Who says coup d’état is not possible in Nigeria or anywhere for that matter? Let no one delude themselves and treat their citizens anyhow on the false oars that coup is not possible or that no individual or group of individuals can touch them. The purpose of this essay is not to incite a coup or encourage violent overthrow of the status quo. Rather it is to correct a misconception about coups and to educate ourselves about the terminology.
Let us take a quick look at the various but similar definitions of coup d’état as researched for us by Google,
Coup d’état – Wikipedia A coup d’état also known simply as a coup (/kuː/), a putsch golpe de estado, or an overthrow, is the illegal and overt seizure of a state by the military or other …
Coup d’état – Dictionary.com Technically any sudden, decisive political act but popularly restricted to the overthrow of a government. Coup d’état in Culture. Coup d’état [(kooh day-tah)] A quick and decisive seizure of governmental power by a strong military or political group.
Coup D’état – Merriam-Webster A sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially: the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group; a military coup d’état of the dictator.
Coup d’état | political intervention | Britannica.com Coup d’état, also called Coup, the sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group. The chief prerequisite for a coup is control of all or part…
A violent overthrow of government does not always necessarily engage the entire governmental machinery; as we saw in Italy in 1978 when the then Prime Minister Professor Aldo Moro was abducted at noon in broad day light in front of Parliament and his body parts were dispatched piece meal to post offices in Rome! A change of leadership in government was de facto effected. When charming President John F Kennedy was assassinated again in broad daylight in Dallas Texas USA, 1963, leadership of government was immediately swept away and new leadership emerged. On October 6 1981 Anwar Sadat was swept off power by a single bullet and government changed hands in Egypt. October 31 1984 saw the all powerful Mrs Indira Gandhi the Prime Minister of India falling to the bullets of her police guards and 7 years later on May 21 1991 a lone female suicide bomber snuffed life out of her son Rajiv Gandhi also a Prime Minister and power quickly changed hands in the aftermath.
Not all coups are successful. But nearly all coups achieve their purpose at least to terminate the status quo. It is strictly in this sense that a coup is possible anywhere in the world.
One can argue though that a totally all embracing coup like the ones characteristically organized, sponsored and carried out by the Military wing of Northern Political Establishment in Northern Nigeria may not be possible again in Nigeria. Thanks to the death of Northern Nigeria as a political unit and the complete breakdown of all unifying factors in Nigeria.
Let no one however delude themselves that if there is a coup anywhere that the so-called Western Powers will intervene. False! More coups across the globe had been engineered and financed and in some cases militarily assisted by the so-called Western Powers namely the notorious USA, the mindless Britain and the usually confused France. They call it ‘regime change’. They staged the coups that violently tore off Sadam’s head in Iraq and brutally humiliated Ghadafi in Libya plunging their hitherto great and prosperous countries into ruins and horrendous poverty. It was ‘regime change’ in Egypt that ended the administration of the democratically elected government of Mohammed Morsi and imposed Abdul Fattah Sisi on that prehistoric bastion of civilization.
The US is characteristically unapologically interested totally in her selfish national project, no more no less!
I should also hasten to draw attention to the recent Wolf alarm of General Buratai the champion of cow herding. He had tested waters by screaming about a non-existent coup plan or coup attempt. It is most incredulous and disingenuous for the Chief of Army Staff to raise alarm about anything suspicious about coup without naming how many arrests [that have been] made if indeed some soldiers and unnamed politicians were planning to cut the throat of Buhari’s administration.
Nigerians were not and cannot be deceived by any hoax of a coup. Nigerians are very familiar with the Northern Cabals historic deployment of their Military Wing to stage a coup once there was evidence that central power was about to slip off their fingers. To save face after Shagari’s government shamelessly and recklessly rigged itself out of power in 1983 elections, the cabal waded in, threw the Vice President into prison while the Head of state was indulged in a presidential house arrest. The Military kept the cabal in power for the next 15 years until it was persuaded to concede power to one of their own in the person of indefinable Olusegun Obasanjo; the great Re-writer of history!.
I hate to talk about the rude termination of Ironsi’s government, the suddenness of Abacha’s exit or the blue murder of President-Elect Moshood Abiola.
Times have however changed. The peoples of the Unitary Fiefdom euphemistically called Nigeria are much wiser, more enlightened, more exposed and very much a part of the digital age they live in. Nobody should take Nigerians for granted any longer. Nobody, no soothsayer can categorically confirm or predict what will happen in Nigeria tomorrow or the day after. Nigerians have become so restive and restless having been brought face to face with the humongous rape that their leaders have subjected them to.
We have said it several times and we shall continue to say it until there is a change of attitude and direction. The current leaders of Nigeria must convince their constituents that the happiness of their citizens matter more than their personal aggrandizement and thievery. It does not take an army to effect a change in leadership.
Revolutions also terminate unpopular regimes. It has been proven in several lands throughout history.
