NIGERIA returned to democratic governance on May 29, 1999, after a long streak of military dictatorship. Since then, the country has been in the practice of democracy for twenty-two years now, having produced four presidents in a role – Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and the current president, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd).
Democracy is globally accepted, and arguably, the best system of government, according to most political scientists and theorists because it is peopled-centred, where the majority decides the political and economic affairs, thereby precluding dictatorship in the process. Nigeria and Nigerians have been clamouring and yearning for this system of government, and slightly over twenty-two years down-the-line, democracy is here with us.
However, there appears to be a long way to go because Nigeria has not been able to get it right since May 29, 1999, in terms of good governance, leadership quality, free and fair electoral processes, and respect for human rights to really prove what it takes a sovereign nation to practise true democracy.
The activities of the state governors have been hindering the smooth running of democracy in the country. In fact, they are more like emperors in their states owing to the manner they are wielding power and abusing their offices with impunity. Some state governors have pocketed their State’s House of Assembly, and consequently turned the assembly members to their stooges and errand boys so as to have their ways.
The military has made the journey rough for the nationalists immediately after Nigeria’s independence on October 1, 1960, when a group of army officers led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, struck on January 15, 1966, barely five years after the colonial masters granted Nigeria Independence.
The action of the military under the then military Head of State, Gen. J. T. U. Aguiyi Ironsi, distorted the programmes of the nationalists and some of them, notably the then Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, lost their lives in the process. Consequently, there has been no formal platform to groom and culture the surviving Nigerian politicians after the coup as they lived in fear under military dictatorships between the times of the first coup till October 1, 1979, when the then military Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, who would later become the President on May 29, 1999, handed over power to a democratically elected president, the late Alhaji Shehu Shagari, to usher in the Second Republic.
The Second Republic was again truncated as the military struck on December 31, 1983. Some top politicians who served under the Shagari-led government, among whom was the then Minister of Communications, Chief Audu Innocent Ogbe, would later become the minister of Agriculture under the Buhari administration between 2015 and 2019, were jailed by the then military junta. Since then, the military has held sway until May 29, 1999 when the then military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, handed over power to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Approximately, the military has since independence, ruled Nigeria for thirty-years, thereby making it difficult for the politicians to plan very well for democratic governance. Ironically, majority of the same military officers who orchestrated the coups metamorphosed to politicians and today, we have them as elected representatives, ruling with stream of double consciousness.
The military would always blame each successful coup on corrupt politicians. This is to a large extent true of the political elites who have made corruption a grand norm each time they have the opportunity to access government funds meant for the development of the nation. The attitudes of corrupt politicians have positioned Nigeria’s democracy in a state of unrealised dream which Nigerians have been clamouring for. Majority of the politicians seeking for elective offices at the local, state and federal levels do with ulterior motives but under fake manifestoes which they hardly fulfill when elected into offices. Corrupt politicians have made democracy in Nigeria a long way to go.
Today we have such phrases as ‘party leader’, ‘national leader’, ‘godfather’, ‘top politicians’, ‘party elders’, and so on, in the dictionary of Nigerian democracy. All these phrases point towards money politics. Those who could not contest election will sponsor candidates with their wealth and thereby capturing the local, state and federal allocations through their godson or goddaughter in the office. Consequently, the masses would be denied of their democracy dividend.
Furthermore, the activities of the state governors have been hindering the smooth running of democracy in the country. In fact, they are more like emperors in their states owing to the manner they are wielding power and abusing their offices with impunity. Some state governors have pocketed their State’s House of Assembly, and consequently turned the assembly members to their stooges and errand boys so as to have their ways.
Grassroots politics have since been crippled by the state governors. They ultimately decide who becomes ward councilor and local government chairman without any challenge from party stakeholders. In general, the governors have utterly neutralised political participation at the local level. By implication, the youth no longer have any role to play at the grassroots level of politics, thereby creating a huge gap in leadership grooming, mentoring, human resource management and policy planning and implementation. If this is the kind of democracy that Nigeria has been pursuing to practise, then there is the need to carry out an examination of conscience.
The electoral umpire is also a barrier to the democratic movement in Nigeria. It is now a common practice for the ruling party in any state of the federation to be declared winner across such a state during council elections in all the local governments of the state. The electoral body in connivance with the ruling party and the state governor will deliberately devise means of denying opposition parties access to nomination forms prior to council elections. This impunity has escalated to the point that council elections in Nigeria have progressively become a one-party affair. There have been clamours for the electoral body to be reformed, however, the controversies surrounding such reformation have taken a complex dimension so much so that the proposal cannot be achieved and the corrupt politicians will continue to have their ways through the ballot.
Furthermore, Nigeria is engulfed in money politics. This makes it difficult for the right candidate that does not have money to be voted into power. During electioneering, there is always a call for a means of controlling how much politicians will spend, however, little or no attention is given to any such call and the wealthy politicians will have their way in the end. Today we have such phrases as ‘party leader’, ‘national leader’, ‘godfather’, ‘top politicians’, ‘party elders’, and so on, in the dictionary of Nigerian democracy. All these phrases point towards money politics. Those who could not contest election will sponsor candidates with their wealth and thereby capturing the local, state and federal allocations through their godson or goddaughter in the office. Consequently, the masses would be denied of their democracy dividend.
With the events in recent times, there seems to be a general state of lack of respect for the constitution and fundamental human rights. The politicians, especially the state governors, do not respect court orders; in fact the judicial arm has been rubbished by the executive by not respecting court verdicts if it is not to their favour. The same electorate that voted their representatives into power are now afraid of constructively criticising the actions of the same representatives they voted in, for fear of arrest, victimisation, and other forms of attack. In a way, an individual’s right to freedom of speech has been hampered, and this necessitates a long way to go for Nigerian democracy.
There are indications that Nigerian democracy is yet to transcend ethnic and religious inclinations and boundaries. Our politicians are practicing regionalism in disguise, but with a general sense of democracy. Indices like political appointment, employment; award of contract, revenue allocations, and the list is endless, point to the fact that we are not sincere with ourselves as a heterogeneous entity. Regional politics has been the problem of Nigerian leadership right from independence, if not prior to that.
Professor Niyi Osundare has foreshadowed this problem of leadership long before hand and offers a solution in his poem, “The Leader and the Led,” thus:
“Our need calls for a hybrid of habits,
Proclaim the Forest Sage,
A little bit of a lion
A little bit of a lamb
Tough like a tiger, compassionate like a doe
Transparent like a river, mysterious like a lake.”
The lines above suggest that a person worthy of leading Nigeria should have the habits of the various ethnic groups to be able to lead well. The military-men-turned-politicians should learn that they are no longer ruling with guns and bullets. The power of the state governors should be curtailed to checkmate their excesses. There should be respect for constitution and human rights.
The electoral body should be prepared or given the free hand to conduct free and fair elections. In general, interest groups, opinion leaders and citizen advocates should team up to save Nigeria’s democracy from imminent collapse through massive campaign against bad governance, corrupt politicians, and violation of the constitution and human rights. Until this is done, our democracy still has a long way to go.
Alleh is an educator, language consultant and writes from Jos, Plateau State. He could be reached via: email: owoichoalleh@gmail.com or Whatsapp: 08073524949.
