“Never Again!” – Reno Omokri warns against coup nostalgia

Political commentator and author Reno Omokri has warned that no Nigerian must desire the overthrow a democratically elected government through a coup.

In a lengthy reflection shared on social media, Omokri argued that no military coup in Nigeria’s history has ever produced better governance than the democratic government it toppled. “Historically, such undemocratic changes have always resulted in a worse administration. Much worse,” he wrote.

Omokri cited Nigeria’s 1975 palace coup, which replaced General Yakubu Gowon with General Murtala Muhammed, as the only instance where a coup led to improvement, noting that under the subsequent Murtala/Obasanjo administration, Nigeria’s GDP rebounded from a -5.2% decline in 1975 to 6.8% growth by 1979.

However, he stressed that the coups which followed, including the December 31, 1983 takeover that ended President Shehu Shagari’s Second Republic, plunged Nigeria into years of repression, economic decay, and international isolation.

“From the loss of fundamental human rights to media crackdowns, letter bombs, and state-sponsored assassinations, military rule turned Nigeria into a pariah state,” Omokri said, recalling how the nation even lost visa-free status to the UK. “Under the military, a minister once said, ‘Telephones are not for the poor!’ Today, even beggars have phones,” he said.

Omokri outlined Nigeria’s 12 publicly known coup attempts, six successful and six unsuccessful,  from the first in January 1966 to the alleged 2004 Hamza al-Mustapha plot. He noted that all but the first were planned or executed by northern military officers, “either admittedly or allegedly.”

The writer credited General Olusegun Obasanjo as a stabilising figure in Nigeria’s history, citing his roles in ending the Civil War in 1970, handing over to civilian rule in 1979, and returning to democratic governance in 1999.

Drawing on this historical pattern, Omokri warned against any romanticisation of military rule or “coup-baiting” in the media. “The best predictor of the future is the past,” he wrote. “Any undemocratic change of government would set Nigeria back, and may even, God forbid, result in another civil war” Omokri warned.

He concluded by asserting that democracy, despite its flaws, remains Nigeria’s best path forward, highlighting economic gains under the current administration, which he claimed has grown the nation’s GDP by $67 billion in two years and improved the global ranking of Nigeria’s passport.

Quoting late phone political sage, Obafemi Awolowo, Omokri ended with a stark reminder: “The worst civilian rule is better than the best military dictatorship.”