Military Takeover Not Impossible

To this end, the leadership in Nigeria should make the necessary amends by providing good governance, lest the experience of Madagascar where the armed forces were involved in 2009 Malagasy political crisis and the 2025 Malagasy protests, playing a central role in the subsequent 2025 Malagasy Mutiny, replicates itself in Nigeria.

Hooliganism according to the dictionary meaning refers to behaviour that is rowdy, violent, or destructive, often in a public setting. Hooliganism in the Nigeria settings with particular reference to politics, which many believe to be a game of number has become as a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society and painting a clear picture of the Nigeria political elites, as nothing other than bandits and terrorists in the clothing of leaders and politicians. This has lent credence to the believe that social order without morality which is a product of religion is an impossibility as well as impracticable. There are so many happenings unfolding within the Nigeria space which aim at destroying the established social order with the most prominent as the gale of defections of politicians from the political parties through which they were elected into offices to the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC). Morality has no regard for positions and it is either one has it or not, and shame which is the cousin of morality is not the preserve of people in positions of authority. The state of democracy in Nigeria is at its lowest in terms of ratings, especially when compared with not only countries considered as developed such as the United States and the United Kingdom, but with some African Countries, which are also developing such as Senegal and Ghana. What is most worrisome about the behaviour of the Nigerian Politicians is the impunity with which they carry out their activities, which are immoral and illegal. The State Governors are not exempted as can be seen in how the South-south and South-east Governors discarded the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party that gave them the ticket to contest and which they used as a vehicle to win elections and defected to the ruling party the All Progressive Congress (APC). These Governors are those of Delta: Sheriff Oborevwori, Akwa-Ibom: Pastor Umo Eno, Enugu: Peter Mbah and the most recent, Bayelsa: Douye Diri.

What is appalling and heart-wrenching about their actions are the flimsy excuses they gave which include connecting their States to the Central, and the crisis going on in the PDP which may jeopardize their chances of winning their second term elections. These politicians are selfish and lawless to say the least. What is most disturbing to any keen observer is the non-performance of the party into which they defected which alludes to the speculation that they did defect by succumbing to the pressure of cohesion and intimidation from the ruling party. It becomes crystal clear that even an Angel can be corrupted by the ruling APC party which also was a product of electoral frauds and manipulations. The results coming from the pulse of the Nation are those of uncertainty and foreseeable dangers especially in relation to the 2027 elections. This also brings to the fore the discussions about who the new INEC chairman is, in terms of his credentials. There is no gainsaying the fact that Professor Joash Amupiton has an impeccable pedigree and integrity, and to this end, his appointment by the president of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu was a tactics and ploys to deceive Nigerians and take their eyes off ball of corruption and create in them an erroneous complacency as one of the strategies to rig the 2027 elections. The game plan is that while Nigerians are fixated on the chairman of INEC, the ruling party will rig the elections without necessarily needing the new INEC chairman to cause a glitch to happen on the IREV as the former INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu did. The ruling party APC needs only to perfect its game plans which it has begun including destabilizing the opposition parties, causing mass defection of members of the opposition parties to it at all levels including, the State and the National Assembly. Do not forget that the Judiciary is already in the pocket of the President as can be seen in the unlawful detention of the leader of the proscribed indigenous people of Biafra IPOB leader, Mr. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, for almost a decade now, even after an Appeal court discharged and acquitted him.

Nigerians are watching with dismay how president Bola Ahmed Tinubu is using the not served dichotomy to further tear the country apart, along the lines of ethnicity and religion. If the first term of Mr. President is so disruptive and destructive to the structures and pillars of democracy, his second term, if care is not taking will dismember the country. On the rumours being peddled about a failed coup attempt as the cause of why the activities year-marked to commemorate the 65^th anniversary on October 1^st were cancelled. The rumour may not be true but is significant in many ways. It is an admission whether the leadership believes it or not, of how precarious the state of the Nation is, and learns a credence to how unsalutary the relationship between the leaders and the followers in Nigeria is, and should anything of such happens, the military should not be blamed. If you recall, the Chief of General staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa at different foras had attributed the major cause of insecurity in the country to bad governance and by extension indicted the government of the day on the problems of insecurity. To this end, the leadership in Nigeria should make the necessary amends by providing good governance, lest the experience of Madagascar where the armed forces were involved in 2009 Malagasy political crisis and the 2025 Malagasy protests, playing a central role in the subsequent 2025 Malagasy Mutiny, replicates itself in Nigeria.

It would amount to insanity for anyone to believe that what happened in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and the most recent in Malagasy cannot happen in Nigeria. Such a believe is tantamount to disputing the truism regarding death as the only certain thing in life. Nobody should pray for a military comeback but the antidote remains as good governance and a corruption free society. People get the history they deserve. God bless Nigeria.

By Samuel Tunji Adeyanju