUS SOCIETY: - federalism
is formed in a state with multiple ethnic groups which differ
in culture and region. It is expected that the federation will

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protect the interest of all the diverse groups of people thus,
the slogan “UNITY IN DIVERSITY”.
E. LARGE LAND MASS AND POPULATION: -
F. DESIRE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: -
natural and economic resources are not evenly distributed.
Therefore, the need by the federating units to pull resources
together for social and economic development of the state
necessitated federalism.
G. FEAR OF DOMINATION BY MINORITY ETHNIC GROUPS:
-
H. SIMILARITY OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND
HISTORICAL/COLONIAL EXPERIENCE

MERITS OF FEDERALISM
Federalism has a number of merits which makes it acceptable in
many countries. These include: -
1. It makes possible the exertion of local autonomy by allowing
the component states to develop at their own pace within the
limit of their natural and human resources.
2. It recognizes and preserves the diversity of the people by
allowing them to still maintain their ways of culture, religion
etc despite forming the federation.
3. It minimizes conflicts since there is unity in diversity and
resources are pulled together for common purposes.
4. It made governance of a large area and population easier by
devolution/decentralizing the process of governance.
5. The tendency of the central government becoming autocratic
is checked by the component government. There is
constitutional balance of power to avoid the usurpation of
powers or function of one by the other.
6. It reduces the fear of domination usually expressed by
minorities.

DEMERITS OF FEDERALISM
Federalism has a number of disadvantages, they are as follows: -
i. In its attempt to strengthen unity, federalism tends to
encourage and entrench disunity through local disputes such
as ethnic conflicts, boundary crisis etc.

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ii. Federalism encourages sectional consciousness, such that
national consciousness is reduced, individuals become loyal to
their states than the nation at large.
iii. Federalism operates with a complex administrative structure,
which duplicates or multiplies areas on which meager
resources may be spent. Thus, it is expensive in both money
and manpower.
iv. There is always likely to be tension between the state and
federal government on a number of policy issues and their
implementation. For example, who controls local government,
resource control, revenue sharing etc.
v. Constitutional amendment is difficult because of rigidity of the
constitution; this creates delay in the process of decision
making, brings conservation even if it does not auger well for
change desired in the policy.
vi.Threat to secede may jeopardize the federation as in Nigeria
in 1967 (civil war).
vii. Discrimination of citizen of “other” state “non-indigenes” has
become a common phrase when it comes to employment,
education, religion and socio-cultural events. The situation is
worsened by the introduction of quota system and federal
character.

CONSTITUTIONALISM, IDEOLOGY AND NATIONAL


INTEGRATION
Introduction
Constitutionalism cannot be well understood, without first
understanding the term constitution. This is because constitution
and constitutionalism are two sides of the same coin. The
existence of constitution is what gave birth to the concept of
constitutionalism. Hence, the discussion of constitution in every
modern world states is fundamental, because constitution is the
principle which governs the organization of government, its
institution, its basic beliefs and the goals and the relationship of
the individuals to the state.

The word “Constitution” has been defined and expressed in


various ways, but the one which can be regarded as being very
accurate is the one given by Austine Ranney. He says “a
constitution is the whole body of fundamental rules written or
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unwritten, legal and extra legal according to which a particular
government operates”. A constitution therefore, contains such
laws which are above ordinary laws of a given state. It is the
principles which guide and direct the making of ordinary laws.
This implies that constitution is the basis upon which a
government must rule a given state if such a government wants
to rule constitutionally.

TYPES OF CONSTITUTION
There are basically six (6) types of constitution, these are: -
1. Written constitution
2. Unwritten constitution
3. Rigid constitution
4. Flexible constitution
5. Unitary constitution
6. Federal constitution

SOURCES OF CONSTITUTION
The laws of the constitution are derived from many sources.
These sources include the following:
1. Parliamentary Acts or Statutes
2. Conventions
3. Constitutional Conferences
4. Judicial decisions or precedents
5. Charters
6. Customs and norms
7. Writings/commentaries of prominent persons
8. International laws
9. Treaties by civil government
10. Past experiences.

CONSTITUTIONALISM
Constitutionalism simply refers to a regime of constitutional
order, that is, the process of carrying out government business
in accordance with laid down fundamental laws of the land; be it
written or unwritten. Constitutionalism is thus, a government
based on rules rather than caprice and arbitrariness. It implies
essentially a constitutional or limited government, a system of
restraints on both the rulers and the ruled. A country is said to
be practicing constitutionalism when the power of government is

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limited so that human rights such as freedom of speech, free
press, due process of law, security of persons and the likes are
formally and infact protected from abridgement by either
officials or private individuals.

Constitutionalism is bounded by the notion of the rule of law,


and it embraces the idea that government should be conducted
according to the laid down procedures and that officials of the
government should be guided by the law in the discharge of
their duties and not the discretional or arbitrary use of power.
Following this therefore, constitutionalism is the antithesis of
totalitarianism, that is, government by unrestrained rulers.

Drawing from the above, a constitutional government is one that


respects constitutionalism and gives respect to the rule of law
and liberty of citizens, there is separation of powers and a
system of checks and balances, toleration of opposition, press
freedom, fearless and independent judiciary as well as
accountability, responsibility, transparency and responsiveness
of government to the people.

Quite unfortunately, most states in the third world countries are


claiming to be constitutional or practicing constitutionalism with
outright abuse to the basic principles of the concept. Most of
these countries practice constitutionalism in a delusion or myth.
Constitutionalism goes beyond an intent or lip service. The
operation and pattern of governance in these states are marked
by arbitrariness of power by the ruling parties; non observance
of the rule of law; intolerance of the opposition; through the
studying of political competition and bulldozing of opponents in
to utter passivity; there is lack of transparency, responsiveness
and responsibility. Political leaders in some of these states
behave like tin gods without any regard to the rule of
constitutionalism as the case may be.

