Military and Constitutionalism in Nigeria
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- Date Submitted: 09/04/2011 06:39 AM
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Military and Constitutionalism in Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
Military administration is the administration of a government by military men who basically ascend to power through military coup. A coup d'état or coup for short (French for overthrow of the state), is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a government, by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either civil or military. A coup d'état succeeds if the usurper establish their dominance when the incumbent government fails to prevent or successfully resist their consolidation of power.
Typically, a coup d'état uses the extant government's power to assume political control of the country. In a practical handbook on military coup, military historian Edward Luttwak says, "A coup consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder",
1.2 Constitution
A constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that enumerates and limits the powers and functions of a political entity. It usually contains fundamental political principles, and establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of a government. From the above, we can decipher that a constitution is a document stating clearly what the limit of a government is, right of office holders, what obligation/protection is expected of a government, the rights of citizens and how they relate to one another.
Constitutionalism on the other hand, is a concept in political theory that explains that a government does not derive its power from itself, but gains its power from a set of written laws that give the governing body certain powers. This concept is in sharp opposition to monarchies, theocracies, and dictatorships, in which the power does not derive from a pre-drawn legal document. In a monarchy,...
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
Military administration is the administration of a government by military men who basically ascend to power through military coup. A coup d'état or coup for short (French for overthrow of the state), is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a government, by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either civil or military. A coup d'état succeeds if the usurper establish their dominance when the incumbent government fails to prevent or successfully resist their consolidation of power.
Typically, a coup d'état uses the extant government's power to assume political control of the country. In a practical handbook on military coup, military historian Edward Luttwak says, "A coup consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder",
1.2 Constitution
A constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that enumerates and limits the powers and functions of a political entity. It usually contains fundamental political principles, and establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of a government. From the above, we can decipher that a constitution is a document stating clearly what the limit of a government is, right of office holders, what obligation/protection is expected of a government, the rights of citizens and how they relate to one another.
Constitutionalism on the other hand, is a concept in political theory that explains that a government does not derive its power from itself, but gains its power from a set of written laws that give the governing body certain powers. This concept is in sharp opposition to monarchies, theocracies, and dictatorships, in which the power does not derive from a pre-drawn legal document. In a monarchy,...