Military Era & Coups in Nigeria
Military regimes, coups, economic policies, and the transition to democratic governance in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999.
Murtala Muhammed Assassination: The Eyewitness Account of His Final Moments
The Murtala Muhammed assassination on 13 February 1976 was one of the most consequential acts of political violence in post-independence Nigerian history. General Murtala...
Bamanga Tukur: The Remarkable Life of Nigeria’s Former Governor, Business Leader and PDP Chairman, 1935–2026
Bamanga Tukur was a Nigerian businessman, public administrator and politician whose career extended across some of the most consequential periods in the country’s modern...
Joseph Dechi Gomwalk: The Remarkable Life of Benue-Plateau’s First Governor and His Execution in 1976
Joseph Dechi Gomwalk was a Nigerian police commissioner who became the first Military Governor of Benue-Plateau State in 1967. During his eight years in...
Sergeant Bakari and the Southern Nigeria Regiment
Sergeant Bakari and the Southern Nigeria Regiment occupy an important place in the visual history of British colonial rule in Nigeria. An archival photograph...
The Pro-Abacha Rally in Ibadan
The pro-Abacha rally in Ibadan on 15 April 1998 became the scene of a violent confrontation between supporters of Nigeria's military head of state,...
Obasanjo’s Letters to Gowon: 4 Revealing Wartime Dispatches from Nigeria’s Civil War
Obasanjo’s letters to Gowon in 1969 provide a revealing account of the difficulties confronting the Nigerian Army during the final year of the Civil...
4 Major Political Crises of the Nigeria’s First Republic
On 1 October 1960, Nigeria gained independence from Britain and began a new chapter of self-government under a parliamentary constitution. Yet, within six years,...
Who is Lt-Col Abogo Largema?
Lieutenant-Colonel Abogo Largema was Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Army’s 4th Battalion at Ibadan when Nigeria’s First Republic entered its final hours. Yet when...
5 Critical Political Violence Before Nigeria’s First Coup
Political Violence Before Nigeria's First Coup developed through several years of escalating political confrontation rather than one sudden national breakdown. When Nigeria became independent...
Joshua Dogonyaro 1985 Coup Speech: The Powerful 27 August Broadcast That Ended Buhari’s First Rule
The Joshua Dogonyaro 1985 coup speech became one of the most memorable military broadcasts in modern Nigerian history. In the early hours of 27...