WAYS TO ENSURE CONSTITUTIONALISM IN THE 3RD


WORLD COUNTRIES
1. Existence of constitution or process of providing one
2. The application of the “rule of law”
3. Independent press and judiciary

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4. Application of the theory of separation of power and check and
balances of the arms of government.

MEANING, FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS OF IDEOLOGY


What is Political Ideology?
The word “Ideology” is said to have been coined by the French
philosopher, Antoine Destitt de Tracy during the French
revolution. It originally meant “science of ideas”. The term has,
however, acquired other various meanings over time. For
instance, Marxists view it as the ideas which the Capitalist ruling
class uses to rationalize and justify the Capitalist system and its
privileged position in it. Espousing a similar view, the Socialist,
Karl Mannheim conceived ideology as the interest-based and
biased ideas of the dominant class in the society. There are also
analysts who insist that the term ideology refers to the class that
inform despotic and totalitarian rule while liberal democratic
systems have philosophy.

In a view to perceive ideology solely as the rationalization of the


dominant class in society or the belief system that informs
authoritarian rule is a limited conception of the term. Historical
experience indicates that both the dominant groups and those
that seek to displace them may have ideologies. It is also valid to
state that every system of government whether democratic or
despotic does have an animating ideology. For this reasons
therefore, Rodee and his colleagues defined “Ideology” as “the
values or principles that those who exercise or seek political
power refer to in order to lend legitimacy to their acts”.

A more comprehensive definition views ideology as “the belief


system that explains and justifies a preferred political order for
society, either existing or proposed, and offers a strategy … for
its attainment… It includes a set of basic assumptions, both
normative and empirical, about the nature and purpose of man
and society.

FEATURES OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGY


As has been noted by Christenson et’al, ideologies manifest
some characteristics in different digress in order to distinguish
itself from other forms of political ideas, doctrines and
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programmes that influence political conduct. These
characteristics are:
1. Ideologies often evolved in situations of acute social strain,
when people feel they are neglected or threatened under
existing conditions.
2. Ideology contains different levels of explanations and
beliefs. It usually includes: sophisticated arguments, simplified
principles, slogans and symbols.
3. Ideology is a systematic pattern of thought; each ideology
consists of logically related ideas which offer an explanation of
present realities and a vision of the future.
4. Ideology includes empirical statements about the extent
human condition and normative statements indicating the
preferred order of things.
5. Each ideology tends to be exclusive, absolute and universal;
every ideology claims to contain exclusively the “true”
principles of progress and development and to possess
universal applicability.
6. Ideology seeks to motivate action and organization: ideology
seeks not only to inform but additionally to motivate
commitment and concrete action towards the realization of its
vision for society. It also requires an organization through
which its principles are to be disseminated and implemented.
7. Ideology personalized, scriptualized and programmatic - This
implies that most of the major ideologies have their founding
fathers, martyrs and charismatic leaders. Furthermore, each
has its sacred documents and programme of action for
realizing its agenda for society. Examples of founding fathers
or martyrs of political ideology are: Plato (427-347, BC),
Aristotle (384-322, BC), St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274),
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679),
John Locke (1632-1704), Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
etc.
8. While am ideology may undergo slow changes in its tenets, it
is resistant to fundamental alterations in its world view.

FUNCTIONS OF IDEOLOGY
Political ideology performs a number of functions for movements
and societies for which it provides under structure. These
include:

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1. LEGITIMATION OF LEADERSHIP: - those who occupy
positions of authority often justify their positions and actions
by reference to certain ideological tenets. By so doing,
ideology provides government with legitimacy and helps it to
obtain compliance from citizens without constant resort to the
threat or actual use of force. For instance, the liberal
democratic ideology was used by pro-democracy organizations
in Nigeria to challenge continued military rule.
2. PROMOTION OF SOCIAL COHERENCE: - ideology
promotes unity among members of the society by specifying
the collective goals and designating appropriate mechanisms
for actualizing individual and group aspiration.
3. FACILITATES CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: - by specifying
the collective purpose and means of attaining them, ideology
enables political struggles to become contestations over
principles and not personalities.
4. GUIDE TO POLICY CHOICE AND ASSESSMENT OF
CONDUCT: - ideology provides the framework for making
policy choices by the government and the parameters for
assessing the conduct of officials and the performance of
government.
5. DYNAMIC FORCE IN LIFE: - every ideology provides an
explanation of reality to its adherence and seeks to motivate
them to action.

INTEGRATION THEORY
Integration is a voluntary process in which independent units
overlook all or part of one’s steps in order to achieve one’s aims
within a unify framework. Integration takes place in the set of
independent and separate organs and units. As a result of
amalgamation of several units, one large unit is created which
actors voluntarily give up their powers and choose new
techniques to mutually and jointly solve their differences and
issues.

Karl Deutch defines integration as a process in which


independent units move towards mutual solidarity and
consequently achieve. He further maintained that integration
generally, means to make a whole out of parts, that is, to turn
from previously separate units into components of a coherent

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system. An integrated political community Deutch posits is a
collection of political actors whose interdependence is sufficient
to make a substantial difference to the outcome of some of each
other relevant decisions.
PARTY POLITICS AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Political participation is the involvement of the citizens of a
country in the activities concerning politics and government of
that country. It is the disposition, ability and willingness of the
citizens to take active part in political activities with the implicit
or explicit aim of influencing the decisions of government. It
includes all those activities of citizens that attempt to influence
the structure of government, the selection of government
authorities, or the policies of government (Conway, 1991).

Political participation covers such aspects of political leaders


during elections, supporting existing policies, authorities, or
seeking to change any of these and maintaining frequent contact
with the government, by constantly submitting memoranda
containing suggestions and proposals of how things should be
done, by agreeing to serve in certain committees, boards, and
work groups, activities of interest groups attending political
meetings etc. However, the extent of individuals participation in
politics depend on the type of government in operation. For
instance, the level of political participation is more in democratic
government than that of military junta.

