Years ago, I believed that Nigeria was above some penkiness happening all around Africa.
This was because of our size, the vibrancy of our educated class, the Aluta quotient of our students, and the mistaken assumption that our institutions were top-notch.
This was because of our size, the vibrancy of our educated class, the Aluta quotient of our students, and the mistaken assumption that our institutions were top-notch. So, when Idi Amin subjected Uganda to global ridicule, when Mobutu Sese Seko was the only cock crowing in Zaire, when Kamuzu Banda kept the only copy of the country’s constitution, when Nguema built a presidential family dynasty and when Museveni transformed from a revolutionary to a reactionary, I strongly believed that ‘it can’t happen in Nigeria’. Now, however, I have my doubts. Even the students who once served as the barometer of national governance are now in bed with politicians, honouring them with awards, driving four-wheel-drive official vehicles, appointing scores of personal assistants and behaving like the offspring of Oluomo.
For Catholics, June 12 was the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. So I joined other devotees for the Solemnity, which started with a 6.30 am Mass at St Sebastian’s Cathedral, Ijebu-Ode. I got home, had an online lecture, had lunch, and then remembered that it was Democracy Day, and so I read the patronising speech of the president around 3pm.
As I was reading that speech, a lot of things were ‘running around my head’. I remembered that we are now in the era of ‘Nigerians Must Go’, especially in South Africa. I remember how Nigeria became a frontline state and weaponised its economic and military might against the apartheid structure. It is saddening that the ‘lazy youths’ of South Africa are showing our people ‘raw shege’ while our government finds it very difficult to act. Even the recent evacuation appears to be an afterthought. Funny enough, the South African captain, Ronwen Williams, was sad that Africans supported Mexico against South Africa at the World Cup, in which they carried their agorism onto the pitch and lost two players to red cards. Anyway, they haven’t seen anything yet because ‘South Africans Must Go’ is loading. Incidentally, some South Africans have undertaken counter-protests, saying that the departure of African Blacks is adversely affecting their economy and their jobs. The irrepressible Malema also said that the chaos has official backing. If not, why has the government looked the other way? And the protests are only against Blacks by Blacks, who, according to Odoemelem, ‘forget that they are burning the bridge that connects them to the continent, torching the economic engine that powers their towns and dismantling the moral authority they once wielded as apartheid’s conquerors!’ Anyway, these are, by the way, by the way.
We were celebrating Democracy Day in a democracy without democrats, with an increasingly shrinking democratic and civic space. The president has captured ALL the arms of government (making Nigeria a one-armed democratic structure); ); the governors follow suit as the lords and masters of their own gubernatorial estates, prioritising puerile projects, including mass weddings (for which Kano has just budgeted ₦1.5bn), and boldly commit public resources to the Renewed Hope agenda. The supposedly independent state legislatures acquiesce, saying ‘as the lord pleases’. Even LG chairs follow in their domains.
Protesters were murdered at Lekki Toll Gate and, as of today, are harshly dispersed. Sowore et al. were teargassed on June 12; some, like Crack, are cracked into detention, and while citizenship participation is at the core of democracy, only 27% are in 2023, and there is no hope that 2027 will be better.
The National Assembly, led by Akpabio, who sneaked in through the back door, has never questioned anything from the executive, and some bills, like loans and the electoral act, were passed within minutes. Lawmakers even doctor the laws and their internal documents; you may ask Oshiomhole how the document suspending the beautiful one was generated. That reminds me of Chaucer’s question, ‘If gold should rust, what shall iron do?’ Saraki has just reminded us that a legislature that kowtows to the executive is useless in a democracy. The judiciary has been captured after being suffocated with gifts, including houses.
Adedayo (‘June 12 broken bottles on our forehead, bludgeon on the back.’) Democracy, is this your face?’) lamented that ‘those behind the wheels of our democracy’s travels have so brazenly demonised the concept of democracy that it appears far worse in outlook than military rule.’ 75% of Nigerians express dissatisfaction with our democracy. More Nigerians have died under insurgency, banditry and ‘kidnapping’ in the last 15 years than in the 28 years of military rule… Democracy has become a vampire which is sucking the children day by day (Bob Marley). The ballot box, which should free suffering Nigerians from this democratic bondage, has become their affliction.
Chief Akinfenwa opines that an economy that improves only in government speeches is a fraud, regretting the deliberate promotion of a success story that millions of citizens know to be false. He opines that we cannot be experiencing improvement when traders no longer restock the shops, when civil servants’ salaries are dead on arrival, when graduates are roaming the streets in search of jobs and when families are skipping meals, and yet government spokespersons harp on economic growth and easing inflation and fiscal discipline as if numbers alone can cancel hunger or as the great BAT himself once asked, ‘Na statistics we go chop!’
Anyway, I used to think that it couldn’t happen in Nigeria, but I now have my doubts, especially as somebody has told us how easy it would be to have a third term or even a lifelong tenure. As for democracy, may the Good Lord deliver us from this imperial democracy.
We are in that period when the whole world is usually held hostage by the game of football. It is a weird one in that the US, which willingly agreed to host the competition, is now adopting a choose-and-pick Trumpian software to determine those who would officiate, play and even witness the beautiful round-leather game.
Nigeria is missing in action, but Nigeria is present through its absence. The musical aspect of the game was a Nigerian affair, and there were enough Nigerians on the pitch to form a team with a full complement of reserves. One has even set a record for the fastest goal. I am not a football fanatic, but Nigeria, NDOOO!
Ik Muo, PhD. Department of Business Admin, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye
