Military Era & Coups in Nigeria
Military regimes, coups, economic policies, and the transition to democratic governance in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999.
Donald Dick Etiebet and the Three-Month Rule That Ended With a Coup
Chief Donald Dick Etiebet occupies a brief but important place in Nigeria’s political history. He served as Governor of old Cross River State for...
The Leaders, the Photograph, and the Fall of Nigeria’s Second Republic
A photograph connected to Nigeria’s Second Republic leaders in 1983 has continued to draw attention because of the powerful moment it represents. The image...
Buhari, the Golden Eaglets, and Nigeria’s 1985 Triumph in China
In August 1985, Nigeria’s under-16 football team gave the country one of its proudest sporting moments. The team, later widely remembered as the Golden...
When Soldiers Ended Shagari’s Republic And Returned Nigeria To Military Rule
On 31 December 1983, Nigeria’s Second Republic came to an abrupt end. President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, the country’s first executive president under the...
Colonel Garba Mohammed and the WAI Portrait of Nigeria’s Military Era
The portrait of Colonel Garba A. Mohammed belongs to one of the most symbolic periods in Nigeria’s military history. It shows more than a...
Abacha’s Deputy Accused of Treason, The Diya Coup Allegation That Shook Nigeria in 1998
By late 1997, General Sani Abacha’s government stood at one of the most tense moments in Nigeria’s modern history. Abacha had ruled since November...
The Fake Abacha Son and the Court Case That Exposed Nigeria’s Early Fourth Republic Struggles
In February 2000, Nigeria was less than one year into the Fourth Republic. Civilian rule had returned in May 1999, but the country was...
Buhari and the Ogareku Title of Ebiraland
In 1985, Muhammadu Buhari stood at the height of military power in Nigeria. He was then Major General Muhammadu Buhari, Head of State of...
How Governor Olabisi Onabanjo Moved Against the Awujale, and How the 1983 Coup Changed the Course of the Crisis
The clash between Governor Olabisi Onabanjo of Ogun State and Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, remains one of the most dramatic...
The Family of M.K.O. Abiola Before June 12
Before June 12 became a date of grief, protest, detention, and unfinished national memory, the Abiola name could still be seen in another light,...