WAYS BY WHICH CITIZENS PARTICIPATE IN POLITICS


Citizens take part in politics through a number of ways. In
Nigeria for instance, it is conventional that during democratic
rule, citizen take parts in politics by:
i) Becoming member of political parties of their choice,
contesting elective positions at the National, State and local
levels.
ii) Casting votes to elect candidate of one’s choice thereby
citizens signaling their feelings and express their choice of
leaders, policies and programmes.
iii) Holding of public offices elective, appointive or nominative.

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iv) Commenting on political issues and debates through mass
media, public for a, writing or conversation with people or
phone calls.
v) Sponsoring political parties and candidates financially and
morally.
vi) Attending political rallies, meetings and campaigns.
vii) Performing of ad-hoc duties during elections.
viii)Protest behavior and interest group activity expressed by way
of demonstrations, rebellion or revolution.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT POLITICAL PARTICIPATION


i) Political socialization.
ii) Socio-economic Status (SES)
iii) Ethnicity
iv) Psychological factors
v) Legal or constitutional factor
vi) The mass media

PURPOSE OR REASONS FOR POLITICAL PARTICIPATION


i) It makes it possible for one to be involved in choosing
competent individual that will occupy government positions
and represent the people effectively.
ii) One may take part in politics with hope of being elected or
appointed into public office.
iii) It serves the purpose of offering an opportunity for a citizen to
fulfill his curve duty and obligations.
iv) Citizen can influence government policies.
v) It serves educational purposes by informing others about their
rights and the need for people to defend them.

PARTY POLITICS IN NIGERIA: EVOLUTION AND


DEVELOPMENT
PARTY POLITICS IN THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD
Party politics has been the bedrock of political activities in
Nigeria since the colonial period. As far back as the early 1920s,
political associations had been in existence in the country. The
most powerful group emerged during the period before
independence was the Nigerian National Democratic Party
(NNDP), formed in 1923 by the Nationalist Movement led by
Herbert Macaulay. The activities of the party were restricted to
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Lagos. It contested and won elections into the 3 seats of the
legislative council. The Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM), which
emerged in 1936 was also restricted to Lagos and Ibadan. Since
then, various political associations have emerged. These were
however, more often than not regionally and ethnically based.
The three prominent ones were the National Council of Nigeria
and the Cameroons (NCNC) (which later became the National
Council of Nigerian Citizens, following the exit of Cameroons
from Nigeria) formed in 1945, The Action Group, (AG)
established in 1951, and the Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC)
which also emerged in 1951. While the NCNC had majority of its
supporters among the Ibos in the Eastern Part of Nigeria, the AG
had a wide spectrum of its followership among the Yorubas in
the Western region, and the NPC as its name suggested was
dominated by the Hausa-Fulani in the Northern part of the
country. The parties could not be differentiated ideologically.
Although, these political parties were formed during the colonial
period, they all existed till the post-independence era.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE FIRST REPUBLIC (1960-1966)


Since Nigeria’s attainment of independence in 1960, different
party systems have emerged. In the first republic there existed a
multi-party system. The three prominent parties formed during
the pre-independence era i.e. NCNC, AG and the NPC, remained
the most formidable parties in the country. Information about
the formation of these political parties has shown that, they were
base on tribal and ethnic origin. For instance, the NPC has its
own origin from Jam’iyar Mutanen Arewa formed by Dr. A. B.
Dikko, Mallam Aminu Kano, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Yahaya
Gusau, Sir Ahmadu Bello and was in control of the Northern
regional government from 1951 till 1966, while the NCNC that
was led by Herbert Macaulay and Dr. Nmandi Azikwe had its
origin from Igbo league and remained dominant\ in the Eastern
region during the same period. The AG was developed from Egbe
Omo Oduduwa Group founded by Chief Awolowo and having
power in the Western region 1951 until 1962 when the party
broke into factions. A new regional party, the Nigerian National
Democratic Party (NNDP) formed by the late Chief S. L.
Akintola’s faction of the AG during the crisis which engulfed the

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party, controlled the government of the western region from
January 1963 until 1966.

The federal government was formed by a coalition of the NPC


and the NCNC after the 1959 Federal election. The AG was in
opposition under the leadership of its national leader, the late
Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The NPC remained dominant in the
National Government which was formed after the 1964 federal
election. Before this election, the NPC/NCNC coalition
government had broken leading to the emergence of new
alliance as mentioned below.

Several smaller parties also emerged, including the Northern


Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) others are the United Middle
Belt Congress (UMBC), the Nigerian National Democratic Party
(NNDP), the Niger-Delta Congress (NDC) and the United National
Independent Party (UNIP). Some of these later joined the major
parties to form alliances, particularly during the 1964 federal
elections. So there was an alliance between the NPC and the
NNDP, leading to the emergence of the Nigerian National
Alliance (NNA). Similarly, there emerged the United Progressive
Grand Alliance (UGPA), an alliance that comprised the NCNC, the
AG and the Northern Progressive Front (NPF) which itself was an
amalgam of the Northern Element Progressive Union (NEPU) and
United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC).

POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE SECOND REPUBLIC (1979-


1983)
In the second republic the country also practices militarism. The
five out of 19 political associations that fulfilled the stipulated
conditions and requirements for party formation were registered
as political parties in December, 1978. The five political parties
beat the same familiar paths with their predecessors. Because
they were still identified with particular ethnic and sectional
interests in one hand and in the other common interest,
presume by translated to be national interests. The (NPN)
National Party of Nigeria led by Chief Adisa Akinloye and
presidential flag bearer Alhaji Shehu Shagari proves to be
Northern establishment. Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) led by Chief
Obafemi Awolowo and prominent members, professor Ambros

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Ali, Chief Adekunle Ajasin and M.C.K. Ajuluchukwu, based
primarily in the Yoruba-speaking of the west. Alhaji Ibrahim
Waziri as founder for Nnamdi Azikwe as presidential candidates
and A. Ogunsanya as chairman led the Nigerian Peoples Party
(NPP) based solidly in the Igbo speaking east.

