The failure of the military coup in Turkey is a good reminder of the
\npower of the people to\u00a0 keep democracy at all cost. Watching\u00a0 the
\nunfolding\u00a0 events\u00a0 and the failure of the coup plotters to usurp
\npower, one wonders what the implication and lesson will be for
\nTurkey and the world in general .\u00a0 Today,\u00a0 military coups have been
\nseen as a misnomer and an abrasion to the much respected democratic
\nprocess. Since our world has become a\u00a0 global village, it is
\nimportant to note that\u00a0 events in Turkey is not\u00a0 restricted to
\nTurkey alone. It influences\u00a0 the nooks and crannies of\u00a0 the world in
\ngeneral.<\/p>\n
Turkey has experienced a lot of\u00a0 friction and tension in the
\nadministration of president Erdogan. For a long time president Erdogan has
\nbeen criticized as being dictatorial, authoritarian and\u00a0 undermining the
\nrule of law . He has also been accused of\u00a0 circumventing the military.
\nThis must have led to the dissatisfaction of some factions\u00a0 of the
\nmilitary to his government. If this coup had succeeded, there is no doubt
\nit would have given\u00a0 credence to the military in other developing
\ncountries( particularly in Nigeria) that the era of\u00a0 disrupting\u00a0 the
\ndemocratic process is back again.<\/p>\n
With the exception of the coup in Egypt\u00a0 about two years ago, there have
\nnot been any\u00a0 major military coup reported in\u00a0 Africa. This shows that
\ncountries of Africa are either learning the intricacies\u00a0 of democratic
\nprocess or many of the sit tight authoritarian leaders have mastered the
\nact of staying put in governance under the guess of democracy.<\/p>\n
Interesting to learn that the incidence of coups have been slowing down
\nin Africa. This must have been from the realization on the part of
\nmilitary officers that military\u00a0 coups have\u00a0 been anachronistic\u00a0 and
\nunacceptable to the democratic system.<\/p>\n
For\u00a0 the Nigerian population and military, the failure of this coup in
\nTurkey should be a good lesson . The administration of president Buhari
\nshould put in place effective mechanism of addressing the fears of many
\nsections of the Nigerian polity. His administration has so far been
\nobserved as favoring only one section of the Nigerian population( the
\nnorth) in all federal appointments. It leaves one wondering what happens
\nto the constitutional enshrined provision of federal character in all
\nappointment. The sacking and retirement of many\u00a0 southern military
\nofficers calls\u00a0 for concern.\u00a0 His inability to address the allegation
\nthat the Nigerian chief of army staff General\u00a0 Tukur Buratai massively
\nenriched himself by purchasing plush homes in the United Arab Emirates is
\nscary.\u00a0 The list goes on and on and president Buhari\u00a0 has remained numb on
\nthese issues. These are the\u00a0 issues that bring the dreaded division in any
\nsociety and any military.<\/p>\n
We hope\u00a0 that the era of military takeover is over in Nigeria . However,
\neffective\u00a0 good leadership ( that listens to the populace) is the panacea
\nto repelling any\u00a0 disruption in the democratic\u00a0 process through military
\ncoups .<\/p>\n
The Nigerian military should be aware that the era of military coup is
\nover. The military should be made aware that there is no reason to
\nforcefully remove a democratically elected government irrespective of
\nthe level of dislike they have on that democratically elected government.
\nThe due process of democratic governance must be made to run its course.
\nGovernments are removed by elections and that is the due process of
\nchange in a democracy.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian people must also\u00a0 learn that power belong to the people. It
\nis exhilarating to watch the people of Turkey( listen to the call of
\ntheir president ) by going out on the streets to demonstrate and put an
\nend to this military coup. The people showed that\u00a0 ordinary\u00a0 people\u00a0 are
\nmightier than the\u00a0 gun welding soldiers.\u00a0 Nigeria cannot relapse back to
\nthe last three decades when military coup and instability was the norm.
\nRemember\u00a0 General Buhari was part of that\u00a0 old norm. The young democracy
\nmust be given room to thrive and grow.<\/p>\n
Kennedy Kelechi Halams, Ph.D.<\/p>\n
Dr Halams is a faculty of International Business at City University in
\nSeattle Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The failure of the military coup in Turkey is a good reminder of the power of the people to\u00a0 keep democracy at all cost. Watching\u00a0 the unfolding\u00a0 events\u00a0 and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n