Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture (1966-1976)

This is a ground breaking book by historian Max Siollun about the relationship between oil and military rule in Nigeria.


Modern Nigeria cannot be understood without reference to its era of military rule. Military rule and oil wealth effected cataclysmic changes in Nigeria that nearly tore the country apart on several occasions. 40 years after the end of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, Max Siollun answers the key questions that go to the root of the Nigerian nation:

*Who were the key personalities and events that caused the Nigeria/Biafra civil war?
*What is the root of the Niger Delta oil conflict and the "curse of oil"?
*How has Nigeria managed to endure successive military coups, civil war, ethnic violence and still remain united?
*The role of Babangida, Ojukwu, Abacha, Obasanjo, Yar'Adua and Buhari in previous military coup plots and Nigerian governments.


The book's style is that of a fast paced dramatised narrative that will bring the characters and the story to life in a manner that will engage the casual, journalistic or academic reader. Those who have read the book have described it as the most detailed published analysis of the major events and controversies of Nigeria from independence until the 1976 assassination of its then Head of State General Murtala Muhammed. These include the traumatic January and July coups of 1966, the unprecedented magnanimity of the federal leader General Gowon after Nigeria's civil war, the post war stewardship of Gowon, and an hour by hour reconstruction of the events leading up to the 1976 Dimka coup in which Gowon's successor General Murtala Muhammed was killed.


The book is the definitive reference point for Nigeria's political life between 1960 and 1976. It examines the controversies of that era with the encyclopaedic detail and penetrating analysis that is Max Siollun's trademark. No previous text has exhaustively analysed these events or this period in Nigeria's history. What lessons can be learned from the events and mistakes of this period? How can Nigeria avoid repeating those mistakes? Max Siollun answers these questions and many more.