The Impact of Military Coup D’etat on Political Development in Nigeria
Olorungbemi Simeon Toyin

Abstract
The military is not by inclination trained to rule, but to defend. But when the situation arises which brings them into the corridors of power, it is an aberration. The diarchy which thus ensures makes for strains and stresses. However, taking into consideration the nature of their calling, a dedicated and disciplined military could bring sanity into the body politics of a nation. Indeed, the various controversial military coup d’etat might be undesirable, but it was not unexpected. It might have done some harm to Nigeria political development, yet it recorded some successes. It is in this wise, that this paper in the main, examines the impact of military coup d’etat on the political development of Nigeria. It argues that, military coup d’etat was not a total failure and disaster as most political and historical scholars had painted the scenario. The paper, relying mainly on secondary sources, examines the remote and immediate causes as well as the aftermath of military coups on Nigerian political development. The paper concludes that military interventions via coups were not entirely ‘wasted years’, but created some new management elites who contributed a lot to the economic, social and political developments of the country. The paper however, recommends good governance (embedded in the principle of democracy and the rule of law) as a panacea to military coup d’etat in Nigeria.

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