The YNaija Editorial: A coup in Nigeria must not be allowed

Last week, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai issued a warning against politicians who have been meeting army officers with a view to inciting them to carry out a coup against the Nigerian government. This warning was informed by numerous intelligence reports that the military had received on such activity, which is rumoured to have motivated certain redeployments within the army high command.

It is quite disheartening that there exists Nigerians, especially among the political class that for nothing other than personal and self-serving reasons, wish to return Nigeria to the dark days of military dictatorship. One would have assumed that after 18 years of democracy, every Nigerian had accepted the fact that this system of governance was not negotiable.

Sadly, we have been proven wrong.

This newspaper comes out boldly to say that any change of government that is not in line with the Nigerian Constitution must be and will be rejected firmly, loudly and unequivocally.

The experience of the last period of military rule in Nigeria from 1983 to 1999 has left us with a bitter taste in our mouths and the memories are still too fresh in our minds for anyone to clamour for a return to that era.

An era where Nigerians do not have the freedom to choose their own governments, to make input into how they are being led, to move, associate and express them freely, and to have powers distributed among different arms of government with checks and balances is not an era that anyone desires.

Indeed, our democracy is not perfect; no democracy world over is. But we have made far too much progress from where we started in 1999 to be made to start afresh in a time that only God knows.

No matter how disgruntled Nigerians or a section of Nigerians are with the current administration, it must express that frustration within the ambit of the constitution. The constitution has laid out clear procedures for changing governments: either at the ballot box by electing another government or by having the President or Vice President impeached by the National Assembly.

But a coup, which will grant a person or group of persons absolute power is not one that is allowed by the Constitution.

One thing we have learnt from history is that people with absolute power do not give it up easily, and a coup often triggers a chain of coups as it is the only way such a military government can be replaced.

This is why we are calling on the Nigerian government and all security agencies under it to make sure that this rumoured coup is nipped in the bud.

It should go beyond just press statements warning the politicians; the said politicians should be arrested and charged to court for the treasonable offence that planning a coup is. Any soldier or military officer found in collaboration with them must also be made to face the law squarely.

It is admirable that Nigerians have spoken up to condemn the rumoured coup and we hope that this will be maintained, irrespective of the ethnicity or religious faith of these likely coupists.

We must stand to defend our democracy no matter the cost and not allow a group of people hold Nigeria ransom for no matter the reason.

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