In Nigeria’s tumultuous military era, the 1990 Orkar Coup stands out as a bold, ideologically provocative attempt to overthrow head of state General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. On 22 April 1990, Major Gideon Gwaza Orkar, with a group of officers, launched operations in Lagos targeting key installations including Dodan Barracks (the official residence and military headquarters) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) station.
Against a backdrop of economic hardship, public grievances over structural adjustment, and perceptions of ethnic imbalance in power, the coupers issued a startling proclamation: that five northern states, Sokoto, Borno, Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, should be excised from Nigeria.
This declaration, unusually radical for a coup, revealed that the plotters were not simply seeking regime change but proposing a redefinition of Nigeria’s structure. The audacity of this act guaranteed that the coup would be judged not only militarily but existentially.
Key Events and Actors
Major Gideon Gwaza Orkar was the public face of the coup. He had joined the military cadet corps in 1972 and advanced through the ranks, serving in armored and staff roles.
Colonel Anthony Nyiam is often cited as a senior conspirator who may have helped conceive strategy. In later interviews, Nyiam claimed he was approached by younger officers and joined their cause, not as mastermind but as the senior officer willing to lend legitimacy.
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That night, the plotters captured parts of Lagos, including Dodan Barracks and the FRCN station, broadcasting their pronouncements. Babangida was present at Dodan when it was attacked, but by various accounts escaped via back routes.
However, the coup lacked sufficient support across the military command. Loyalist officers rallied quickly. General Sani Abacha is credited by many narratives with mobilising forces to counter the coup in Lagos, aiding in rescuing the regime.
By dawn, the uprising had collapsed. Hundreds of arrests followed, including military personnel and some civilians.
Economic and Social Context
Economically, Nigeria in the late 1980s was under strain from Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) supported by the IMF. Price liberalisation, subsidy removals, and austerity measures had alienated many citizens.
Within the military, discontent simmered. Middle-rank officers often lamented what they saw as promotion bias, regional favouritism, and a sense that the military hierarchy served narrow interests.
Ethnic identity was central to the coup’s rhetoric. The broadcast emphasised that the South and Middle Belt had suffered political marginalisation at the hands of northern dominance. This framing resonated with some voices in the Niger Delta and southern states, though not universally.
Thus, the Orkar coup was not simply a seizure of power but a challenge to the terms of Nigeria’s national pact and the perceived balance of inclusion.
Colonial Legacy and Structural Inequality
To understand the logic underlying the coup’s rhetoric, one must recognise how colonial and postcolonial patterns entrenched regional disparities. Colonial rule had concentrated administrative, legal, and educational advantages in parts of Nigeria. Post-independence, power distribution often followed those patterns, reinforcing inequality and distrust between regions.
The Orkar coup’s demands to excise states can be read as a dramatic repudiation of how Nigeria’s boundaries and governance had been inherited and contested, from colonial origins.
Aftermath and Trials
Following the defeat, the Babangida regime responded with swift reprisals. A military tribunal led by Major General Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu prosecuted about 42 alleged plotters, many of whom were executed on 27 July 1990 after closed trials.
Some sources note that these trials occurred in camera and were critiqued by Human Rights Watch for lack of transparency and due process.
After initial executions, controversy over perceived ethnic bias in acquittals led the regime to order retrials of some previously acquitted soldiers. A second wave of executions reportedly followed.
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The regime also used the coup aftermath to purge the military of potentially disloyal officers and to tighten internal surveillance. The event deepened Babangida’s resolve to centralise power and insulate the presidency from internal threats.
Legacy Today
The 1990 Orkar coup remains a turning point in Nigeria’s political memory.
- Rhetoric of Excision: Few coups ever sought to revise the federation’s map so radically. Though the excision demand was never realised, the fact that it was uttered officially left a lasting symbolic scar in national discourse.
- Reinforcement of Military Stability as Prerequisite: The failure reinforced the idea, among subsequent regimes, that the military must remain cohesive and keep regional dissent suppressed.
- Narratives of Marginalisation: Some political commentators argue that Orkar’s grievances, inequity, resource control, ethnic imbalances, continue to animate debates around restructuring, resource derivation, and devolution.
- Ethnic Caution in Coup Plots: The ethnic framing is widely judged as a fatal flaw. The alienation it created, particularly among northern officers, undermined potential support, making the coup collapse on its own rhetoric.
- Human Rights and Justice: The secretive nature of the tribunals remains a subject of ethical debate. Observers continue to echo calls for more open judicial standards and accountability in military justice.
Thus, while the Orkar coup failed militarily, it cast long shadows over how Nigeria deals with discontent, ethnicity, and military authority.
The 1990 Orkar coup was more than a hurried military rebellion, it challenged the legitimacy of Nigeria’s national structure. Its daring calls to excise states and expose regional discontent placed it in a category all its own among Nigerian coups. Yet, the coup’s ethnic framing and lack of broader support sealed its fate.
In its failure, it affirmed that Nigeria’s unity is fragile and continually contested, especially in environments where inequality and exclusion persist. The Orkar saga is a historical caution: power cannot be seized without legitimacy, and grievances cannot be suppressed without eventual contestation.
Author’s Note
This article examines the 1990 Orkar coup as a defining moment in Nigeria’s political history, illustrating how ethnic tensions, economic hardship, and authoritarian governance converged to challenge the nation’s stability. The coup’s failure reinforced the central government’s dominance but also exposed the deep-seated structural inequalities that continue to shape Nigeria’s political landscape.
References
- Human Rights Watch. Nigeria: 42 Executed After Unfair Trial. 1990. (Report on treatment of coup plotters) Human Rights Watch
- “The Orkar Coup of April 22, 1990.” Dawodu. (Contemporary account and tribunal detail) dawodu.com
- Dawodu / Gamji recount. The Orkar Coup of April 1990 (summary of trial and executions)