Many Nigerians of socialist persuasion who did not care to


support any of these three establishmentarian parties, rallied to
the peoples Redemption Party (PRP) with its founder and party’s
presidential candidate in person of Alhaji Aminu Kano. Alhaji
Waziri Ibrahim led the Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP). This
party emerged as a reminder of intra-emirate political division
between the Hausa-speaking majority with its traditional ruling
class of mainly Fulani descent on the one hand and the Kanuri-
speaking people of North-eastern Nigeria on the other. The NPN
dominated the politics of the second republic. Apart from its
control of the Federal Government, the Party also controlled
most of the State governments. The UPN, NPP, GNPP and PRP
formed government in other states till 1983 when they were
toppled by military coup.

THE POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE BOTCHED THIRD


REPUBLIC (1989-1993)
In the botched 3rd Republic i.e. 1992-1993, the pendulum
changed as the country witnessed the emergence of a two-party
system, following the sudden cancellation of the political
association, formed by the politicians and applied for registration
as political parties which only 13 associations were able to meet
some of the NEC guidelines. The 13 political association were: -
Peoples Front of Nigeria (PFN), Liberal Convention (LC), Nigeria
National Congress (NNC), Peoples Solidarity Party (PSP), National
Union Party (NUP), United Nigeria Democratic Party (UNDP),
Patriotic Nigerians Party (PNP), Nigerian Peoples Welfare Party
(NPWP), Ideal Peoples Party (IPP), All Nigeria Peoples Party
(ANPP), Peoples Patriotic Party (PPP), Republican Party of Nigeria
(RPN) and Nigerian Labour Party (NLP).

NEC later recommended only six out of the 13 in order to meet


AFRC (Armed Forces Ruling Councils) requirements they were:
PSP, NNC, PFN, LC, NLP and RPN. The government however did

17
not authorize the registration of any of these associations on the
excuse that they did not met the laid down criteria and all very
closely related to the banned political parties of first and second
republics which characterized personality cults and money-bags.

On this note, the government on October 7, 1989 declared the


formation of SDP and NRC as two “grassroots” parties for the
country. Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican
Convention (NRC) were formed by president Babangida in order
to minimize the political effects of ethno-sectional particularism,
religious sectarianism and ideological extremism. But alas these
parties appeared to resemble an all-too-familiar political pattern.
The Northern emirate sector allied with the southeast versus the
southwest and minority sectors in the North.

In the conduct of elections during this period, the open ballot


system (OBS) was adopted, principally to reduce rigging and
electoral malpractice associated with the secret ballot system,
which had been in used hitherto. In the 1990 local governments
election the SDP secured 232 chairmanship positions. In the
gubernatorial elections contested in 1991 NRC won 16 states of
the 30 states of the federation while SDP won in 14 states. The
SDP won majority of the seats in the National Assembly Election
and was presumed the winner of the annulled presidential
election of June 12, 1993 contested between Alhaji Bashir Tofa
from Kano the presidential candidate of NRC and Chief M. K. O.
Abiola the presidential candidates for SDP.

THE POLITICAL PARTIES OF THE ILL-FATED FOURTH


REPUBLIC (1995-1998)
The advert of General Sani Abacha into power following the
collapse of the 3rd Republic saw to the re-emergence of
multiparty system in the country. Thus, five political parties were
registered to take part in his transition programme. The parties
were: the United Nigerian Congress Party (UNCP); the
Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN); the Grassroots Democratic
Movement (GDM); the Congress for National Convention (CNC)
and the national Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN). These political
parties lacked autonomy, as they were government sponsored
political parties. Elections were conducted into the local, states

18
and national assemblies and were manipulated by the
government. However, winners of the states and national
assembly elections were yet to be sworn into office at the death
of the mentor of the ill-fated republic.

In a bid to transmute into a civilian president, Abacha


manipulated himself to be adopted as the sole presidential
candidate of the five political parties derogatively titled “five
fingers of a leprous hand”. Unfortunately or fortunately his
manipulations through various means (suppressing all
oppositions, coercing candidates, the “two million man march in
march” led by Daniel Kalu’s Abacha sponsored Youth Earnestly
Asked for Abacha (YEAA) to succeed himself despite wide spread
opposition terminated on his sudden death on June 8, 1998 and
brought his transition programme to an abrupt end.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE FOURTH REPUBLIC (1999-


2003)
Following the sudden death of Abacha, General Abdulsalami
Abubakar, former, Defense Minister during Abacha’s regime took
over the mantle of leadership on June 8, 1998. On assuming
office the five political parties formed by Abacha were scrapped
and the controversial local council, state and national assembly
elections held under Abacha’s regime was cancelled. New
political parties were established to take part in the transition
programme put in place by Abubakar and scheduled to
terminate in May 1999. Nine political associations: the
Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJ), the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), All Peoples Party (APP), Alliance for
Democracy (AD), Democratic Advance Movement (DAM);
National Solidarity Movement (NSM); United Democratic Peoples’
Party (UNDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), United
Democratic Party (UDP).

However, out of the nine political associations only three were


finally registered to contest the state and national assembly
elections and the election of gubernatorial and presidential
candidates. These were the People Democratic Party (PDP) with
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as Presidential Candidate, the Alliance
for Democracy (AD), and the All Peoples’ Party (APP) which

19
jointly presented Chief Olu Falae as its presidential candidate to
contest under the platform of APP. The PDP won the presidential
election and emerged the dominant party in all the elections. It
won governorship elections in 21 states of the 36 states of the
federation and secured majority seats in the local, state and
national assemblies. The APP and AD did not have wide national
support. In particular, political events showed the AD to
behaving support limited to the southwest where it won six
states Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Ekiti and Osun. Thus the PDP reputed
to be the “Largest political party in Africa” had the widest
geographical spread followed by the APP while the AD had been
seen as a tribal and ethnic party.

