Exactly 53 years today, Nigeria gained
independence from Britain and thereby
ending 46 years of colonial rule. Nigeria
was born on January 1, 1914, following
the amalgamation of the then Southern
and Northern Protectorates by Lord
Fredrick Lugard.
The country owes its independence to
the struggles of nationalists like Dr.
Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo,
Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and others, who
were in the forefront of the clamour for
the involvement of Nigerians in the affairs
of their country. Several conferences
were held.
The late Chief Anthony Enahoro moved
the motion for Nigerian’s independence
on the floor of the House of
Representatives. Though he had proposed
independence for Nigeria in 1959, the
Northern members of the House were
opposed to the motion on the grounds
that the North was not ready. The clause,
stipulating a date for independence was
later substituted with another clause: “As
soon as possible.”
Eventually, the country gained
independence from colonial rule on
October 1, 1960 after about 15 years of
agitation for self-rule.
Nigeria started off as a federation with
three regions: East, West and North, as
the federating units and a parliamentary
system of government. Today, it is a
presidential democracy with 36 states
structure.
Blessed with an abundant human and
material resources, Nigeria showed so
much promise at independence. It was
taken for granted that within a few years,
the country would become one of the
leading countries of the world, politically
and economically. But that is one hope
that had seemingly been dashed. The
country never truly took off before crisis
started dogging its path soon after
independence. And since independence,
it has been a very bumpy ride.
Analysts say this is because successive
administrations have failed to harness the
resources for the benefits of the people.
Indeed, the country is bugged by
corrosive corruption, especially in public
service, while elections, most of the
times, have been massively rigged by
political groups, to the chagrin of their
opponents and the populace. Besides the
absence of strong institutions,
infrastructure in the country are in
comatose.
Frustrated by many failings of the nation,
not a few have described Nigeria as a
“giant with feet of clay” and other
pejorative terms.
Major events that defined Nigeria’s
politics
On January 15, 1966, the country
experienced its first military putsch. In
that coup, plotted by five majors of the
Nigerian Army, led by Major Chukwuma
Kaduna Nzegwu, leading lights of the First
Republics were killed. With the murder of
Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, the mantle
fell on the Senate President, Chief Nwafor
Orizu, who called on the head of the
army, Major General Johnson T. U. Aguiyi-
Ironsi, to take over government. That
was the beginning of the incursion of the
military into the politics of the country.
On assumption of office, Ironsi introduced
a unitary system of government. Before
he could settle down to real business of
governance, he was killed and his
government overthrown by a group of
military officers from the North.
Aguiyi-Ironsi was abducted in Ibadan,
during a visit to the capital of then
Western Region on July 26, 1966. The
coup was carried out in retaliation to the
January upheaval in the military.
One of the charges against Aguiyi-Ironsi
was the unification decree of 1966.
Ironically, every military administration
after him operated a unitary system of
government.
The plan of those behind the second coup
was a break-up of the country. However,
they were dissuaded from the idea. After
about 72 hours, in which the country
floundered without a leader, the coupists
named General Yakubu Gowon as Head of
State. The then governor of Eastern
Region, Col Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-
Ojukwu kicked against Gowon’s
emergence.
The Aburi meeting, civil war and
successive military regimes
Ojukwu had refused to accept the
leadership of Gowon, as according to him,
he was not the most senior military
officer at that material time. In the days
after the coup, tension mounted. The
military, as a way of resolving the debacle,
went to Aburi, Ghana, for a retreat. At
the end of the retreat, they came up with
the famous Aburi Accord.
Unfortunately, the accord meant to arrest
the drift in the country failed, as the
proponents could not implement it. The
result was a 30-month bitter civil war.
The Eastern Region, led by Ojukwu,
frustrated by the events in the country,
in the wake of the counter-coup,
especially the unrestrained massacre of
Igbo in the northern part of the country,
had declared itself a sovereign state of
Biafra. At the end of the war, which
lasted from 1967 to 1970, the Biafran had
lost more than one million Igbo.
Other military regimes held sway in the
country, as Gowon was toppled, for the
government of Murtala Muhammed.
