ABSTRACT
Torn by ethnic and geographic divisions, the Federal Republic of Nigeria was ruled by military regimes for more than twenty-five of its first forty years after achieving independence from Britain in 1960. The pattern of military coups followed a relatively predictable pattern, with northern Muslim Hausas seizing power to prevent domination by southern, often Yoruba, politicians. The south of the country is where most of the people live. It is also where all the oil, Nigeria’s most valuable export, lies.
