We’re still suffering the consequences of 1975 coup – Lai Mohammed

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Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, has said that the current insecurity situation in the country is still a direct consequence of the 1975 coup d’etat.

The coup that the minister is referring to is the one that took place on the 29th of July, 1975, which saw Murtala Muhammed overthrow Yakubu Gowon for the military seat of power.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Newsnight on Monday, Mohammed said the lead discussant at the town-hall meeting on national security organised by the federal government narrated how the Gowon government was planning to ensure free and compulsory primary education for children of school age.

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According to Mohammed, the decision was arrived at then as part of efforts to avoid another civil war in the country. Unfortuately, the plan never went on after Gowon was unceremoniously jettisoned in the coup.

Mohammed’s reasoning is that the single failure to implement Gowon’s free schooling plan is responsible for Nigeria’s large number of out-of-school children today, over 45 years later.

Because of this, militants and insurgents have a ready army to recruit from the country’s 13.2 million out-of-school children, leading to the country’s current precarious situation.

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Lai Mohammed said, “The fact is that in 1973, we were informed by the lead discussant and that the government of the day then had a retreat and said there must be a national pledge that what is that thing that we must do to ensure that we did not go through another civil war.
The government of that day came out with a decision that what will prevent another civil war is to ensure that anybody born after January 1970 has free and compulsory primary education,” Mohammed said.

“Regrettably that administration was overthrown two years later and all the lofty ideas and all the preparations that were needed to ensure that every child of school age acquired free and compulsory education were jettisoned.

“And we are paying the price today because if you have 13.2 million children of school-age out of school that is the market which Boko Haram, bandits, IPOB and other militants, that is the market where they recruit people.”