Murtala was killed in a failed coup led by
Col Buka Suka Dimka and his second-in-
command, Olusegun Obasanjo took over.
The military ruled the country until
October 1, 1979 when General Obasanjo
handed over to Alhaji Shehu Shagari,
signalling the birth of the Second
Republic. That republic was short-lived, as
on December 31, 1983, the Army struck
again, sacking the civilian administration
of Shagari.
General Muhammadu Buhari emerged the
Head of State and that signalled the
commencement of another 20 years of
the military interregnum in politics of the
nation. Barely one and half years in the
saddle, Buhari was overthrown by General
Ibrahim Babangida, who made futile
attempts to return the country to civil
rule. The military government conducted
the June 12, 1993 presidential poll
intended to cap the elections for the
commencement of the Third Republic.
However, on June 26, 1993, the
government annulled the presidential
election. Expectedly, that gave rise to
rash of reactions.
In the heat of the chaos caused by the
annulment, Babangida hurriedly “stepped
aside” on August 26,1993. He handed
over to an Interim National Government
(ING) led by Chief Ernest Shonekan,
which was sacked by General Sani Abacha,
less than three months later. With that,
the Third Republic ended in stillbirth.
Nigeria was to witness a long drawn
battle, with the winner of the election,
the late Chief MKO Abiola and members
of the pro-democracy groups pressing for
the revalidation of June 12, 1993
election. Abiola declared himself
president and was arrested and detained.
The Abacha junta launched a vicious war
against the pro democracy groups, led by
National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).
It was one of the darkest moments in the
life of the country. However, when
Abacha was preparing to transmute to a
civilian president, he died on June 7,
1998, in the confines of Aso Rock
Presidential Villa. Barely a month after,
Abiola too died. The death of both men
drew the curtain on the agitation for the
revalidation of the June 12, 1993
presidential election.
Return of democracy
On May 29, 1999, the Fourth Republic
took off with General Abdulsalami
Abubakar, who succeeded Abacha,
handing over power to a democratically
elected President, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo. Having spent eight years in
office, Obasanjo planned a third term in
office, when his deputy for eight years,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, wanted to succeed
him.
Pathetically too, one time Nigeria Head of
State, General Muhammadu Buhari has
tried in vain to stage a comeback.
Interestingly too, up till now, Buhari is still
smarting up to rule the country again!
At the twilight of his eight-year
administration, Obasanjo sought to
extend his rule through a tenure
elongation bill that was part of
constitution amendment sent to the
National Assembly. There was public
outcry against the elongation bill,
popularly called Third Term Bill.
Apparently in response to opposition to
the move by the executive to extend the
tenure of office from two to three, the
Senate declined to approve the bill.
In 2009, the country was thrown into a
constitutional crisis, following the
prolonged absence of late President Musa
Yar’Adua from the country. Yar’Adua, who
succeeded Obasanjo, had gone to Saudi
Arabia for medical treatment without
handing over to his deputy, Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan, as provided for in the
constitution. To avert a constitutional
crisis, the National Assembly invented the
“doctrine of necessity” and empowered
Jonathan to assume the presidency in
acting capacity. Jonathan later contested
and won the 2007 general election on the
platform of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP).
Former Senate President, Senator Ameh
Ebute, took a critical look at the
leadership crisis in the country and
blamed the incessant military
interregnum for its instability. He stated:
“If not for the coup, Nigeria would have
matured politically, like the advanced
democracies of the world.”
Endless agitation for Sovereign
National Conference
Pundits have always believed that a
conference of sorts, where Nigerians
would discuss frankly about the nation, is
the only panacea to the many problems
of the country. While the civil society
group clamour for a Sovereign National
Conference (SNC), other critical
stakeholders believe that while there is
need for Nigerians to talk, it must not be
tagged a SNC.
Former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme
says: “I don’t believe in Sovereign
National Conference, but we need to
come together and discuss the problems
facing this great country, the solution and
the way of living together in peace
without these destructions.”
For Prof. Ben Nwabueze, “unless and until
the over 300 ethnic nationalities in
Nigeria come together in a national
conference to discuss the way forward,
peace and security may continue to elude
the country.”
Sunnewsonline.com
