CIVIL MILITARY RELATIONS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Civil-Military Relations in Nigeria hinged on Democracy, a basic part of this research solely due to transition from military to civilian rule/ sphere had it’s essence from the Obasanjo transition era in 1999. The object of Military rule is meant to reinforce the hegemony and dominance of the state, therefore it is pertinent to note that the military intervenes in politics, when ruling class of civilian faction is subject to disenchantment. This was not the case with Goodluck Jonathan and Mohammadu Buhari Administrations bringing the professionalism of the military under scrutiny of the citizens, hence a source of strain in civil and military interactions. Both Administrations were compatible for comparison due to the fact that though they had different personalities/characteristics, there was some form of similarities. Goodluck Jonathan, a civilian President approved transparency in the military, and in doing so, leaned more towards the civil populace, but does not hesitate to make use of the military, even in unlikely situations, such as using them to participate in elections, as evident in Osun and Ekiti state gubernatorial election of 2014, but in serious cases such as the Boko-Haram Insurgency, these military men under Jonathan’s administration could not be trusted to handle the insurgents, but the best they could do, hold positions in the places under state of emergency/lockdown. He also did not participate executively 57 in some matters, but made use of panels or body set up for such purposes. In Military reforms, funds were always only given/ handed to these men.