the political scenario of nigeria by nwosu emmanuel bsc (ed)

8/9/2019 The Political Scenario of Nigeria by Nwosu Emmanuel Bsc (Ed)

1/6

THE NIGERIAN POLITICAL SCENARIO: ANY OPTION FOR ANOTHER

MILITARY INTERVENTION?

AUTHOR:

Nwosu Emmanuel Bsc, (ed)

INTRODUCTION

On the 15th of January 1966, Nigerians were faced for the first time, with a politicalnuovo- the military incursion into the Nigerian politics. Heavy and active protest wasirrelevant; only few doubted the integrity of the military. This is owing to the thenconception of the military as corruptless, apolitical and puritanical organization withefficiency, excellence, probity, discipline, intelligent and competence. They wereconceived as men of integrity dedicated to the protection of the land. Hence, manythought that the military was more capable than the civil politiciansof ameliorating thehigh level of corruption latent in our country. Later in history (1966-1999), they provedotherwise and failed Nigerians; this dignified conception of the military could not even

pass elementary test.However, our attention is rather on the political scenario and on the military itself. Whatis this ant-fettered wood that attracted the lizards into the house? That is the question. Tothis, we remember that when Babangida ousted Buharis government (in August 27,1985), it was according to him, for maladies in administration which included corruption.Nigerians thought that it was the rise of another Charles De Gualle of France or JerryRawlings of Ghana. But we were not impressed at all as the ship sailed on. All throughthe course of Militarism in Nigeria, there were more glaring and scandalizing corruptioncases that left Nigerians numb, in constant hope of a Messiah.In 1999, we were liberated from these traumatic holy-devils and their evils. Looking atthe political situation since then, the question that confronts us is; were we actually

liberated? The obvious answer of a modern Nigerian is capital negative. We are stillswimming in the darkened ocean of corruption and maladministration. Nigerians are stillwailing under the claws of the dogs who occupy the citadel of power in Nigeria. Thecivilian government so far, is making things more miserable; causing Nigerians that sortof Red- Sea-regret which threw the hope of the Israelites back to Egypt. Today, we arestill faced by the Red Sea of hunger, death, corruption, wars, violence, socio-politicalhatred, segregation, injustice, selfishness and all sorts of political ills. Nigerians shudderand pant before all these. Who will save this Nation against these evils? Is anotherMilitary intervention an option? Is our political stage today not attractive of another ofsuch incursion? This expos will therefore try to make an aperture of those ills andconditions that are inviting of the Military-politics which the modern Nigerian trepidates.It will also weigh the option of the Military intervention to see if it is welcoming or not.The mind of the writer however will not be concealed. It is overtly posited along the lines(in the progression) of this write up.

THE PICTURE OF THE DIRTY AND UGLY STAGE OF THE MODERN

NIGERIAN SOCIO-POLITICAL SITUATION

The unimpressive and dusty portrait of the Nigerian modern politics is glaringly obviousand dangerously posing a threat to the psychosomatic security of the Nigerian man.


2/6

In the purely political sphere, the leadership positions are jostled and scrambled by ourleaders as lions scramble over their dead prey; nobody cares to evolve an enduringpolitical system. Today are we not still confused by this colonially bequeathed Westerndemocracy which is not founded on solid political ideas and institutions? We are stilltrapped and suffering in the miasma of political partism, political antagonism, ethnicism,

tribal domination and doubts. Our leaders are ruining our society by their use of ethnic,tribal or regional sentiments. Our leaders no longer respect the national interest; theirpersonal interests override. The current case of the sick president Musa Yaradua is aglaring instance. When a president takes grip at power even when he is totally unfit, doesit not tempt rebels? I guess it does. Our current sick Nigerian polis (state) issymptomatic of a sick Nigerian Capitus (head of state). To change from one politicaldispensation to another through a simple democratic process of free and fair election isalways a hard stone to crack. This really triggered military action (coup detat) in thepast. Many people seriously grumble, mumble and rebel against it today. Nobody is surewhat tomorrow will beget.Economically, there are inherent and unbridled economic contradictions and concomitant

