Military coups can’t succeed without help of politicians — Abdulsalami
By Jeffrey Agbo
Former military head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, has said that disgruntled politicians are the ones who make the way for coups to occur.
Abdulsalami, who became head of state after Gen. Sani Abacha’s death in June 1998, said in an interview with The Sun newspaper published on Sunday that military officers take advantage of the political situation before staging coups.
“You see, whatever happens, it must be the political field that allows any military man to take over. When you are in government and there is no equity and justice, certainly this brings problem,” he said.
“You have a political party and even in the political party one belongs to, there is no democracy. So, certainly, you will expect some quivers, some quarrels to come out and if they are not handled amicably, certainly, this will result to military takeover.
“Remember there is no military man that takes over without the connivance and assistance of politicians and civilians.”
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Speaking on how democracy has fared in Nigeria, Abdulsalami said he has no regrets handing over to a civilian government but noted that there has been some challenges.
“You know democracy is a continuous process. You can’t say this is democracy. When you describe democracy, you are talking of government of the people, for the people and by the people,” he said.
“Yes, we are not yet there. There are some drawbacks, but compared to 1999 to today, I will say democracy has really made advances in Nigeria.”
Abdulsalami, Nigeria’s last military leader, urged President Bola Tinubu to learn from mistakes of past leaders and correct them while running the country the way he deems best.
In 1999, Abdulsalami kept his promise to return Nigeria to democratic rule by handing over power to democratically elected Olusegun Obasanjo.
