FORMER Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ishaya Bamaiyi has made a stunning revelation on why the palace coup by former Military President that ousted Gen. Muhammadu Buhari succeeded.
He said the coup succed because Buhari decided to avoid bllodshed.
While making reference to ‘Coups, Politics and Erosion of Discipline in the Army”, in his Book “The Vindication of A General”, Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, retd, said uncertainty and premonition hung in the air and the coup however did not come as a surprise.
According to him, “The regime of Gen. Yakubu Gowon was the first to come face-to-face with the problem of erosion of discipline in the Nigerian military in the aftermath of the end of the civil war in 1970. Consequently, efforts were made by the Gowon administration to restore discipline in the Armed Forces. The efforts were successful until 1985 when Gen. Babangida overthrew General Buhari and declared himself president.”
“After the Nigerian Civil War, efforts towards demobuilisation were not fully followed but a lot improved when soldiers were allowed to be discharged while others were allowed to transfer to other paramilitary organizations such as Customs, Immigration and the Police Force.
“Discipline eventually returned to the Armed Forces, especially the Nigerian Army. All acts of indiscipline that are normally seen in a war situation were brought under control except the forceful takeover of government by ambitious and greedy officers. This was how Gen. Babangida forcefully took over the government from Gen. Buhari. Gen. Babangida succeeded because Gen. Buhari was not prepared to shed blood to remain in power. At that time, it was evident that something was about to happen”., he added.