Military Engagement: Influencing Armed Forces Worldwide to Support Democratic Transitions

11. Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges

215 11 Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges Ecoma Alaga and Richard Akum Military coups were frequent for more than three decades following Nigeria’s independence in 1960. The country experienced seven military coups and countercoups during that period—in 1966, 1975, 1976 (two), 1983, 1985, and 1993—as well as a number of failed coup attempts.1 Indeed, during this period, military rule and involvement in Nigerian politics and government were the norm rather than the exception. Years of military rule eroded the implementation of principles of democratic civilian control of the armed forces that Nigeria had embraced at its founding. Despite prolonged periods of military dictatorship, Nigeria has on three separate occasions—1977, 1989, and 1999—transitioned from military rule to a democratic regime. In each of the three instances, military leaders cooperated with or led the transitions. The third transition, which began with the Olusegun Obasanjo administration of 1999, continues to this day. The Obasanjo government outlined a plan to reform the Nigerian military and security sector and to reinstate effective democratic civil-military relations. Successive Nigerian administrations since Obasanjo have continued to prioritize this agenda. The primary components of the plan have included depoliticization and professionalization of the military, on the one hand, and institutionalization of executive oversight and civilian control of the military and security forces, on the other. Although the country is no longer under military rule, lingering effects from the past continue to exert a negative 11-2478-0 ch11.indd 215 5/20/13 8:47 AM 216 ECOMA ALAGA AND RICHARD AKUM influence on civil management, control, and oversight of the military and security sector in today’s democratizing Nigeria. One observer, Ibikunle Adeakin, even argues that “extensive military prerogatives have been accorded to the Nigerian military after their handover of power in 1999, and this [has] further helped to strengthen authoritarian tendencies.”2 The civil-military component of the democratic consolidation agenda in Nigeria that began in 1999 has been especially challenging for three principal reasons. First, according to scholars such as Funmi Olonisakin and Kayode Fayemi, the military legacy of colonialism influenced and shaped Nigerian (and many other African) armed forces.3 During the colonial period, the army was the defender of colonial authority and the oppressor of ordinary people. Under the colonial system, there was no tradition of strong legitimate civilian institutions to maintain democratic control over a professional military and security establishment. Rather, there was “colonial civilian control,” the key “mechanisms of which included the predominance of British citizens in the officer corps, anglification of the artillery unit, manipulation of pay scales for the rank and file, and frequent rotation of military units to prevent undue fraternization with locals.”4 The new African leadership that emerged after independence preserved the structure of the security forces and followed an agenda similar to that of their colonial predecessors. The military and security establishment became the protector of the African elite and was used to intimidate and oppress ordinary people . This type of skewed civil-military relations was common throughout Africa. The second reason that a democratic civil-military relationship has been difficult to achieve relates to the civil war from 1967 to 1970, which further undermined democratic civilian management and control of the military.5 The armed forces were managed and controlled by the Supreme Military Council and Federal Executive Council, both chaired by the military head of state, Major General Yakubu Gowon. The Federal Executive Council included civilian politicians such as Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the federal commissioner (minister) for finance and vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council, and Anthony Ukpabi Asika, the civilian administrator of the East Central State.6 These prominent civilian politicians were included in the government to broaden political support for the war; however, their participation in the Federal Executive Council was short lived. In 1975 General Gowon revamped the membership of this body to include more military ministers, and he increasingly depended on a small group of (mostly military) advisers to steer the affairs of the state. The civil war also had an impact on broader issues of civil-military relations. The government forces applied brutal tactics to prosecute the war, using hunger 11-2478-0 ch11.indd 216 5/20/13 8:47 AM 217 CIVIL-MILITARy RELATIONs IN NIGERIA and starvation as weapons against the enemy, primarily civilians. Government...