Nigeria still grappling with effects of military rule – Don

A political scientist, Prof. Dhikru Yagboyaju, says Nigeria is still grappling with the effects of military rule, 27 years after it returned to democratic governance.

Mr Yagboyaju said this while delivering a Foreign Policy Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.

The lecture had the topic: “Political Army and Democratisation in Nigeria, 1966-2026”.

The event took place in Lagos.

Mr Yagboyaju said that although the military had stayed away from political governance since Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999, evidence of the “hangover effects” of military rule remained visible in Nigeria’s civilian democracy.

He said the military’s long involvement in politics left institutional and psychological consequences that continued to shape the country’s political system.

According to him, the military has no political mandate and should not, for any reason, govern or become involved in governance.

Mr Yagboyaju described a “political army” as a military force directly or indirectly involved in governance holding partisan political loyalties.

He said that military rule came at enormous cost to both Nigeria and the military institution.

“One of the first casualties of military intervention is moral capital.

“Military rule also results in loss of professionalism, human rights violations and restrictions on political participation.

“Abrogation of the constitution under military governments makes violations of citizens’ rights easier,” he said.

Mr Yagboyaju identified centralisation of power, practice of federalism, political finance and respect for constitutional provisions among areas requiring examination in assessing the ‘continuity’ of military rule under civilian democracy.

He said that monetisation of Nigeria’s political process had made democracy expensive and transactional.

“Politics is not cheap, particularly a multi-party system, and particularly the presidential system but that should not affect the cost of governance,” he said.

He further said that effective democratisation depended on functional institutions, describing the military as a pre-eminent institution in modern governance with traditional roles, duties and functions which should be preserved.
NAN