AKU - An African Journal of Contemporary Research (AAJCR) (Vol. 4 No. 2, 2023)
A HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE MILITARY AS AN AGENT OF CHANGE THAT CHANGES NOTHING, 1966-1998
ABSTRACT
Precisely, January 2020 was exactly fifty years after the Biafra war was fought. From 1966 to 1999, except from 1979 to 1983 - the military held sway in the governance of Nigeria. The military advanced several reasons for their intervention which range from bad governance, and lack of willpower to govern by the political elites to bribery and corruption. Several promises were reeled out by the military on the assumption of power to change the narratives of Nigerian history battered by the incompetent and corrupt political class. How far did the military keep to these promises? Did they create more problems for the nation or did they solve more problems than they met? The methodology adopted in this paper is the historical analysis approach while data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The paper argues that the military caused more problems than they came to solve. The paper, therefore, concludes that the military should be perpetually kept away from the corridors of power.
