Military dictatorship in Nigeria

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Federal Republic of Nigeria
(1966; 1966–1999)
Republic of Nigerianote
(1966)
  • 1966–1979
  • 1983–1993
  • 1993–1999
Motto: "Peace, Unity, Freedom"[1]
(1966–1978)
"Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress"[1]
(1978–1979; 1983–1993; 1993–1999)
Anthem: Nigeria, We Hail Thee[1]
(1966–1978)
Arise, O Compatriots[1]
(1978–1979; 1983–1993; 1993–1999)
Location of Nigeria
CapitalLagos
(1966–1979; 1983–1991)
Murtala Mohammed
• 1976–1979
Olusegun Obasanjo
• 1983–1985
Muhammadu Buhari
• 1985–1993
Ibrahim Babangida
• 1993–1998
Sani Abacha
• 1998–1999
Abdulsalami Abubakarc
Chief of Staff / Vice President 
• 1966
Babafemi Ogundipe (first)
• 1998–1999
Mike Akhigbe (last)
LegislatureNone (
1976 Nigerian coup d'état attempt
13 February 1976
1 October 1979
31 December 1983
27 August 1985
17 November 1993
29 May 1999
Area
1991[4]923,768 km2 (356,669 sq mi)
Population
• 1991[4]
88,514,501
CurrencyNigerian pound
(1966–1973)
Naira (₦)
(1973–1979; 1983–1993; 1993–1999)
Time zoneUTC+1 (WAT)
Driving sideleft (until 2 April 1972)[5]
right
ISO 3166 codeNG
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
First Nigerian Republic
Second Nigerian Republic
Second Nigerian Republic
Third Nigerian Republic
Fourth Nigerian Republic
Today part of
Bakassi peninsula
; governed by Nigeria until 2008

The military dictatorship in Nigeria was a period when members of the Nigerian Armed Forces held power in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999 with an interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The military was able to rise to power often with the tacit support of the elite through coup d'états. Since the country became a republic in 1963, there has been a series of military coups in Nigeria.

Background

The

Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was the face of the coup attempt, which involved five other army majors: Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Adewale Ademoyega and Humphrey Chukwuka. It operated as a clandestine movement of junior officers during the post-independence period of 1960–1966. The plot received support from left-wing intellectuals, who rejected conservative elements in society, like the traditional establishment of Northern Nigeria and sought to overthrow the First Nigerian Republic
.

Military regimes

Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was made the Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria, serving for six months before being overthrown and assassinated in the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup.

Aguiyi-Ironsi was succeeded by General

Supreme Military Council
. Gowon held power until July 1975, when he was overthrown in a bloodless coup.

Nigerian Second Republic
.

The Second Republic was overthrown in the

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Buhari ruled for two years, until the 1985 Nigerian coup d'état, when he was overthrown by General Ibrahim Babangida
.

General Ibrahim Babangida was promulgated as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and established the Armed Forces Ruling Council. His rule was the longest serving peaceful administration typified as the military off dictatorship of the 20th century. Babangida promised a return of democracy when he seized power, but he ruled Nigeria for eight years, when he temporarily handed power to the interim head of state Ernest Shonekan in 1993.

In 1993, General

Interim National Government
and appointed himself Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council of Nigeria.

Transition to democracy

After Abacha's death in 1998, General

1999 presidential election), ending the junta and establishing the Fourth Nigerian Republic
.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9781432788353
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780739109540
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 9780857730954
    .
  4. ^ a b Oshungade, I. O. (1995). "The Nigerian Population Statistics" (PDF). 1995 Directory of Nigerian Statisticians. 2: 58. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Right-Hand/Left-Hand Driving Customs (mostly the change from Left to Right)". rammb.cira.colostate.edu.
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