Abstract:
The history of the emergence of the Nigerian Military cannot be divorced from the history of the Nigerian State. At the end of 1900, the Military Forces in British dependencies in West Africa were constituted into the West African Frontier Force.-And at Independence therefore, there was a military that was expected to be as professional as the military in the Western Liberal States, but the values that underwrite the professionalism of the military were not transferred nor internalized. The boundary between military professionalism and politics were not clearly delineated. And consequently, the Nigerian Military became more politicized than it was professionalized. The high over dose of the politicization of the military profession resulted in the military coup of January rs", 1966 and the subsequent coups.There appears to be no in-depth, systematic investigation and analysis ofthe nature and extent of professionalism in the Nigerian Military, especially between 1960 to 2001.The study will show clearly the impact of politicization of the military on military professionalism and will also identify the obstacles to military professionalism in the Nigerian Army.