class struggles among various categories of the economical creams of this nation. Thisresults from our preferred and borrowed economical system- Capitalism as our path todevelopment. The prevailing neo-colonial superstructure seems to obscure the socio-economic realities of our gifted social order. Hence, there is uneven distribution of valuesand severely protracted misery in the land. This nation is terribly crushed throughmenacing imperialist intrigues. Our economy is messed up by the internal corruptionthrough embezzlement, mismanagement, misappropriation, unenthusiastic attitude and soon. We are anguished by a general economic frustration imposed by the adverseeconomic arrangements both internally and externally. In the past, these ill-fated factorsinduced Military intervention. Today, many people seriously grumble, mumble andrevolt. Nobody is sure what tomorrow will beget.On the social experience, it is clearly noticed how most common citizens have grownirresponsible and stubborn against civility; how some have drowned in the dirty waters ofcorruption beyond restoration or reformation; how some have gone animalistic needingbridle and beat less they would not behave humanly and properly. Today, we hear ofdismal abuses of human life, right and dignity; we hear of the brutal, atrocious, frightfuland horrible ill-human cases of massacre, rape, arm-robbery, abduction, violent religiousfight, maltreatment of the helpless innocent and fellow citizens even by the military(police and army), forceful and unjust method in administrations; we hear of theruthlessness, rudeness, wickedness, godlessness, selfishness, heartlessness, mercilessness,callousness, harshness and many other negative nesses and less-nesses that areassociated with the daily experiences and man-to-man encounter of the common citizens.Unemployment, poverty, hunger, sickness and death have become the normal rotationalpoints of life around the poor and common citizens. We see cases of child trafficking,prostitution and force labor on children; a high rate of greed and profitism. It is evenworsened now that the captives have become their own captors in this malaise. Obviouslywe need a liberator. Hence the question: who will salvage Nigeria? In the past, theMilitary was an imposed option. Today, many people seriously grumble, mumble andrevolt. Nobody is sure what tomorrow will beget.


3/6

THE NIGHTMARE CALLED MILITARY RULE IN NIGERIA

The Nigerian military held sway over the political life of the country and ruthlesslydominated national economic, political and social life for years after the independence.This is a traumatic history for most Nigerians whose dreams of hope at the dawn ofMilitarism were washed down by the stream of corrupt uniformed dictators.

15th of January 1966 was a historic day for Nigerians; Aguiyi Ironsi heralded a dawn ofhope for Nigerians who had been dazed by the political ill-experiences of the 1st

Republic. Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief, salvation and hope when Ironsi turned out tosave the country from crashing. He was left to show that he understood the essence ofmilitary power. Unfortunately, he failed. His failure accounts for the further collapse oflaw and order, four months after. He could not address the major problems of the Nation.He wasted his time designing plan for what the Northerners termed Igbo domination.His unification decree therefore was greeted with violence. Irrespective of thenegligibility of the corruption rate during his brief stay in power, he was not blemish free.General Gowon besieged Ironsi on the 29th July 1966 and took over the mantle of

leadership. His leadership according to Akonye J.E. was characterized by lack ofconsultations, indecision, indiscipline and neglect...His leadership either by design ordefault became insensitive to the yearnings of the people. (cf. Nigeria we fail thee, themilitary and politics). Even though he tried his best to preserve the national unity, hisunruliness, baffling egotism, disgusting ambition and sickening pride was a scandal. Heis the father of dictatorship in Nigeria. His government (for cases of corruption) lost allmoral authority and credibility to stand the test of time. Thus he was succeeded on the29th of July 1975 by Muritala Mohammed.

Brigadier Muritala Mohammed became a gleam of hope for Nigerians but never lasted.His administration was purposeful and enlightened; approachable and responsive;constructive and decisive towards rescuing Nigeria from severe corruption of the time.He moralized the men he worked with, sanitized the political environment and pursuedhis prospects with transparency. It is on record that he created seven more states to makeit a total of nineteen states. The great purge-the clean up where incompetent persons inthe public service were swept off in August 1975 (which shook Nigerians) and which heintroduced sanity into the Nigerian (then momentary) politics, was thanks to him.Internationally, he was well applauded for his strong, defined and dynamic foreignpolicies. But as if to confirm the popular adage that good things do not last, he wasassassinated by some dissident soldiers led by Lt. Col. B.S. Dimka on the 13 th February1976. With this unholy termination of Muritala Mohammed and consequent tracing andcrushing of Dimka, the mantle of leadership was taken by Lt. General OlusegunObasanjo.

Obasanjo was known for his Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) programme, localgovernment reforms and the smooth handing over power to a democratically electedcivilian government (Shagari) in 1976. His government therefore was a mere caretakergovernment which with slight differences from his immediate predecessor transposedpower from Military to Civilian government. However, this was not corruption free.Shagari regime exposed some corrupt practices of Obasanjos government. These


4/6

include: 1. the awarding of a contract of N8m to renovate the old state house at marinawhich Alex Nwokedi claimed shot from N2.4m for which Gowon awarded it before, 2.the N226m contract for Benin-Ore-Shagamu Road and 3. The N33m for the 125 coldmeat stores throughout Nigeria and so on. There were no rational for awarding thesecontracts since it was obvious that he was almost leaving office and that these contracts

would not be completed. His regime tried for the country but still left traces of cases ofcorruption.

The second republic collapsed on the 31st December, 1983 when through another coupdeetat, Shagaris regime gave way to Major-General Muhammadu Buhari. Thisadministration was imposed on the basis of dissatisfaction with the political economy ofthe second republic and promised to restore and stabilize the economy for Nigerians. Buthe did not actually succeed. His economic strategies were filled with contradictions; theywere simultaneously collaborating with as well as opposed to (like in Shagaris), theforeign financial circles (IMF) to which Nigeria owed big debts. Neither foreignobservers nor the national population was happy with this confusion called an

administration. His popular DECREE 4which provided for detention of Journalists whopublished embarrassing information against the regime, whether it is verified or not, wasa scandal. His regime was despotic but was commended on the basis of discipline (cf.War against Indiscipline- WAI). Fortunately, this was highly shaping Nigerians intobetter disciplinary posture until Buhari was ousted out of office by Babangidas regime.

