The Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, on Wednesday blamed the military for Nigeria’s current challenges.
Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 with the election of President Olusegun Obasanjo under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), marking 26 years of uninterrupted democracy.
Speaking on Channels Television’s special broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day, Nwankwo, a lawyer, argued that the military’s legacy continues to shape the nation’s governance structure.
“When Obasanjo assumed office, he still carried the influence of his military background, and a full transition to civilian governance never truly occurred,” he said.
“Because we had a unitary system of government that became more entrenched under General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Babangida, and the brutal dictator General Sani Abacha, there was no genuine return to civilian rule.”
He added that every president since 1999 has continued to govern using the military’s centralised framework, preventing Nigeria from embracing true federalism.
“The struggle to decentralise power and dismantle the unitary system remains ongoing. The tension between federal and state authorities has hindered our independence,” Nwankwo stated.
“The military, very sadly, has brought us to where we are today. They have been a major disaster for this country,” he concluded.