This year marked the 19th anniversary of civilian rule, albeit democracy in Nigeria. Never in the history of the country has there been such a long uninterrupted rule by ‘bloody civilians’ without the all-knowing Nigerian military stepping in to stem the negative drift.
First, it was in January 1966, when a group of Majors in the Nigerian Army led by Chukwuma Nzeogwu ousted the civilian government of TafawaBalewa. Then in July of the same year a counter coup, that ultimately led to the fratricidal Nigerian civil war which ended in 1970, with the then Head of State Yakubu Gowon declaring that there was no victor and no vanquished. On July 30th 1975, Gowon was overthrown by members of his own government, Murtala Mohammed then emerged as Head of State. An unsuccessful coup on February 13th 1976 led to the assassination of Mohammed and the baton fell on Olusegun Obasanjo, who then successfully midwifed a return to civilian rule in 1979. This civilian rule was short-lived as another coup on December 31st 1983 swept away the Shehu Shagari administration and brought in Mohammadu Buhari. Buhari himself was to suffer the fate of Yakubu Gowon, when senior members of his government overthrew him on August 27th 1985.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/11/military-hangover-and-the-nigerian-democracy/
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