General Nigeria at 60 – The Different Forms of Government Since Independence ProvisioSeptember 29, 2020230 views Why We L👀ked Into This »🎨 This post was inspired by a tweet – ‘By Independence Day, Nigeria would have had 30 years, 10 months of democratic rule, 28 years,11 months of military rule, 3 months of civilian interim rule.’ We researched this statement and produced visuals to summarize the findings from the data. Types of Governments in Nigeria since 1960 By Independence Day (October 1, 2020), Nigeria would have had approximately 30 years, 11 months of democratic rule, 28 years, 11 months of military rule and 3 months of civilian interim rule. The Military in Nigeria Since Independence March, April, May, September and October are considered ‘pure’ months – the months in which there were no military overthrows. Out of the 8 Military rulers, 2 were assassinated in office: Late Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi on July 29th, 1966 Late Murtala Muhammed on February 13, 1976 The Interim Government in Nigeria Since Independence Following much pressure on the military (which annulled a Presidential election in 1993 (June 12), an interim government was put in place by General Ibrahim Babangida. He (Babangida) promised to step down on August 26, 1993. The Interim Government of Ernest Shonekan assumed office on August 27, 1993. Democracy in Nigeria Since Independence Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was assassinated in office in Nigeria’s first military coup that took place in 1966. October 1 used to be the handover date before the military coups. In 1999, this changed to May 29. In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that ‘‘June 12, 1993, was far more symbolic of democracy in the Nigerian context than May 29 or even October 1″.