DIALOGUE WITH NIGERIA BY AKIN OSUNTOKUN
Critics of the 1999 transition to civil democratic rule programme make the pertinent point that it amounted to walking blindfolded into the fourth republic because the rules of engagement (constitution) were not made manifest prior to the swearing in of elected officers. This non sequitur, putting the cart before the horse, stemmed from the choice and strategy of the supervisory military dictatorship of General Abdulsalami Abubakar to prioritise the rapid withdrawal of the military from governance.
The hasty departure was necessitated by the total delegimation of military rule and its culmination in the murderous excesses of the General Sani Abacha regime. The transition was specifically targeted at pacifying and compensating the political constituency of late Chief Moshood Abiola as represented by the Yoruba writ large National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). It was unique in respect of the conspicuous and overt premium it placed on the enlis