Nigeria At 62: If There Is Something Worth Celebrating, It’s That The Days Of Military Coups Are Gone – By Yusuf Omotayo
I am strongly of the opinion that no matter how good a military regime is (although I have reservations about attaching the word ‘good’ to ‘military regimes’), it is not worth the exchange for a democratic system.
It might be unfair to paint the entire military regime in Nigeria’s history with a single evil brush. After all, Nigeria recorded some significant achievements during military rule. For example, the local government reform of 1976 during the regime of Olusegun Obasanjo helped to standardise the local government as a tier of government which allowed governance to be closer to the people.
Nigeria’s foreign policy especially in positioning itself as a regional power through ECOWAS and a continental power through the formation of the African Union (formerly Organisation of African Unity), was initiated and strengthened during military regimes. The military also played a significant role in peace-keeping operations in Africa and a few outside of the continent. Some of them include military observer to Mozambique (ONUMOZ) 1992; a
battalion to Rwanda; (UNAMIR) 1993; training teams to the Gambia (NATAG) 1993;; to Israel (UNTSO) 1995; Liberia (ECOMOG) 1987, etc.
All these and more have made some people desire the return of military intervention to address some problems Nigeria is experiencing. The truth is that while democracy may not be perfect, it is a work in progress, and the current mood ahead of the 2023 general elections is proof of that.
Since Nigeria returned to a democratic government in 1999, the fourth republic has enjoyed 22 years of uninterrupted democratic rule. We have had six presidential elections, four presidents and two seamless transfers of power. When President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration ends in 2023, he is expected to hand over power to whoever the country elects.
Nigeria is celebrating its 62nd independence anniversary this year. While many Nigerians are unhappy with the economic and security situation of the country, one thing worth celebrating is the confidence that is growing in the fact that democracy is here to stay and the selection of leaders is in the hands of the electorate. This was not the case before 1999.
From 1960, when Nigeria became an independent state, to 1999, the country only had two successful presidential elections: 1960 and 1979. Other presidential elections were either cut short due to a coup (1983) or annulled (1993).
Although the democratic system is not perfect, it has improved since 1999. The introduction of card readers and permanent voters’ cards and the passage of the electoral bill have all greatly improved the process of electing leaders. For the first time, Nigeria’s presidential choice has moved from two main candidates/parties to three, with Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party ready to slug it out at the polls in 2023.
Military coups damage the little gains made during a democratic system. They set the country back to start afresh because every hint of people’s participation is shredded and replaced with an autocratic system that makes the courts useless, tramples upon the independence of the press and violates human rights. No matter what good a military regime offers, it is inconsequential compared to the damaging effect of its largely atrocious legacies.
With each electoral cycle, Nigeria can review its performance to make the next one better. If there were military regime interjections along the way, this cycle would be broken, and the process of improving elections would have been difficult.
In 2016 and 2020, there were rumours of impending coups, but the military leadership responded swiftly in both cases to deny them, assuring Nigerians of their recognition of the democratic system and reiterating that its focus was keeping the country safe.
Unlike before 1999, very few Nigerians worry about the possibility of military coups because the days of an uncertain democratic system are gone. Instead, it has been replaced with strong confidence that the country’s leadership will be determined by elections and not coups.
As Nigeria celebrated 62 years of independence, there is still a lot to worry about. The state of the economy is a source of concern as unemployment and inflation are serious issues that need urgent solutions. Despite the relative success of the military in the fight against insecurity, pockets of attacks are still being recorded. As long as citizens are still entrusted with the right to choose who leads them, and not being forced to accept the leadership of soldiers, there is optimism that these problems will be solved.
