| | The cream of political scientist in Nigeria met in Lagos under the auspices of the Nigerian Political Science Association in May 1986 to discuss the theme, Alternative Political Futures for Nigeria: 1990 and Beyond as part of the debate towards a new political system. During the deliberations, one of the major issues that arose was whether there should be a recommendation that Nigeria should return to some form of liberal democratic arrangement in 1990. The Conference resolved not to make any such recommendation. What was important about that decision was that a sizeable number of both right wing and left wing protagonists converged on the conclusion that political scientists had no business proposing a liberal democratic framework. For the right wing, the reasoning was straight forward. One of their representatives, Inno Ukaeje argued that if Nigeria wants to develop, it must develop a Garrison-Managerial State System which means that: by 1990 the country should adopt a new form of government based mainly and purely on the rule of the armed forces and the police utilising coercion as the proper basis for securing the compliance of citizens with the laws of the polity. (emphasis in the original). |
