This paper examines the way in which the military regime in Nigeria has capitalized on the structural adjustment programme to strengthen its control of the political process, how it has contained and domesticated the civilian factions of the bourgeoisie, imposed its ‘hegemony’ over the pattern of political and economic reproduction and actually laid the foundation for the continuation of military rule beyond the ongoing transition programme scheduled to culminate in the handover of power to elected civilians in 1992. The discussion is divided into three parts. First, the place of the military in Nigerian politics is established. Next, specific policies are examined which have been put in place in order to facilitate not just the recomposition of military hegemony, but also its continued domination of Nigerian politics. Upon coming to power in 1985, President Ibrahim Babangida took some fundamental steps to strengthen the power of the military: 1) the containment of the bourgeoisie; 2) the incorporation and domestication of the radical left; 3) the reorganization of military power to strengthen the position of the president; 4) the control of the media; 5) the creation of certain institutions aimed at reorganizing military interests and politics in order to ensure control within the armed forces; and 6) the organization of the transition to civilian rule in such a way as to leave no doubts that it was being done at the pleasure of the military. Finally, projections are made beyond the ongoing transition programme in Nigeria. Ref.
