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Deconstructing Abacha: Demilitarization and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria after the Abacha Era*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

Raphael Chijioke Njoku
Raphael Chijioke Njoku*
Affiliation:
Vrije University Brussels
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Extract

As Recent Demilitarization And Democratic Trends World-Wide have shown, the exit of a dictator of the calibre of Abacha (1993–98) in Nigeria may foster a strong desire among successors for transition to a more democratic order. As in Chile after General Augusto Pinochet, and in Spain after Franco, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who succeeded General Sani Abacha, presided in Nigeria over a programme of transition to civilian rule. This culminated in the election of General Olusegun Obasanjo (retired) in February 1999, and his subsequent official take-over of government in May 1999. However, since new democracies often revert to dictatorships, the new government faces daunting challenges in Nigeria's search for democracy and political stability.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , January 2001 , pp. 71 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 2001

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Footnotes

*

I am immensely grateful to the Belgian Administration (ABOS), the Belgian Embassy in Nigeria, and Prof. Kris Deschouwer of the Centrum voor Politicology, Vrije University Brussels, for providing me with the financial and material resources for this study. I am equally indebted to Gary Kynoch, Bridget Gillich and the anonymous reviewers at Government and Opposition for providing helpful contributions.

References

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3 Judith-Ann Walker, ‘Civil Society and Election in Nigeria’, Transition in Nigeria, op. cit., pp. 54–5. See also Olowolabi, Yemi, ‘Born-Again Helmsman: A Trust of Faith Presents Obasanjo with a Second Chance’, Tell , Lagos, 31 05 1999, pp. 20–21.Google Scholar General Obasanjo was thrown into gaol by Abacha, following an accusation of plotting a coup in 1994.

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44 This was the understanding deduced by Pinkney, who made a critical review of Huntington’s book The Third Wave, in his own very impressive work Democracy in the Third World, op. cit., pp. 120–1.

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54 The surveys are extracts from a preliminary study on ‘The Social Psychology of an Aspiring Democracy.’ [Raphael Njoku, Working Paper, Lagos, 1998].

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59 Joseph, ‘Africa: 1990–1997: From Abertura to Closure’, op. cit., p. 4. According to the author, ‘virtual democracy’ is defined as those transitions that are marked by co-option of rival parties, and in which the result of the transition is by recalcitrance and piecemeal reforms. The overall objective is to present a mere visual notion of democracy, in conformity to foreign pressures to democratize.

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