Overthrowing the government is only illegal if you fail.” Nigeria’s history makes this uncomfortably real. Between 1966 and 1993, successful coups turned plotters into heads of state, with decrees, uniforms and official recognition. Failed ones, like Dimka’s in 1976 and Orkar’s in 1990, ended with firing squads and the label of treason.

Same act, opposite fates. Yet the “successful” rulers often brought censorship, detentions and stolen wealth, with Abacha as the extreme case. Meanwhile, many Nigerians still remember some failed plotters as people who tried to end bad rule.

So does legitimacy come from winning, or from how a leader governs afterward? Was the June 12 struggle, which resisted a military regime, lawful, unlawful, or justified? And when is rebellion a duty rather than a crime?