July 1966 counter-coup
Ironsi’s dictatorship fell on 1 August 1966 after a countercoup on July 29. Yakubu Gowon became president. Ironsi and Lieutenant Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi were killed. Muhammadu Buhari was one of the officers in the 1983 coup. Both the coup and the countercoup had a “ethnic tint” and fueled ethnic violence, leading to the Nigerian civil war. After the conflict ended in 1970, Gowon vowed to end military rule on 1 October 1976. In 1974, he delayed democratisation because Nigerians lacked “moderation and self-control”
July 1975 coup
On 29 July 1975, Gowon’s friend Colonel Joseph Nanven Garba stated on Radio Nigeria that he and other commanders had removed Gowon as head of state and commander-in-chief. Gowon was at an OAU meeting in Kampala during the bloodless coup. Brigadier Murtala Muhammed replaced him, and Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo became vice president. General Hassan Katsina, a former Army Chief of Staff sacked by Gowon, was reportedly “the real coup author.” On 1 October, Muhammed, like Gowon, announced a restoration to civilian rule: after writing a new constitution and many institutional adjustments, elections would be held, permitting a power transfer.
February 1976 coup attempt
Muhammed was killed during a failed coup on 13 February 1976. Ibrahim Taiwo, the military governor of Kwara state, and his driver and aide were also killed. The coup was led by “young revolutionaries” who lacked civilian and military support. Division commanders and government authorities outside Lagos rapidly quashed the attempt. Obasanjo was installed as the new head of state. Lieutenant Colonel Bukar Suka Dimka reportedly led the coup to restore Gowon’s regime. In March, 32 persons were sentenced to death, including Dimka and the defence minister, Major General Illiya D. Bisalla.
December 1983 coup
On 31 December 1983, a coup terminated the Second Nigerian Republic. In his first military broadcast after the coup, Brigadier Sani Abacha declared President Shehu Shagari’s government “inept and corrupt.” Abacha, who became president a decade later, played a “major role” in the coup. During the Abuja operation to apprehend Shagari, one person was killed: Brigadier Ibrahim Bako. General Muhammed Buhari became president.
August 1985 coup
Major General Ibrahim Babangida, the army chief of staff, staged a palace coup on 27 August 1985 while Buhari was away from Lagos and his chief aide was on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Major General Joshua Dogonyaro announced the coup on the radio in the morning. Babangida later addressed the public, calling Buhari’s rule “rigid and uncompromising” and “inconsistency and incompetence.”