Nigeria recently marked its 62nd anniversary as a sovereign state after securing independence from Britain in 1960 and since then, it has been a rollercoaster for the country having gone through various stages of development.
At independence, the country was buzzing in the euphoria of what self-governance portends, as it wriggled its way out of British control. The excitement was, however, short-lived following the series of military coups and counter coups and an avoidable civil war which frustrated whatever achievement that could have been recorded in the first decade of independence.
The first coup, led by Chukwuma Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna in 1966, led to the killing of several soldiers and politicians including the prime minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, and the Sultan of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello.
Government and commercial activities were grounded as coup plotters held siege across major cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos within the two-day span of the attacks.
The General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army, Aguiyi Ironsi, was compelled to take control of the government, inadvertently putting Nigeria’s nascent democracy on hold.
The Supreme Military Council was soon established, effectively suspending the constitution in January 17, 1966, heralding the era of military dictatorships in the country.
Six months after the first coup and the subsequent ascension of Major General Aguyi Ironsi as Head of State of Nigeria, there was a second military coup masterminded by Lt. Col. Murtala Muhammed and many northern military officers, whose grievances were; the murder of mainly northern military and civilian leaders in the January 15, 1966 coup.
The July 1966 counter coup resulted in the murder of Nigeria’s first military Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi in Ibadan by angry northern non-commissioned officers. Upon the termination of Ironsi’s government, Lt Colonel Yakubu Gowon was appointed Head of State by the July 1966 coup conspirators.
The years that followed the Gowon government was filled with strife and ethnic tensions all over the country, particularly in northern Nigeria where malice from the first coup that led to the killing of prominent norther leaders grew.
The regional affinity and alleged persecution of the Igbos triggered the secession of the south eastern region on May 30, 1967, when it declared itself the independent Republic of Biafra.
Less than two months after Biafra declared its independence, diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis fell apart and so on July 6, 1967, the federal government, in Lagos, launched a full-scale invasion into Biafra. The war lasted over 30months with casualties estimated to about a million, majority of who are women and children from the Biafran side.
The end of the war came about on 13 January 1970, with Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo’s acceptance of the surrender of Biafran forces. Gowon subsequently declared his famous “no victor, no vanquished” speech, and followed it up with an amnesty for the majority of those who had participated in the Biafran uprising, as well as a program of Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation.
On 29th July 1975 a bloodless military coup overthrew General Yakubu Gowon who at the time of the coup, was attending the 12th unity summit of the Organisation of African in Uganda. The Coup plotters announced Brigadier Murtala Mohammed as the new Head of State with Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo as his Deputy. Just a little over six months later, General Obasanjo soon became the Head of state after the assassination of his principal on 13 February 1976.
General Obasanjo went ahead to transition the country into a civilian rule by handing over to President Shehu Shagari who became the first democratically elected President of Nigeria on October 1 1979, marking the beginning of Nigeria’s second republic.
The Second Republic was plagued by allegations of corruption, including allegations of electoral fraud in the 1983 election. This, coupled with a decline in world oil prices, and a deterioration in the national finances, hardship, leading to the regime becoming deeply unpopular with citizens. This led to the government of Shehu Shagari to be toppled by another coup led by General Muhammadu Buhari on the 31s of December 1983.
In August 1985, Major General Buhari was overthrown in a coup led by General Ibrahim Babangida. Babangida justified the coup by saying that Buhari failed to deal with the country’s economic problems. He then promised to rejuvenate the economy ravaged by decades of government mismanagement and corruption.
By 1989, the Babangida’s government began plans to transition the country to the Third Republic, that brought about the birth of two political parties, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the National Republican Convention, NRC, ahead of the ill-fated June 12 1992 general election.
The June 12, 1992 elections was contested with Chief Moshood Abiola of the SDP slugging it out against Bashir Tofa of the NRC. This election though adjudged by the international community as free and fair, was annulled by President Babangida, citing electoral irregularities.
The annulment was met with widespread protests and unrest in the country. The unrest eventually led to the resignation of General Babangida in August 1993.
Babangida’s departure brought about the interim government of Chief Ernest Sonikan who appointed Abiola as his vice in other to pacify him. However, Abiola continuous refusal to recognized the interim government brought about the seizure of power by General Sani Abacha on 17th of November 1993 until his sudden demise on 8th of June 1998.
After Abacha’s death, the Supreme Military Council choose Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar as the Head of States and was sworn in on June 9th 1998. A few days after assuming office, General Abdulsalam promised to return the country to civil rule within a year, a promised he kept when he transferred power to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the winner of the February 27 1999 Presidential election, on 29th May 1999. This eventually brought about the present Fourth Republic.
Since 1999, Nigeria has been through 5 elections cycles that has produced the four democratically elected presidents of President Olusegun Obasanjo: from May 1999 to May 2007, President Umaru Yar’Adua who died while in office, from May 2007 to May 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan: from May 2010 to May 2015, and President Muhammadu Buhari: from May 2015 till date.
Aside the 1999 elections, every presidential election in Nigeria has always been marred with series of post-election crisis which has led to deaths of Nigerians across the country. These crises have been known to have emanated from unscrupulous political figures whose unguided utterances trigger tension across ethnic divides.
As we move towards another election in February 2023, it is important that politicians and their parties play within the set rule and abide by INEC’s regulation.
Rhetoric such as hates speeches, character assassinations, fake news, ethno-centric campaigns, and other vices capable of plunging the country into further divides must be discouraged at all cost.
The media and its practitioners must hold politicians to accounts in accordance to section 22 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. Media houses must not allow their platforms be used to spread fake news, or seen to be favoring one party or candidate over the others. All parties and candidates must be afforded equal opportunities at all times during the campaign season.
As politicians go about the campaigns for the 2023 elections, they must borrow a leaf from former president Goodluck Jonathan and remember that their ambitions are not worth the blood of any Nigerian.
