“Mohammed Ma’aji: I led coup against Tinubu because of patriotism, not ambition.”
Those words are a symptom, not a solution.
When a citizen-soldier claims patriotism forced him to overthrow an elected government, it means Nigeria is at the precipice. Not because coups work, but because systemic oblivion has made people desperate.
There is an old warning, “Those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable.”
We are testing that warning in real time.
When the legislature sells oversight. When the executive raids the treasury and calls it reform. When the judiciary auctions justice. When hunger walks the streets and hope is in short supply. Then the streets begin to listen to the barracks.
But let us not deceive ourselves. A coup justified by patriotism is still treason against the constitution. Every “patriotic coup” in our history ended with longer nights, more poverty, and fewer freedoms. The savior of today becomes the tyrant of tomorrow.
Nigeria’s crisis is not a shortage of strong men. It is a collapse of strong institutions.
If you are angry, vote. Organize. Protest. Litigate. Name and shame. Build pressure until the system bends.
But the moment we normalize the gun as an answer to bad governance, we sign a contract with anarchy.
Patriotism builds. It does not break. Revolution without a ballot is just another dictatorship in new uniform.
We must fix the system before the system breaks us.
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bcradle@ymail.com
