₦airaland Forum

A former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has explained why Nigeria has not experienced military intervention in its democratic journey since 1999.

Giving specific insight into how he handled the challenge when he was in office, Mr. Obasanjo revealed how he cleverly placed senior military officers on compulsory retirement.

“On assuming office as president, I decided to put an end to these incessant coups. I asked the military to submit the list of all officers who had either participated in coups in the past or benefited in the dividends of coups by being appointed to political office as governors or ministers,” the former president wrote.

“Not knowing what the list was meant for, the military faithfully compiled it and submitted to me as the commander-in-chief and chairman of council of each of the arms of service. Ninety-three officers in all were given six hours’ notice of retirement on a Friday, and ordered not to spend the Friday night in uniform or in barracks to prevent adverse reaction.

“The following Monday, the service council met to ratify the retirement of all the officers. From my vantage position and background as a battle-tested and war-victorious general, I knew that an officer out of uniform and barracks is like a fish out of water, and their power and influence would be greatly diminished.

“The retirement of these 93 officers all in one day was salutary. It meant that taking part in a coup ot benefitting from one could catch up with you, no matter how long it would takes, and for as long as you are alive,” he explained.





Mr. Obasanjo, who first ruled Nigeria as a military head of state between 1976 and 1979, later governed the nation as a democratically elected leader between 1999 and 2007.

While giving insights into how nations of the world can put an end to military interventions, the former president explained that no matter the excuse, military interventions had major negative impact on democracy, governance and unity of Nigeria.

He, however, argued that the often prescribed solution of specifically putting a ban on coups in the constitution was not the answer.


“A coup is a treason punishable by death only if it fails, and yet it puts the plotter in the State House if it succeeds. It was a destructive and destabilising practice, wasteful for the military itself, and undermining in terms of discipline, good order and military conduct,” Mr. Obasanjo wrote.

“A junior officer takes a gun and looks at his political boss and senior officers through its sights, bumps them off and puts himself in the State House.

“He instantly becomes superior and senior to all political and military officers. Such was the situation existing in Nigeria between 1966 and 1999.”


Mr. Obasanjo, however, noted that the officers’ retirement did not stand in the way of any of them entering public life or making progress in it.

“Some of them later entered politics and became elected governors; some went into parliament; others got appointed as ministers and ambassadors,” he wrote.

“The idea was not to punish them for life but to exclude them from positions in the military where they could be coup planners, coup plotters, coup executors or coup beneficiaries.


“And once an officer has tasted the trappings of a political life, of living in a government house, with free food and so on, he would easily look for excuses to want more if he is in a position to make it happen.”

Explaining why the nation hasn’t experienced such incidence of coup d’etat, the former president said the measure was quite effective even if it wasn’t perfect.

“The fact that since 1999, there has not been a coup or an attempted coup in Nigeria speaks to the effectiveness of the measures taken to put an end to the destabilizing influence of coups on the political life and dispensation of Nigeria.

“Before 1999, and since independence, the longest that a democratic dispensation had lasted was six years –from 1960 to 1966.

How Obasanjo made it impossible for military coups in Nigeria

Giving specific insight into how he handled the challenge when he was in office, Mr. Obasanjo revealed how he cleverly placed senior military officers on compulsory retirement.

“On assuming office as president, I decided to put an end to these incessant coups. I asked the military to submit the list of all officers who had either participated in coups in the past or benefited in the dividends of coups by being appointed to political office as governors or ministers,” the former president wrote.

“Not knowing what the list was meant for, the military faithfully compiled it and submitted to me as the commander-in-chief and chairman of council of each of the arms of service. Ninety-three officers in all were given six hours’ notice of retirement on a Friday, and ordered not to spend the Friday night in uniform or in barracks to prevent adverse reaction.

“The following Monday, the service council met to ratify the retirement of all the officers. From my vantage position and background as a battle-tested and war-victorious general, I knew that an officer out of uniform and barracks is like a fish out of water, and their power and influence would be greatly diminished.

“The retirement of these 93 officers all in one day was salutary. It meant that taking part in a coup ot benefitting from one could catch up with you, no matter how long it would takes, and for as long as you are alive,” he explained.

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😆 😂 his father must be a Nigeria

My boys went to spend a night with their dad and this ts he chose to do!!! My baby is so hurt and embarrassed and I'm hurt bc I know how he loved his hair😭 He don't even wanna go back to school, Because he don't feel comfortable with his new looks.

A man established a zoo and made the entrance fee 300$ but no one went there. He reduced it to 200$ but still no one came. He then reduced the fee to 10$ but still people didn't come. Finally, he made it FREE entrance and soon, the zoo was filled with people. Then he quietly locked the gate of the zoo, set the lions free and made the exit fee 500$ and everyone paid! Lesson: As you go about in life, beware of cheap or free offers, they can be terrible.
No business is free!

Military coup from a very intelligent young officer, not more than 50 yrs old is what Nigeria needs now.

God hel0

Dave

Dit fjsdt

Stgdjdd

8 llife

Big size 300k

Potiskum Cattle Market, Yobe State
Potiskum is the largest city in Yobe State. It is a local government area, and the main residents of this town are the Ngizim, Kare-Kare, and Bolewa people. Potiskum emirate was organized by the Ngizim people, who had subjugated the Kare-Kare people. The state was formed in 1809 by a Chief of the Ngizim named Mai Bauya or Buyan.

Potiskum is well known for its trailer business, but did you know that this town is the largest cattle market in Sub-Saharan Africa? Yes, it is and it is one of the top 10 cattle markets in Northern Nigeria, that has a lot of stakes from neighboring states like Borno, Kano, Jigawa, and Bauchi and numerous other countries like Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic.

This cattle market has no specific day for merchants to sell. Other foodstuffs like grains, millets, chickens, fish, and tomatoes, amongst others, are sold here. Although the market was raided more than 4 years ago, it reopened about a year ago and is still the largest cattle market in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Price Range 2023

*Big sized cow (220kg-250kg): 250-300 thousand naira.

*Very large cow (300kg-350kg): 350-500 thousand naira.

*Giant sized cow (400kg-550kg): 500-800 thousand naira.

Mubi Cattle Market, Adamawa State
Mubi is the home of the state famous international cattle market, popularly known as Kasuwan Shanu or Kasuwan Tike situated at the center of the town. Large numbers of cattle and sheep are bought by customers mainly from North-Eastern Nigeria and are distributed to different parts of Southern Nigeria by trailers and trucks.

In general, Mubi is a commercial town owing to its location on the border, many individuals from Nigeria and neighboring countries like Chad, Niger, Cameroon, and Central Africa come to make purchases in the cattle market of Mubi. Although the specific day for their cattle market isn’t known, they do trade cattle here, and these cattle are quite cheap and good for consumption.

what are you waiting for

Always come back and testified when you buy from us .

[b=today is our day][/b]

I forget myself

It's December you can buy for your relatives.

Lucaski:
I meant by flight

1hrs if its direct flight from yola to lagos.

But it's 1hr 45 mins if it en-route flight from yola - Abuja - lagos

Lucaski:
How long does it take to get to lagos

2-3Days from yola to lagos