ABSTRACT
A positive legacy of its tenure as a British colony was that the country was left with relatively advanced infrastructure and governmental institutions befitting the centerpiece of London’s West African empire. National unity was given a test by fire in the Biafran civil war. Many countries look to the successful Asian rim countries as examples of the benefits of the strategy gradual broadening of democratic freedoms following the implementation of central economic policies. Nigeria exhibits many of the political characteristics common to most African countries. The transition to African independence began when the British colony of Gold Coast became the new nation of Ghana in 1957. Politics begins with the premise that the military is distrustful of the capabilities and integrity of civilian government. Babangida took power from fellow general Muhammadu Buhari in a 1985 coup while promising to return the country to democracy after an interim period.
