Joshua Dogonyaro, a former commander of the Economic
Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), is dead.
Dogonyaro, aged 80, died Thursday at the Jos University
Teaching Hospital, Plateau state.
He will be remembered, among other things, as the officer
who read the coup speech that ousted Muhammadu Buhari, then military head of
state, and brought in Ibrahim Babangida on August 27, 1985.
Here is the full speech below.
I, Brigadier Joshua Nimyel Dogonyaro, of the Nigerian Army,
hereby make the following declaration on behalf of my colleagues and members of
the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Fellow country men, the intervention of the military at the
end of 1983 was welcomed by the nation with unprecedented enthusiasm. Nigerians
were unified in accepting the intervention and looked forward hopefully to
progressive changes for the better. Almost two years later, it has become clear
that the fulfillment of expectations is not forthcoming.
Because this generation of Nigerians and indeed future
generations have no other country but Nigeria, we could not stay passive and
watch a small group of individuals misuse power to the detriment of our
national aspirations and interest.
No nation can ever achieve meaningful strides in its
development where there is an absence of cohesion in the hierarchy of
government; where it has become clear that positive action by the policy makers
is hindered because as a body it lacks a unity of purpose.
It is evident that the nation would be endangered with the
risk of continuous misdirection. We are presently confronted with that danger.
In such a situation, if action can be taken to arrest further damage, it should
and must be taken. This is precisely what we have done.
The Nigerian public has been made to believe that the slow
pace of action of the Federal Government headed by Major-General Muhammadu
Buhari was due to the enormity of the problems left by the last civilian
administration.
Although it is true that a lot of problems were left behind by the last civilian government, the real reason, however, for the very slow pace of action is due to lack of unanimity of purpose among the ruling body; subsequently, the business of governance has gradually been subjected to ill-motivated power play considerations. The ruling body, the Supreme Military Council, has, therefore, progressively been made redundant by the actions of a select few members charged with the day-to-day implementation of the SMC’s policies and decision.
The concept of collective leadership has been substituted by
stubborn and illadvised unilateral actions, thereby destroying the principles
upon which the government came to power. Any effort made to advise the leadership,
met with stubborn resistance and was viewed as a challenge to authority or
disloyalty.
Thus, the scene was being set for systematic elimination of
what, was termed oppositions. All the energies of the rulership were directed
at this imaginary opposition rather than to effective leadership.
The result of this misdirected effort is now very evident in
the country as a whole. The government has started to drift. The economy does
not seem to be getting any better as we witness daily increased inflation.
The nation’s meager resources are once again being wasted on
unproductive ventures. Government has distanced itself from the people and the
yearnings and aspirations of the people as constantly reflected in the media
have been ignored.
This is because a few people have arrogated to themselves
the right to make the decisions for the larger part of the ruling body. All
these events have shown that the present composition of our country’s
leadership cannot, therefore, justify its continued occupation of that
position.
Furthermore, the initial objectives and programmes of action
which were meant to have been implemented since the ascension to power of the
Buhari Administration in January 1984 have been betrayed and discarded. The
present state of uncertainty and stagnation cannot be permitted to degenerate
into suppression and retrogression.
We feel duty bound to use the resources and means at our
disposal to restore hope in the minds of Nigerians and renew aspirations for a
better future. We are no prophets of doom for our beloved country, Nigeria. We,
therefore, count on everyone’s cooperation and assistance.
I appeal to you, fellow countrymen, particularly my
colleagues in arms to refrain from any act that will lead to unnecessary
violence and bloodshed among us. Rest assured that our action is in the
interest of the nation and the armed forces.
In order to enable a new order to be introduced, the
following bodies are dissolved forthwith pending further announcements: (a) The
Supreme Military Council (b) The Federal Executive Council (c) The National
Council of States. All seaports and airports are closed, all borders remain
closed.
Finally, a dusk to dawn curfew is hereby imposed in Lagos
and all state capitals until further notice. All military commanders will
ensure effective maintenance of law and order. Further announcements will be
made in due course. God bless Nigeria.
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