forced out. Sani Abacha, who had also taken part
in the 1966 coups, took power for himself. Abacha
then died in 1998, and Abdulsalami Abubakar
oversaw a swift return to civilian rule, handing
over to erstwhile dictator Obasanjo in May 1999.
Obasanjo handed over to Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007,
and following Yar’Adua’s death in 2009 Goodluck
Jonathan took office. Jonathan was ultimately
defeated by Buhari in 2015.
But as age catches up with them,the 1966 crowd
is leaving the stage. The generation that hopes to
take its place came up under dictatorships. This sec-
ondgenerationincludesformervice-presidentAtiku
Abubakar,formerLagosStategovernorBolaTinubu,
and Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai. Atiku
was once head of customs and financed the first
campaign of Olusegun Obasanjo, and was later
his vice-president. Tinubu is a key kingmaker in
the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
El-Rufai is a leading northerner in the current
administration, also from the APC.
These men, all in their 60s or close, have never
known the exercise of political power other than
via some sort of military-civilian paradigm in a
subservient role to the 1966 generation. They expect
to exercise power, having paid their dues. It remains
to be seen how they can handle the transition.
For this second generation of politicians
faces a challenge from a younger generation.
My generation. We are in our 30s and 40s. My
generation includes names such as lawyer and
Chocolate City Entertainment founder Audu
Maikori, business professor Kayode Odusanya,
head of the All Progressives Youth Forum Ismail
Ahmed, member of the house of representatives
Dapo Lam Adesina, Ijaw Youth Council presi-
dent Udengs Eradiri, businessman and young
presidential candidate Ahmed Buhari, executive
secretary of the Lagos State Employment Trust
Fund Akin Oyebode, head of new media for the
People’s Democratic Party Deji Adeyanju, headof digital communications for the presidency
Tolu Ogunlesi, special assistant to the Abia
State governor Sam Hart, corporate consultant
Humphrey Akanazu, PollWatchNG founder
Muyiwa Gbadegesin, and yes, even Indigenous
People of Biafra activist Nnamdi Kanu.These people are eagerto take up political
power, and, for the most part, are unwilling to
be subservient. Some of them are already in the
process of acquiring that power. My generation has
different attitudes and aspirations from those who
are in their 60s, and crucially, blames the state of
the country, especially the gaping disparity in the
spread of national wealth and influence, on our
elders. We are, therefore, less reverent.
My generation of politically conscious Nigerians
have fed on nearly two decades of a mostly dem-
ocratic paradigm. The second generation that
believes it to be its turn to take over will not simply
step aside for us to take over after having waited
in line for 51 years. Those people also realise that
their window of opportunity to take and hold
power is significantly smaller than that of their
predecessors and is perhaps a maximum of twenty
years. So, it is very likely that the next two election
cycles will witness an epic inter-generational
battle for political, and by extension, economic
power in Nigeria.
In many ways, this has already started. The best
example of this clash right now is Audu Maikori
and Kaduna governor El-Rufai. El-Rufai has made
use of the security services to arrest Maikori – more
than once – for "hate speech". Part of the reason
is that Maikori has a barely concealed ambition
to become governor.
Another example can be found among the Igbo.
As distasteful as Nnamdi Kanu‘s secessionist
ideology is, he is gathering a lot of young people
to his cause because of the belief that the older
generation has failed. The stage is set for a battle
over the changing of the guard.*SBM Intelligence is a Nigerian geopolitical risk
consultancy. Cheta Nwanze tweets from @chxtaMy generation blames our elders for the
state of the country. We are less reverentBRIEFING 21