Happy Despotic Day, Nigeria
As of 12th June 2020, Nigeria will be celebrating 21 years of uninterrupted democracy or so it seems. Some justify the state in which Nigeria is in today by arguing that the concept of the worst democracy is better than no democracy at all; but with this argument, the bigger picture is missed. That is, the worst democracy is no democracy at all. A simple illustration can be drawn from fire; if fire isn’t hot, can you refer to it as fire? As simple as this illustration may be, the concept of democracy is similarly straitjacket; if certain core principles are lacking in a “democratic government”, can you say that such government is democratic?
The inception of tyranny in Nigeria can be traced to the 15th January 1966 coup that ushered in the first military government in Nigeria. Similar to the story of Pandora’s box, ever since that day in history, the Nigerian political landscape has been marked with constant abuse of human rights and freedoms. Eventually, at the end of the 20th century (1999), in a bid to save face, this despotic system was whitewashed to give it a semblance of democracy. As expected from a tyrannical government, a sham constitution was drafted making the courts a toothless watchdog, giving the people mirage-like rights and vesting insurmountable power in the head of government. This was soon followed up by one preordained election after the other.
With over 2 decades of this façade run in Nigeria, the core principles of democracy have often been derided. First of such being the rule of law; the rule of law connotes supremacy of the law. Over the years in Nigeria’s supposed “democratic government”, there have been glaring incidences of abuse of the rule of law in cases such as Col. Sambo Dasuki, Ibrahim El Zakzaky (leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria), Jamil Mabai and Abubakar Sidiq Usman who were both bloggers, as well the fresh case of Omoyele Sowore, just to mention a few.
Another tenet of democracy commonly abused in Nigeria is the freedom of media and expression. According to Reporters Without Borders, Nigeria ranks 115 out of 180 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index. This low performance is a result of the killings and clampdowns on journalists as found in the cases of Enenche Akogwu, Precious Owolabi, Agba Jalingo, Jones Abiri, Kufre Carter, among others.
Furthermore, the third core principle of democracy which is majority representation holds similar attributes in “democratic Nigeria” as it did in authoritarian military governments witnessed in the 2nd and 3rd republics of Nigeria. This principle has been grossly abused in this new democratic Nigeria through rigged elections, mismanagement of public funds, and promulgation of arbitrary laws. This is reflected in the 2019 Transparency International Corruption Index in which Nigeria ranked 146 out of 180 countries as well as several essays authored on the problems of politics and democracy in Nigeria.
Considering the irrefutable facts mounted against Nigeria, it is clear that this form of democracy practised is nothing but the proverbial wolf in sheep clothing; some sort of façade to mask the true nature of government that has been in vogue in Nigeria since the inception of authoritarianism and dictatorship on the 15th of January, 1966.
