Nigeria, March 5 -- In 1999, a moment to remember came upon like childbirth. After an incomparably awful stretch of military rule which saw Nigeria groan under the iron boots of Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha for thirteen years, Nigeria managed to wriggle free and make a painstaking return to democracy. Led by the 1999 constitution like a compass, the country has been able to stick to that road ever since despite overwhelming odds. It has been twenty-six years now and Africa's most populous country and economy is not showing any serious signs of wear, telling enough to indicate that a return to military rule is being seriously contemplated.

In the twenty-six years Nigeria's democracy has refused to bend to the forces of retrogression ...