Boge, Faruq Idowu, PhD
Abstract
A popular opinion among scholars and commentators seems to be that military administration was
a constraint to socio-economic and political development. Some of these scholars have attributed
the causes of the persistent socio-economic and political crisis to the prolonged stay of the military
in government in some African countries. Whereas these assertions are generally tenable, there are
some exceptions. A cursory examination of the performances of some military administrations,
either at the national or subnational level, has revealed that some military administrators actually
contributed to socio-economic developments. From the foregoing, this paper examines the
programmes, policies, and patterns of administration of Commodore Gbolahan Mudashiru in Lagos
State between 1984 and 1986. The paper attempts to disprove the generalisation that military rule
in Nigeria was a complete failure, particularly in the light of what has emanated from the civilian
regimes since 1999. To ascertain its objectives, the paper adopts the biographical and historical
methods of data collection and interpretation. Information is gathered from media reports and
government documents.
Introduction
The origin of modern governance and administration in Nigeria can be traced to Lagos. Further to
this, Lagos has remained the pacesetter in various aspects of the country’s historical evolution
particularly since the establishment of the colony of Lagos in 1861. It served as the epicentre for
nationalist activism during the period of decolonisation and its relevance to post-colonial political
manifestations in Nigeria cannot be underestimated. The geographical zone presently known as
Lagos State came into existence in…