This work establishes the circumstances of military incursion into Nigerian politics and examines the civil war and how it enhanced the military's control of political power. It highlights and analyses the strategies which the military rulers consciously employed to monopolise political power in Nigeria between 1966 and 1993. It concludes that : the deliberate 'corrective regime' posturing; the politics of patronage and subordination; the employment of coercive and repressive methods; militarization and guided transition programmes were used (with varying degrees of success) by different military regimes to prolong their hold on political power.

Nature and character of the Nigerian state and its military establishment before 1966 -- The military's incursion into Nigerian politics : the 'corrective regime' claim -- The politics of patronage and subordination -- The militarisation of the Nigerian polity -- Transition as a strategy -- Conclusion : the virtual collapse of the Nigerian state.