1966 Crisis and The Evolution of Nigerian Politics

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1966 Crisis and The Evolution of Nigerian Politics: The Nigeria bequeathed to the nation by our founding fathers, symbolically on 1st October 1960 ended in 1966!

This book is an excellent historical reconstruction of the traumatic events of 1966 and how they contributed to the current political malaise in Nigeria. The reader will enjoy the way Chief Osuchukwu traced the origin of Nigeria’s contemporary problems to the unresolved and obfuscated issues that erupted in that crucial era. The book has done a wonderful work in examining and exposing the insidious role of ethnicity in Nigerian politics and equally the role of the military in exacerbating Nigeria’s political problems as initiators and active participants in the killings of 1966.One interesting revelation is the nature of the emergence of the military on the political scene and how it compromised their position as symbols of national unity and protectors of the citizenry.

The military leaders that emerged from the catastrophic events of 1966 were as Chief Osuchukwu rightly put it; ‘neither national patriots nor revolutionaries’. They emerged from the ethnic confrontation of 1966 and again as Chief Osuchukwu rightly put it, they hardly grew above their tribal angst and ‘instead of engendering, they hindered a healthy national growth’. Today, Nigeria is paying the price for the atrocities and failings of the past leaders and the current state of the nation do not give much cause for joy.

Hence the appropriateness of this book’s advocacy for a new perspective politics of real issues that transcends ethnic bigotry and place all Nigerians as individuals with rights, privileges, interests and needs. The book, 1966 Crisis and The Evolution of Nigerian Politics, is a timely warning as Nigeria dances on the precipice and I highly recommend it to any reader who wishes to have an understanding of Nigerian political scene and its history.