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Military Rule And Political Transition In Nigeria: An Appraisal Of Abacha Regime (1993- 1998)
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1.4 Significance of the Study
The most important significance of
this study is that even in the context of the liberal democratic
project, what remains largely lacking in existing studies is analysis of
the specificity of ethnicity in on-going democratic transitions in
Africa. There is need to analyse the impact of ethnicity not only the
process of transition, but also its different phases.
This study is
therefore significance because it helps research students or scholars,
as well as those who wish to specialise in this area of study, to
understand and be in position to analyse the major influence or causes
of military interventions in Nigerian politics, again the main roles
being played by ethno political organisations in Nigeria whether
positive or negative, and finally, to understand the prospects and
challenges being faced by the military and ethno political organisations
in Nigeria‟s transition to civil rule.
1.5 Literature Review
Literature
review of this work is based on different comments and findings of
different scholars on their views and prospects about military in
politics.
Ruth First, (1970) explained military intervention in
relation think tank theories. One of such the ones was that expounded by
Finer. The Finer explains intervention primarily in terms of social
environment in which the military functions. According to levels of
political cultures, which were determined by the strength or weakness
attached to civilian institutions.
Janowitz School (1964) on the
other hand, draws attention to the properties of military itself to its
hierarchical organisation and its distinctive patterns of recruitment
and training, control and discipline.
Huntington, (1964:194) sees
military intervention as being apolitical in nature. To him, in
societies where social institutions and social forces are highly
politicized, such as political universities, political bureaucracies,
and political clergy and of cause political armed forces, military
intervention is inevitable.
According to Alex Thomson (2000:131) he
sees coup d etat as sudden illegal displacement of government in which
members of the security forces play a prominent role. He says coup can
be reactionary or revolutionary, bloody or bloodless. They must however
be sudden, lasting a matter of hours or days rather than weeks.
For
Steve Egbo, (2001:8) he sees military coup as a situation where the
military may decide to overthrow the existing government and assume
total control of the apparatus of the state and civil government at its
highest level which is commonly known as coup d etat, it is often
achieved through excessive violence and bloodshed.
In view of Emezi
and Ndo, (1987:37) military rule is generally regarded as an aberration.
A generally accepted political system in such a system that is governed
directed and controlled by civilian political class which has been
recruited by popular choice to the decision making structures of the
state.
Ndo further argued that military rule is not a viable
substitute to a properly and popularly elected government. A. K. Ocran
observed that the competence of the military in the area of political
leadership is unconstitutional. He argued that the soldiers should leave
politics alone when they try to run a country. This is regardless of
the fact that the military when compared with their civilian
counterparts have shown to be more worthy of political leadership.
Isawa
Elangwu, (1988:120) in his, Gowon: the Biography of a soldier_
statement takes a look at the political biography of Gowon. He observed
that while Gowon demonstrated beyond doubt that he was an effective
binder, his energies were soon too taxed by a number of dilemma in
Nigerian political system/. This dilemma he argues was later responsible
for his dismiss in 1975. They include the inability to implement
satisfactorily his nine point political programme. Announced in 1970,
Black and African Festival of Arts and culture (FESTAC), Udoji salary
awards and inflationary frails, labour strikes and a change for Gowon of
his lieutenants who had been in office since 1967.
There was also
industrial unrest, abandoned property issue, “Dodam Barracks Politics,â€
corruption of in high places especially among the lieutenants. The
corruption of this lieutenants attracted public outcry that they should
be removed. Yet Gowon remained adamant. He would see no need to
primitive measures to check the excesses of his lieutenants.
As
regards being more of political leadership as observed by Ocran, one
wonders on how an ill-trained person would effectively lead without
being eluded. It was against this backdrop that Oyediran stressed that
it was only in the areas which are related to the normal functioning of
the military as an institution that success has been much achieved.
However, Ocran advocated that before political power can be handed over
to the military and democratically elected civilian government there
should be a transition to civil rule programme which would be lengthy so
as to make room for the drafting of a new constitution, established of
political institutions and the election of civilians into
representative‟s political positions. He further asserts that there
should be a reorientation of the masses Vis –a- Vis their social
political psychological and economic consciousness. For Ocran, a
complete demiliterilization of the political system entails such a
comprehensive programme of military transition to civil rule. He
however, cautioned that any lastly transfer of political power would
simply encourage the re-emergence of the military.
As laudable as
this preposition might seem, it had so far served to perpetuate military
rule due to the extensive process of military disengagement which such
political programmes requires. To this extent, many military transitions
to civil rule programmes tend to prolong military rule, on this issue
of political education through state agencies, there tend to be a
contradiction because of power can truly educate the masses on the
principles of democracy.
A number of writers have their conceptions
bout the reason why corruption is prevalent in the military and other
developing countries. Verda Eker, (1981:25- 70) in his article published
in the journal of modern African studies sees corruption as a wide
spread phenomenon in the developing worlds. The term he argued is
usually reserved for the practice of using power of office for making
private gain in branch of the laws and regulations normally in force or
as more simply defined by M. C. Milan, a public official is corrupt if
he accepts money for doing something that he is under duty to do any
way, that he is under duty to do or exercise a legitimate discretion,
for improper reasons. He says that corruption flourish in Nigerian
military because the necessary and sufficient conditions for its
existence are prevalent in Nigeria. Among the necessary conditions are
the existences of surplus national wealth, the concentration of
political and economic decisions making power in official Dom and the
high growth rate of national wealth? The necessary conditions are what
he referred to as normal code and authority structure.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This study analyzes military rule and the political transition to democracy in Nigeria. It enquires into how military intervenes in the Nigerian politics in the recent time. The study also examines how corruption induces military intervention in Nigerian politics due to the embezzlement of public funds by our political leaders as well as mismanagement of government properties. This study looks at the major challenges in Nigeria‟s transition to democratic rule so as to establish the gap in ... Continue reading---
