TOWARDS MILITARY DISENGAGEMENT Flashcards
tansition leading to the fourth republic
General Murtala Ramat Mohammed succeeded General Yakubu Gowon as the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces. However, his rule was short lived as he was assassinated by coup plotters shortly after he had announced the creation of new additional States from 12 to 19 and the movement of the Federal Capital from Lagos to Abuja. He was succeeded by General Olusegun Obasanjo as the new Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces. One of the major challenges of the regime was the disengagement of the military from the political scene, to the barracks. This was a promise made by his predecessor General Murtala Ramat Mohammed in 1975 which he pledged to implement to the letter in line with the mood of the moment. More so, the political environment both at home and abroad was no longer conducive for military rule, not with the barrage of criticisms from the academia and the Nigerian press calling for quick return to civil rule.
General Obasanjo in the Saddle
On October 4, 1975, the Head of State Brigadier Murtala Mohammed had announced the committee of 50 wise men charged with the responsibility of drafting a new Constitution to guide the conduct of government in the Second Republic. The wise men were later to become 49 because one of the members, Chief Obafemi Awolowo declined his appointment on the pretext that he was not consulted before he heard his name in the media. However, the committee held its maiden meeting on October 18, 1975 at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos. Addressing the meeting, the Head of State, Brigadier Murtala Mohammed declared the military government s position on some settled issues and then went ahead to recommend the Executive Presidential System in which the President and the Vice-President would be directly elected by the people.
Other issues included:
• Commitment to a Federal System
• Elimination of unhealthy competition among the political class
• Decentralization of power
• A good electoral system to ensure free, fair and credible elections in the country
• The country should remain a secular state. There should be no state religion
• The principle of federal character should be reflected in the federal, and state appointments.
The committee which was headed by Chief Frederick Rotimi Alade Williams submitted its report on September 14, 1976 to Lt-Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. On October 7, 1976 the draft Constitution was launched for public debate by the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Brigadier Shehu Musa Yar’Adua to allow for a robust debate by the Constituent Assembly.
Elections into New Local Government Councils and the Constituent Assembly
In line with its transition programme, the military government conducted elections into the newly created Local Government Areas throughout the Federation on the zero-party bases. That marked the first election to be conducted in almost a decade of political instability in the country. The exercise which was conducted in December 1976 witnessed the election of Council Chairmen and Councillors without any political party affiliations. This was aimed at giving the people at the grassroots the opportunity of having a bite at the apple of democracy. Also in August 1977 the Federal Military Government conducted elections to elect delegates into the Constituent Assembly which was charged with the sole responsibility of thoroughly debating the draft Constitution in order to have a workable document for the country. The Constituent Assembly had 232 members out of which only 203 were popularly elected from each Local Government Areas in the country. Other delegates were appointed by the government to represent special interests such as: women, students, traditional rulers, labour, the press, commerce and industry, etc. The Assembly submitted its report in August 1978 and in September 21, 1978 General Olusegun Obasanjo lifted the ban on political activities in the country. This opened a floodgate of opportunity for the formation of political parties to contest the 1979 general elections.
Emergence of Political parties in the Second Republic
According to Amadu Kurfi (1983:93), the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) had on its record 52 Associations that announced their existence since the ban on political activities was lifted. Out of this number, 35 applied for registration, but by 31st December 1978 which was the closing date, only 19 Associations considered themselves eligible and submitted application but only five were eventually recognized and registered. One of the five registered political parties was the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) which was announced by Chief Obafemi Awolowo within 24 hours after the lifting of the embargo by the Federal Military Government.
The party was built on the ideology of democratic socialism with the four cardinal programmes viz:
i) Free education at all levels
ii) Free medical services
iii) Full and gainful employment, and
iv) Integrated rural development.
Membership of the party was replete with the old members of the defunct Action Group with the exception of a few like Chief Anthony Enahoro, Dr. Samuel Gumsu Ikoku who had disagreed with Chief Obafemi Awolowo on principle over continued participation in the military regime after the civil war and others who had gone with the Chief Akintola s NNDP during the 1962/64 Western Region crisis.
The other four registered political parties were:
- National Party of Nigeria (NPN)
- Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP)
- Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP)
- Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)
The NPN
This party had Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari as its flag bearer and actually won the 1979 election to become the first Executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The NPN was a reincarnation of the defunct Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC) of the First Republic. Although the party did not profess any ideology, it was inclined towards a free market economy and its major policy thrust was on agriculture for which it designed a term green revolution. Unlike the UPN, the party’s Chairman was different from its flag bearer. While Chief Meredith Adisa Akinloye was the Chairman, the Presidential flag bearer was Alhaji Shehu Shagari which was in sharp contrast with the UPN structure where the two positions were combined by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The NPP The founder and leader of this party was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who also led the defunct National Convention of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) in the First Republic. The Constitution, the manifesto, political philosophy and membership of the NPP was similar with those of the defunct NCNC. There was a dichotomy between the office of the Chairman of the party and its Presidential flag-bearer. Like the NPN, while Chief Olu Akinfosile was the party s National Chairman, its Presidential candidate was the Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The GNPP This party was a breakaway faction of the NPP under the leadership of Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim who was popularly known in the political circle as the apostle of politics without bitterness . Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim served as a Minister with Cabinet rank under the Balewa s government. Like his UPN counterpart, the positions of the party’s Chairman and the Presidential flag bearer were combined as the Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim and the party tilted toward progressivism.
The PRP Mallam Aminu Kano who was the leader of the Peoples Redemption Party joined the National Party of Nigeria before he pulled out to form his own party. The PRP attracted majority of members of the defunct Northern Element Progressives Union (NEPU), a party of Nigerian radicals and Talakawas who are anti-northern oligarchy. Both Mallam Aminu Kano s PRP and the Waziri s GNPP were later to form an alliance with the UPN and a faction of the Azikiwe s NPP to fight the 1983 general elections.
The 1979 General Elections
By January 1979 all the political parties have started traversing every nook and cranny of Nigeria canvassing for votes from the electorates. Parties held rallies, picnics and national conventions to mobilize, educate and enlighten the people about the programme of their parties and also about the election procedure. The five political parties fielded candidates for seats in the Senate, House of Representatives and the States House of Assemblies.
