1. The mismanagement of the Nigerian economy is well documented in several independent reports and government-appointed panels of inquiry, the latest of which were set up in 1999 by the present civilian government. For instance, in 1993, the World Bank reported that, between 1991 and 1992, the then military government had mismanaged a windfall of about $12 billion derived from oil as a result of the Gulf Crisis. SeeFinancial Guardian, 18 October 1993, pp 1 and 3; ‘Probe Panels Bite’,This Day, 27 July 2000, pp 5–7; ‘Poor Economy Blamed on Mismanagement’,Business Day, 22 July 2001, p 4. Although many commentators have blamed the long years of military rule for the country's ills and poor economic performance, this author believes that this argument is too simplistic. This is because more than 80 per cent of the policy-makers under all the past military regimes had been civilian technocrats who not only advised the military rulers but also sought to justify most of the steps taken by the military. Now that the military are no longer in power, this same elite group blames the military for the country's socioeconomic ills. In any case, there is no evidence to support the argument that civilian rule in Nigeria has performed any better than the military in terms of economic development. In fact, some sceptics have pointed to the political bickering between the legislative and executive arms of government, the slow machinery of government and a high level of corruption under a civilian rule as major obstacles to economic development. Even though Nigerians now enjoy more freedom of expression than they did under the military, that freedom is not matched by an improvement in the quality of life of the ordinary citizen, which has, paradoxically, continued to worsen under the present civilian government. Despite the enthronement of democratic rule since 1999, Nigeria has continued to rank as one of the poorest countries in the world. For instance, according to the UNDP, about 48 per cent of Nigerians lived below the poverty line in 1988 but that number had increased to 70 per cent by 2002. See William Wallis, ‘Financial Times Survey on Nigeria’,Business Day, 22 April 2002, p 21; Nigerian Economic Summit Group, ‘Right Sizing Government’,Business Day, 9 August 2002, p 30. This, in the author's opinion, counters the argument that democratic ruleper seleads to rapid socioeconomic development. In fact, some countries, such as Chile and Pakistan, have prospered more under military regimes than they ever did under elected civilian governments.