What were the weaknesses of the military regime in Nigeria between 1966 and 1975?
Explanation
The weaknesses of the Military regime in Nigeria between 1966 and 1975 are:
(i) Lack of administrative and political will to govern: They were trained to defend the country against any foreign aggression and not to rule the people.
(ii) Hostility: The military regime, considering the nature of its, training , cannot tolerate criticisms from members of the public. It is an institution that is adamant and hostile to actions, oppositions, etc.
(iii) Rule by decrees: Most of the decrees and edicts made or enacted by the military cannot be challenged in any law court.
(iv) Dictatorship: Military regimes are based on dictatorship, only a few with hostile tendencies could decide for the masses.
(v) Crime rate: There was an increase in crime rate at this time. Most of the retired soldiers after the war were not properly demobilized and rehabilitated and so many must have taken to criminal activities.
(vi) Independence of Judiciary: This was sometimes made nonsense of because most of the decrees issued contained ouster clauses, thereby rendering the powers of the judiciary inadequate. Judges did not have the jurisdiction to entertain cases especially the ones involving the military.
(vii) Corruption: Corruption permeated all the existing political and economic structures.
(viii) Census: The military was indicted for its failure to conduct and come up with a reliable and realistic population census for the country.
(ix) Wastage of funds: There was wastage and mismanagement of public funds, e.g Cement importation into the country.
(x) Inadequate Control: Men and women of the armed forces were not effectively policed or controlled by the regimes, giving room for high handedness in the system.
(xi) Perpetuation in power: The regime wanted to perpetuate itself in power by dishonouring the handing over date.