Politics
‘Nigeria has not recovered from military rule’
By Ayo Opadokun
Could there have been Nigeria without the discovery of the gun? Could there have been Military insurrections without the gun? Could there have been an imposition of Military dictatorship that arrested Nigerians’ manifest hopes and aspirations as well as stunted its growth and development without the gun?
Was the “Nigerian Army” a creation of Nigeria or that of the Imperialist Great Britain to suppress, intimidate, hound, repress and humiliate Nigerian ethnic groups in order to force the over 350 different groups into co-habitation so as to achieve the so-called amalgamated Nigeria?
Who were the Principal Promoters of the First and Revenge coups? Who were the Principal Advisers of Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi in 1966 after supplanting the democratically-elected government? Could there have been the Nigerian Civil War without the ego contest between Col. Ojukwu and Major General Gowon? What are the consequences of the Civil War on the Igbo ethnic group and Nigeria generally?
Could there have been a reprisal Military insurrection on July 29,1966 without the gun Furthermore, When Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, bluntly declared publicly that the execution of the coup in the South was tribalistic and his view was corroborated by Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi,Leader of operations in the Western Region that the operation in Lagos were compromised by nepotism,why did Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi dither for about six months without convening the appropriate Military bodies to decide the fates of the coup plotters?
Why did General Aguiyi-Ironsi insist on the promulgation of Decree 34 of 24th May 1966 despite the critical advice and suggestions to him by Lt.Col.Usman Katsina and others ?
The above posers have not been adequately responded to by various writers even though the general public is repeatedly asking questions as to:
When and how did Nigeria start getting it wrong?
What are the impacts of the Military’s dictatorship on the country’s socio-economic, political, social services, infrastructure and public institutions, like the police and the Nigerian Army itself?
Why has Nigeria lost her cherished national ethos, values, standards, rules of engagement? And Why has Nigeria become a country of opposites whereby while a number of those countries with which we were relatively at par at our political Independence in 1960 have become “developed” countries and we remain an “under-developing” country in spite of our quantitative and qualitative natural and human resources advantages?
What are the levers of alternative powers who collaborated or acquiesced to sustain Military dictatorship in Nigeria for so long and the consequences of their actions?
The Gun Hegemony tackles all these posers. As a historical, educative and informative book, it attempts to provide answers and responses to the above posers. The book also challenges other interested observers to write on the consequences of Military dictatorship on our body politics and its enduring negative legacies. Nigerians should be able to appreciate why Nigeria remains a country rather than developing into a nation after 65 post-independence years.
Where would Nigeria be today if the military did not stage the insurrection of January 15,1966?
•Opadokun is the Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO)
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