Nigeria, Feb. 19 -- Coup making is not the exclusive preserve of soldiers or the armed forces. Civilians, too, do stage coups. In Nigeria, we have had our fair share of coups and counter-coups, and have resolved that our collective aspirations as a people are best served by a government of the people, for the people and by the people.

Every form of government has its own warts. We have been indoctrinated to believe that the universal adult suffrage of the West is God-ordained. But we have seen, especially in the last US presidential election, attempts to stage a coup by overrunning the parliament and preventing the announcement of the winner of the election. That incident clearly showed the whole world that there is nothing unassailable ...