Babangidas regime (from on set-27th August, 1985) made declarations for accountabilityand transparency but all to no avail. It was also disturbing how he found it difficult todeal adequately with proven corruption cases and posting of persons with questionablecharacters to sensitive offices. Worst still, he left his door open, welcoming back into itsfold, some of the dismissed officers who have been left in the lurch for the past 16 years.He returned some of the officers ousted for corrupt practices by Gen. MuritalaMohammed. For instance, U.J. Esueme, Lt. Commander Alfred Diete Spiff, Col. DavidBamigboye, Audo Bako, etc. His administration was one of utter disappointment andLaissez-faire towards accountability. On another hand, Babangida made promises toreform the socio-political and economical status quo of the nation. To achieve this, hefirst restructured the government machinery at the apex level; hence acquiring for thefirst time, the name-President in place of Head of state. With this, he captured theexecutive powers of the President and the Legislative powers as the chairman of theArmed Forces Ruling Council(AFRN) and set out to declare the 15 Months economicemergency period. Through his Structural adjustment Programme (SAP), heintroduced the Second Tier Foreign Exchange Market (SFEM) wherein the exchangerate of the Naira was determined by an interplay of market forces. This resulted to thedrastic depreciation of Naira value vis--vis other hard currencies. Because of SAP, therewas a withdrawal of 80% from petroleum subsidy and 30% levy on imports; a 20%economic recovery levy on workers and a ban on the importation of wheat, malted barely,maize and rice. These and many other faulty implementation of SAP led to the anti-SAPriot of May, 1989. There were other policies like Directorate For Food, Restructuringand Rural Infrastructure(DFRRI), People Bankand Community Bank, Better Life For Nigerian Women, National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND),


5/6

National Directorate For Employment(NED). In all these, economy still dashed fromone crisis to another, wreaking damages on the social standard and safety of the commonpopulace. His regime therefore failed; it was characterized by attention to issues of lesspriority and fraud of extra-budgetary allocations diverted to personal use.

General Abacha (Rtd.) was not free from this corruption malaise of looting andplundering the national treasury. According to the report tendered by Mohammed Haruna(the then Chief Press Secretary to the then Abubakar regime) about N63.25b wasrecovered from the Abachas family; yet this is still the tip of the iceberg. It wasestimated that about $10b was stolen in the General Abacha dictatorship (cf. Akonye J.E.op. cit. p. 127).

AN APERTURE TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE: ANY OPTION FOR THE

MILITARY?

That the future of Nigeria is bright is not an illusion. It lies in the hand of all Nigerians.We have really come a long way as to be politically ambivalent. It is obvious that the

better future we hope in, does not depend at all on the one mans despotic Military rule. Itis in the hand of the entire populace- DEMOCRACY free from Demo-craziness.However, Nigeria has tested since independence, the ruling performances of both theCivilian and Military. We observe that the Military is inexperienced in active governance.Historical and empirical facts show that the Military is not trained in the ethics andtechnical know-how of pure and sound politics. So is it possible for them to be an optionfor this aperture towards a better future Nigeria? This better future which will replace thebitter rupture and posture of the past is an illusion if the proper, competent and qualifiedpeople do not emerge today to revamp the calamitous and inclement political weather oftoday. Writing of the Military, Huntington in his book soldier and the State(1957),opines that politics is beyond the scope of the military competence and the participationof the military officers in politics undermines their professionalism and divides theirprofession against itself. Agwunobi in his article, The Future of Political Role of theMilitary added that there is another kind of political role which requires Militaryinevitable involvement in politics; it is the national security policy process (NationalConcord, 1991, p.1). The security of the nation is obviously in need of the Military. Butthat does not justify the Machiavellian thesis that the Military and Politics are fused in aclosed relationship; of course, Machiavelli later contradicted himself when he acceptedthat politics should supersede the military in the working of government. Invariably, thiswould imply that the military lacks the character and the potentials to play a primarypolitical role in the establishment of strategic ends. However it would be of greatercommitment to their profession if they are engaged in the advisory role of the NationalSecurity. So, impliedly against the Machiavellian idea, General Oladipo Diya, the thenChief of Defence, in his address at the end of Brigade of Guards Officers study periodin Lagos (1991), argued that the Armys intervention in politics and governancecontributed immensely to the state of indiscipline which pervade the system today. Theyshould shun politics since it is no where in the constitution that the Military is appointedthe arbiter of political disputes. The rightful place for the Military is the barracks andshall remain the barracks. Okenwa Nwosu in his article, Role of the Military inDevelopment, asserts that the protracted occupation of the military in the Nigerian


6/6

the political scenario of nigeria by nwosu emmanuel bsc (ed)

Documents