Epilogue

The completed drafts of the first six chapters of this study were with the publishers for review when the coup d’&at of 31 December 1983 brought an end to the 51-month experiment with a presidential system of government. This event was a ringing confirmation of the observation that Nigeria lacks a national consensus on fundamental options about the mission, structure and functioning of government. For the obvious reason that a military government is an imposition, the national consensus that is required cannot be built around it. The choice for Nigeria has to be from among the four political models identified in the preceding chapter: western liberal democratic government, Marxist democratic government, coalition government and social transformational government.