Sound Bite
An insider traces the details of hope and ambition gone wrong in the “Giant of Africa,” Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. When it gained independence from Britain in 1960, hopes were high that, with mineral wealth and over 140 million people, the most educated workforce in Africa, Nigeria would become Africa’s first superpower and a stabilizing democratic influence in the region.
However, these lofty hopes were soon dashed and the country lumbered from crisis to crisis, with the democratic government eventually being overthrown in a violent military coup in January 1966. From 1966 until 1999, the army held onto power almost uninterrupted under a succession of increasingly authoritarian military governments and army coups. Military coups and military rule (which began as an emergency aberration) became a seemingly permanent feature of Nigerian politics.
About the Book
The author names names, and explores how British influence aggravated indigenous rivalries. He shows how various factions in the military were able to hold onto power and resist civil and international pressure for democratic governance by exploiting the country's oil wealth and ethnic divisions to its advantage.
Africa is more and more in the headlines as developed countries—and China—clash over the need for the continent’s resources. Yet there are few serious books to help us understand any aspect of the never-ending cascade of wars and conflicts. Other titles on Nigeria are mostly children’s books or travel guides, with the exception of Daniel Jordan Smith’s A Culture of Corruption. The current work focuses specifically on the social tensions, the motivations and the methods of the series of coups that rent Nigeria.
Table content
Chapter 1. The Pre-Coup Days: Politics and Crisis
Independence
Igbos
Corruption
1964 Federal Elections
The Wild West
Chapter 2. The Nigerian Army: The Way Things Were
Nigerianization
The First GOC
Maimalari
Ademulegun
Aguiyi-Ironsi
Ogundipe
The Army under Aguiyi-Ironsi
Chapter 3. Soldiers and Politics
These Bookish People
The Inner Circle
Method of Recruitment
The Awolowo Factor
Unheeded Warnings
Chapter 4. Enter "The Five Majors"
Towards the First Coup
January 14 1966: Friday Night Party at Brigadier Maimalari's House, 11 Thompson Avenue, Lagos
Saturday Morning, January 15, 1966: "Plenty Plenty Palaver"
Events Overnight
Brigadier Ademulegun
Colonel Shodeinde
Strategic Locations
Lagos
Strategic Locations
The GOC in Town
Chapter 5. From Civilian to Military Rule: History in the Making
Reaction to the Coup
Saturday January 15, 1966
Saturday January 15–Sunday January 16, 1966
Sunday Evening, January 16, 1966, Cabinet Office
Thursday, January 20, 1966: A Grisly Discovery
Friday January 21, 1966
Chapter 6. A New Type of Government
Governing Organs of the Military Government
Reaction to the new Regime
Legal and Constitutional Basis of Military Rule
Military Governance
Unification Decree
The May 1966 Riots
Fear of an Igbo Planet
Was Aguiyi-Ironsi an Accomplice?
Provocation in the North
Chapter 7. The Army Implodes...
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