In the emerging republic (2003-2007) thirty political parties have


been registered and vied for various positions at the local, state
and national levels, the parties are: People Democratic Party
(PDP), All Nigerian People Party (ANPP), Alliance for Democracy
(AD), United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP), United Democratic
Party (UDP), the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), the Democratic
Alternative (DA), Progress Action Congress (PAC), People
Salvation Party (PSP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Peoples
Mandate Party (PMP), National Action Council (NAC), National
Conscience Party (NCP), National Redemption Party (NRP),
National Mass Movement of Nigeria (NMMN), New Democrats
(ND); New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); Nigeria Advance Party
(NAP), Nigeria People Congress (NPC), Party for Social
Democracy (PSD), Movement for Democracy and Justice (MJP),
Masses Movement of Nigeria (MMN), Liberal Democratic Party of
Nigeria (LDPN), Justice Party (JP), Community Party of Nigeria
(CPN), Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP), All Peoples
Liberation Party (APLP), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)
and the Africa Renaissance Party (ARP).

Of all the political parties that filled candidates for the


presidential elections, the battle line was between the ANPP
candidate Muhammadu Buhari and the PDP candidate who won,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. PDP ruled for consecutive 8 years and
in 2007 another election held and once again ushered in PDP
candidate as president in person of Alhaji Umar Musa ‘Yar’adua.

20
MILITARY INCURSION INTO POLITICS
CONCEPT OF MILITARY
The concept of military is used to define an institution which is
characterized by the legitimate use of force in modern societies.
In other words, the military as an institution is synonymous with
organized violence and its legitimate use. Military as a term also
connotes the various arms of the armed forces, i.e. Navy, Army
and Air Force.

Historically, the institution of the military is as old as the state.


This is in the sense that, the state has authority and legitimacy
which is invariably backed by force and it is the institution of the
military that provide this backing for the authority and the
legitimacy of the state. Historically, since the emergence of the
state all societies at one time or the other had standing armies
whose primary responsibilities were associated with the
protection and defense of the territorial integrity of these
societies. It is also used to support foreign policies particularly in
conquest or empire building. This indicates that historically,
military officers even in ancient times played significant roles in
their societies. But even in those times, there were occasion
when military officers or commanders felt powerful enough to
challenge or overthrow constituted authorities in such a manner
that they become significant key players in the politics of their
societies. In modern times, the military has become a very
professional sophisticated and relatively advanced institution of
organized use of violence.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MILITARY IN NIGERIA


Nigerian military has a colonial origin, as is generally known as
its genesis is related to the history of the creation of armed
forces by the British after the Berlin West African Conference in
order to facilitate colonial conquest. In 1897, the colonial
government created the West African frontier force and was put
under the command of Captain Lugard. Lugard’s main
responsibilities was to first of all use these force to provide
security for British Commercial interest in West African Coastal
Regions and particularly in Niger-Delta Region where the royal
Niger Company had an effective presence and was also trying to
present French Economic Interest.

21
Before the formation of the West African Frontier Force, the
Royal Niger Commercial Interests were protected by Royal Niger
Constabulary Force and Gold Coast Constabulary in the Gold
Cost area. All of these were merged in creating West African
Frontier. In forming this force, Lugard recruited the Africana’s as
the ranks and files and British Volunteers as officers. The total
cost of forming these forces was 100,000 pounds. The Africans
recruited were organized into companies and were trained with
Lokoja as their Headquarters. In December 1898 there were
battalions.

By 1965, the army Nigerian inherited had been largely


Americanized because officers have been trained in Europe and
were placed under the total edge of British Commanding Officers
and then these officers took over from the departing colonialists
what is significant is that, the professional training that these got
inculcated alien values and beliefs about professionalism,
discipline and esprit de corps. Values which came into direct
conflict after independence with the politics of ethnicity,
regionalism and religion. The contradiction between these values
subsequently underline the factors for understanding the
phenomenon of corps and counter corps and prolong military
rule in Nigeria.

CAUSES OF MILITARY INTERVENTION INTO POLITICS


In Nigeria, military rule is a norm rather than the exception,
because the country had been ruled by the military for 30 to 49
years of independence. The decades of 1960 was characterized
by the disappointments of the promises of independent leaders
of the 3rd world countries and the replacement of almost all of
the Nationalist government that achieve independence for their
countries with the military regimes.

Africa attained independence with great enthusiasm, but the


enthusiasm was soon short lived when Togo set a dangerous
precedence in sub-sahara Africa, which later spread like wild fire
to other African countries. By September 14, 1960 starting with
the Republic of Zaire to July, 1975, there were no less than thirty
three military coups in independent African countries.

22
MILITARY RULE is the involvement of the armed forces as a
direct and active participant in policy making and governance in
a state. It is the unconstitutional takeover of the machinery of
administration of the state by members of the armed forces
based on martial laws – decrees and edicts. Military comes in to
power through coup d’état which could be either bloodless or
bloody.
The reasons for military intervention in politics are many and
varied. Normally, each coup may have its own peculiar reasons.
However, some of the common reasons for coup are as follows: -
1. INDISCIPLINE AND GENERAL POLITICAL INSTABILITIES
BY CIVILIAN POLITICIAN: - civilian politicians created and
sustained indiscipline and political instabilities, which threaten
the territorial integrity of their country. The cause of political
instability in Nigeria has been traced to indiscipline among the
political actors. Many politicians of successful republics saw
politics as a matter of life and death. Every contestant believed
that he must either win an election or heaven will fall. Cases of
victimization, intimidation or elimination of political opponents
were ripe. Each of the political parties kept thugs who served
as bodyguards to top party leaders. During election campaign
these thugs use to break up the rules of opposing parties or to
beat up opponents. Whenever two opposing groups of thugs
meet, a battle is ensured. Electoral malpractices were also
common, election officials and the police were bribed to inflate
election results in favour of the candidate of the ruling party.
To cap it all, there was the tendency to cling tenaciously to
power even when the electorates have rejected them. The
results of all these negative behaviors were chaos and
disorder, which the police were often incapable of handling.
The outcome of this was the intervention of the military, which
invariably marked the end of another era in order to arrest
chaos, to protect the territorial integrity of these countries and
in order to provide stability required for political and economic
development.
2. CORRUPTION AND NEPOTISM: - some scholars have argued
that, military intervened in order to stop corruption by civilian
government and introduce discipline and culture adaptability.
Loss of integrity and popularity of the civilian political leaders

