ASSESSING THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE MILITARY REGIMES TO POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN POST INDEPENDENT NIGERIA, 1966-1999

The military is a vital institution in the modern State system as the major factor that determines the capability and capacity of the State’s national power to make policies within the domestic and the international circles for the overall nation building and political development of States. The Nigeria military as a product of colonialism became a veritable institution imbued with the constitutional mandate to protect the territorial integrity of the country and as well maintain robust civil-military relations necessary for nation building in the post independent Nigeria. This expectation was greeted with much char grin and fiasco, when ethnicity which was implanted by the colonial imperialism as a Pandora box imploded the First Republic in the post independent Nigeria. When the political impasse and imbroglio became nauseating and ad nauseam attesting to the inability of the civil authority to address the nation building challenges confronting Nigeria in the incipient stage of her political independence; it became imperative and behoves on the prestigious military institution to rise to these nation building challenges forthwith. It was on the basis of this background and ambience that the military revolution of 15th January 1966 was staged to save the nation from drifting into political doldrums and abyss. This scenario offered the military the opportunity to impact and contribute to nation building and political development in Nigeria. The paper examines and analyses how far the military has contributed in addressing nation building challenges that have impacted in the overall political development of Nigeria. The paper also looks at how the military institution has assisted the civil authority in addressing nation building challenges in the Fourth Republic.