23
due to their incompetency, resulted in corrupt practices, such
as bribery, embezzlement of public funds through inflation of
contracts, kick back, over invoicing, theft, the diversion of
public funds for party activities, mismanagement of the
economy, indiscipline, squander mania, insensitivity to
people’s needs and aspirations, nepotism, sectionalism etc
were common phenomena of which resulted in to political
chaos.
3. PHENOMENON OF CONTAGIOUS EFFECT OR BAND
WAGON EFFECT: - this theory has it that military intervention
is brought about as a result of successful military coups in
other countries. The demonstration or contagious effect pre-
supposes that events in one country could influence events in
another. In other words, the phenomenon of military
intervention in Nigeria particularly in 1960 could be explained
by what is called phenomenon of contagious effect; a situation
of military intervention in a neighboring country seems to
aspire a take power in other country leading to chain reaction.
4. ECONOMIC HARDSHIP: - other scholars attempt to explain
military rule in relation to dis-satisfaction about socio-economic
condition within the armed forces. And quite often on the basis
of disagreement between officers in the armed forces and
civilian governors. In other words, these scholars have argued
quite a number of military coups can be explained because the
armed forces felt ignored or marginalized particularly in the
distribution of offices and resources in the society.
Furthermore, past experiences have shown that economic
hardship could precipitate political instability. When people are
pushed to the wall, they may express their discontentment to
the authority by creating civil disobedience. Newspapers could
champion the move by writing inciting and provocative
articles, all of which could provide a fertile ground for staging a
coup.
5. POLITICIZATION OF THE MILITARY: - military were
politicized through the inspirations they got from either former
colonial powers or in particular the USA, in order to remove
from power nationalist post independent regimes which were
identified by these foreign forces as either too radical, too
Marxist or too pro-soviet to be left in power in their countries.
Beside foreign forces, the politicians themselves encouraged

24
the military in this direction. It is not surprising that the
activities of the first republic in Nigeria reminded military to
see themselves as the only viable opposition. As such, the first
military coup of 15th January, 1966 gave military a taste of
political power, haven tasted power, and they found it difficult
to relinquish it to politician totally. Even when they handed
such power to politicians as we have witnessed in 1979, the
military only waited for the least opportunity to strike again as
we saw in 1983.

For example, we had a top member of the ruling party in the


2nd Republic boasting that there was no alternate to the NPN
and the NPN will continue to remain in power willy-nilly except
it was overthrown by the military. Another example was an
open letter written to General Sani Abacha by Professor Bolaji
Akinyemi on 29th October, 1993, urging the General to move
the military to return to return to administrative scene of
Nigeria. He said in his letter among other things “the solution
does not lie in continuing as we are going now … we are
drifting …” such statements will not only remind the military of
the need to strike at the opportune time but was capable of
frustrating other political parties who might in turn, engineer
the military to strike under flimsy excuses. By and large, the
frequent request and involvement of the army in dealing with
crises such as the Tiv riot of 1964, the 1965 crisis of the west,
the 1964 general election crisis and census crisis, the Kaduna
Kano, Niger-Delta and Jos crisis from 1990s to 2010 are all
examples of politicization of the military.
6. REVOLUTIONARY VANGUADISM, INDISCIPLINE AND
CLEAVAGE WITHIN THE ARMED FORCES: - a group of
scholars have attempted to give a radical interpretation of
military intervention. These scholars have argued that some
coups have occurred because of certain officers who
considered themselves as revolutionary vanguards, as people
who were identified with the causes of downtrodden and who
then take over power in order to bring about revolutionary
transformation of their societies.
In the same vein, some people rightly believed that indiscipline
within the army was responsible to the incessant military
coups and counter coups. President Ibrahim Badamasi

25
Babangida once lent some weight to this assertion in his
message to the 1990 graduating cadets of the Nigerian
Defence Academy (NDA) during their Passing out Parade (POP)
in Kaduna on Saturday, 22nd September 1990. In the message
read on his behalf by General Sani Abacha, the president said
inter alia “from 1966 to date, our involvement in politics has
adversely affected our peculiar organizational ethos,
professional discipline, dedication and above all esprit de corps
…”, that was why we have had cases of relatively junior
military officers staging coups against their superiors. Coups
were also staged to alter the status quo as in the case of Major
Orkar led coup of 22nd April 1990; it might also be to restore
the status quo or redress tribal imbalance as in the case of the
counter coup of 29th July 1966. All these coups were
manifestations of clearages within the armed forces based on
ethnicity, religion and class related.

REGIMES UNDER MILITARY RULE IN NIGERIA


When Britain decided to hand over power to Nigerians, the First
Republic was emerged with Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as
Prime Minister and Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe as President. The country
was divided into three (3) regions being headed by Premiers.
The recognition of Tafawa Balewa regime was very unstable
right from the foundation. This is because of the Western
Nigerian crisis and subsequent treasonable felony charged
against Chief Obafemi Awolowo and some members of his
political party. Unfortunately, these crises of legitimacy persisted
and discontent mainly southern regions, which infiltrated a group
of Igbo army officers of the east to struck on 15th January 1966.

The military incursion into the political arena in Nigeria started


on 15th January 1966 when the first coup d’etats successfully
terminated the First Republic. The coup popularly regarded to as
the coup of five majors, which was led by Major Kaduna
Nzeogwu, was bloody both in planning and execution. The First
Republic Prime Minister, the Premiers of the then Northern and
Western Regions, the then Federal Minister of Finance and some
top ranking military officers mostly of the Northern origin were
assassinated in the putsch. The plotters never assumed power;
instead Major General Aguiy Ironsi who was then Army

26
Commander took over and became the first military Head of
State of Nigeria. The government of Ironsi faced the crisis of
legitimacy as the North was not happy with the non-trial of the
coup plotter of January 1966, with the feeling that the coup was
anti-north in execution. Moreover, the Ironsi’s change of federal
structure of government with Unitary System was interpreted by
the North as calculated attempt to bring the Northern Region
under Southern control and Igbo domination. The agony of these
three phenomena resulted into massacre of southerners mostly
Igbos that were living in the North. On 26th July 1966, the army
mutinied. This resulted in the death of Ironsi and numerous other
officers of southern origin including Lieutenant Colonel Fajuyi, a
Yoruba. A second coup had taken place in less than a year;
Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon middle belter from Angas
tribe emerged as the new Head of State.

When Gowon assumed power, he restored the federal form of


government. He released from custody a number of prominent
politicians including Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Anthony
Enahoro. He also summoned a conference in Lagos to review the
constitution and advice on the nation’s future. There were series
of terrorism and violence against Igbos in the north and counter
violence against the northerners in the south. In October 1966,
Lieutenant Colonel Ojukwu ordered all non-easterners out of the
region, as he declared he could no longer be responsible for their
safety. In May 1967, the eastern consultative assembly
empowered Ojukwu to declare the Republic of Biafra as an
independent state. In order to retain the control of the nation
and legitimacy of his government, Gowon announced creation of
12 states instead of 4 regions. The twelve state notwithstanding
the Biafra continued their match, no taxes were remitted to
Lagos from the east, and all the federal assets were seized. By
July 1967, the civil war had started. Thus, this marked the height
of the crisis of legitimacy of the government as the east strongly
refused to support the government of Gowon. The war ended in
1970 without genuine national unity. The Igbos were kept out of
the mainstream of Nigerian politics (Agboola, 1990).

The regime was terminated in a bloodless coup on 29th July 1975


for what the coupist referred to as his ineptitude and inaction.

27
The third coup détats produced General Murtala Ramat
Mohammed as the third military Head of State and Commander
in Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The new regime of
Murtala was welcomed with a great sense of relief by the general
Nigerian populace. Murtala had proved that “one crowded hour
of glorious life is worth an age without a name” (Sidi H. Ali). He
wasted no time in ordering inquiry into corruption and
inefficiency. This exercise led to many dismissal and compulsory
retirement and confiscation of ill gotten assets. He increased the
number of states from 12 to 19. He went further and announced
a new date for the return to civilian rule. This was to be 1979. He
also faced boldly the issue of demobilization so as to cut
Nigerian army to size. His announcement of plan to affect this
led to an abortive coup of 13th February 1976 in which he was
regrettably assassinated.
The fourth coup led by Lieutenant Colonel B. Dimka was
unsuccessful in spite of its bloody nature both in planning and
execution. On Murtala’s death the mantle of leadership fell on
his Chief of Army Staff, General Olusegun Obasanjo, who
pledged himself to complete his predecessor’s reforms and
return the country to civilian rule as planned. By 1 st October
1979, the country returned to civilian rule after a number of
preparatory activities and series of elections ending in the
prudential election of 11th August 1979.

The Second Republic was a presidential system of government


operated in the American model. It was presided by Alhaji Shehu
Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). There was a lot of
infighting in all the political parties resulting in acrimony and
mistrust. After the first term of four years, the NPN won again to
continue with another four-year term. The Second Republic was
full of corruption, tribalism etc the ship of the nation was
heading towards a rock. The people lost hope and faith in the
government. The government in turn lost the support and
allegiance of the people. On December 31st 1983, the military
once again overthrew the regime of Shagari in a bloodless coup
thereby terminating the Second Republic.

Major General Muhammad Buhari became the Head of State and


Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Buhari came to power

28
when the nation was yearning for someone to deliver her from
economic, social and political troubles. He quite indeed
determined to deal with those problems and those who
threatened the nation’s survival. He somehow attempted to beat
the same path with Murtala. In due regard, the government had
no problem of legitimacy with the people, but with the military
as they were divided. In August 27th 1985, General Ibrahim
Badamasi Babangida who became the next Nigerian President
overthrew Buhari in a palace coup. The first Nigerian military
leader to assume the title of president; Babangida had assumed
power to give Nigerian more liberal and democratic government.
Though he ruled by decree in the military government tradition;
in September 1986 he announced the Structural Adjustment
Programme (SAP) and put to bed the IMF loan. The application of
what brought mixed feeling and reactions from people.

In 1986, some military officers were alleged to have planned a


coup, which leaked before execution. It was alleged to been the
bloodiest coup in Nigeria in terms of intention, planning and
execution but it was not successful. Instead, the coup plotters
were sentenced to death by execution. This included Major
General Mamman Vatsa and nine other military officers. In
addition, six law-abiding military officers tragically lost their lives
when the presidential aircraft that was dispatched to Makurdi to
bring a coup suspect mysteriously crashed near Bukuru, Plateau
State.

On 22nd April 1990, a group of army officers attempted to


overthrow the Babangida’s administration for the second time.
Dodan Barrack came under heavy artillery bombardment;
although the president was saved by providence, he lost his Aide
–De Corp (ADC) and some loyal officers and men of the Armed
Forces during an encounter with the mutineers. The total
number of people killed in connection with the coup were 69 and
37 suspects were declared wanted.

In its attempt to legitimize its leadership, Babangida’s


administration announced the return to civil rule with an
elaborate time-table. The transition programme that became a
mirage as the government had hidden agenda to perpetuate

29
itself in power. Haven discovered the “maradonic” movement of
Babangida, he stepped aside in a historic manner, without
concluding the election of June 12 that was believed to have
been won by Alhaji Moshood Abiola. An Interim National
government led by Chief Earnest Shonekan was quickly put in
place. The government faced a major crisis of legitimacy; in fact,
the Lagos High Court declared the government a “bastard”
having no legal backing and people supported it, thus, social
uprising and complete disorder (Ukaej, 2000).

In such a politically rowdy situation, General Sani Abacha staged


a coup and declared himself Head of State and Commander in
Chief of Armed Forces. In November 1993 military once again
returned to governance. In Abacha’s battle to legitimize his
government, he loaded his cabinet with experienced and old
politicians, christening his regime ä child of necessity”. He
enjoyed the support of people who viewed in the shortest
possible time Abacha would hand over power to Abiola. As time
went on, it became clear the vice versa was the case.

In 1994, Chief Abiola decided to declare himself the president of


Nigeria. According to Abacha’s government this was a
treasonable felony; Abiola was arrested and later died in jail. A
lot of water have passed under the bridge of Abacha’s
government, few among was the Ogboni Crisis and eventual
hanging of Sarowiwa, the attempted coup of December 1995
and the eventual imprisonment of General Olusegun Obasanjo,
General Yarádua, Lt. General Oladipodiya the then Deputy to
Abacha and many other military officers mostly Yoruba on 21 st
December 1997. Abacha’s transition programme was
consistently inconsistent, resulting to future loss in credibility
and support. He intended to perpetuate in power in the style of
what people popularly refer to as “Tazarce”. However, as fate
would have Abacha incling to power until his death on 8th June,
1998.

On Abacha’s death, the mantle of leadership fell on General


Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar. This regime released from
detention several alleged coup pltters of Abacha’s regime
including Obasanjo and Olapodiya. When he came into power the

30
country was close to a state anarchy, when some people were
strongly calling for secession. There was intense fear that there
could be an outbreak of crisis. Abdulsalami had series of
meetings with various associations and some pressure groups
such as traditional rulers, trade unions, NADECO leaders,
Ohanaeze and other professional associations. At the end of the
day, the outcome of these meetings was an unfolded time-table
for the transition to civil rule that terminated the eleven months
old Abdulsalami’s regime on May 29th 1999. Abdulsalami
honestly followed the time as it was planned and elections were
finally conducted and he handed over the mantle of leadership
to the elected democratic government of Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo on May 29th, 1999 and sisnce then till now the Nigeria
is in the hand of civilian democratic government.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES OF MILITARY IN


GOVERNMENT IN NIGERIA

A. ACHIVEMENTS
i. By defeating the Biafrans and suppressing forces of
disintegration, the military have succeeded in keeping the
Nigeria one.
ii. The promulgation of the 1978 land use decree and the
establishment of river basin development authorities and
agricultural development programmes which facilitated
reforms in agriculture and encouraged integrated and large
scale farming.
iii. The establishment of Aladja and Ajaokuta Steel Complexes
and the refinaries at Kaduna, Warri etc which were designed
to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on foreign imports.
iv. The creation of 36 states and over 700 local governments
reduced the fears of ethnic domination prevalent during the
first republic and brought government closer to the people.
v. Reforms of the local government system aimed at
democratizing the local government and making them more
efficient and responsive to the needs of the people at the
grassroots level.
vi. Communication was given priority, good road networks and
airports were constructed. Improvements were made in
railways and water ways. Port facilities were increased

31
considerably; the same applies to telephone and
telecommunication system.
vii. Large number of institutions from primary, secondary to
tertiary education was established in many parts of the
country.
viii. The NYSC scheme was introduced to bring greater national
awareness among the youths.
ix. The setting up of the PTF assisted greatly in the
reconstruction, rehabilitation and renovation of roads, water
work, water ways, education and health facilities, public
utilities etc nationwide.
x. Relocating the federal capital territory to Abuja.
xi. The making of the 1999 constitution which improved the
legal framework for the present democratic system of
government.
xii. The establishment of other government agencies and
programmes for developments and awareness e.g. WAI,
MAMSER, NOA, ethical revolution, FEAP, Better Life
Programmes etc.

B. FAILURES
i. Despite the series of transition programmes conceived and
implemented under various military regimes, military rule
has not succeeded in establishing a stable democracy in the
country. By frequently intervening, the military did not give
the civilian politicians sufficient time to nurse democracy to
maturity.
ii. Military rule has not succeeded in achieving true national
integration and the inculcation of partriotism in Nigerians.
iii. The military was not able to manage the huge oil revenue
obtained during the oil boom year to efficiently industrialized
the country, modernize agriculture, eliminate illiteracy
among Nigerians, reduce poverty considerably, provide free
medical and educational services to Nigerians and improve
the quality of life for the vast majority of Nigerians.
iv. The military instituted mass retrenchments and dismissal of
about 10,000 public servants for incompetence and
corruption without following due process. This great flush out
that took place later bred insecurity and corruption in the
public service. The purges also led to the loss of esprit de

32
corp, the mutuality of corporation which is vital to an
effective and efficient working of the public service.
v. Military leaders could not change the monocultural nature of
the Nigerian economy. Governments continue to rely heavily
on the sale of oil for revenue and foreign exchange.
vi. The economic measures taken by the military regimes to
restore the economy led to devaluation of the naira, heavier
debt burden, more inflation, high level of unemployment,
higher rate of corruption and embezzlement in the public
service, higher rate of crime, decline in industrial growth,
near collapse of public education and health care facilities
and mass poverty. Nigeria’s status change from a middle
income country to one of the 30 poorest nations in the world.
vii. Military involvement in politics has deprived the armed
forces of its fine officers, and reduced the level of
professionalism in the armed forces; soldiers are poorly
housed. Furthermore, the military did not succeed in
reducing its independence on imported weapons and
equipments.

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