It is generally believed that democracy is the best form of government. However, the average Nigerian knows that that is only in theory. Our democracy benefits the leaders more than the led. Something is fundamentally wrong with the version of democracy we practice. The ruling class have, over time, perfected the ignoble practice of using weak institutions to strip the people of all the powers democracy bestows on them.
The most disheartening example of this evil practice is the calculated and systematic silencing of the electorate. In recent times, elected political officeholders no longer rely on the electorate to win elections. They simply run to the courts after elections to exploit nagging technicalities and loopholes in our judicial system to ‘reclaim’ their ‘stolen mandates’ thereby rendering the electorate and the electoral system even more impotent.
The question we should ask ourselves is: what dividends of democracy should the populace expect from leaders who got into office not by the votes of the electorate but by court judgements? This singular worrying development continues to widen the chasm that exists between the government and the people. The leaders and the led seem to live in two different worlds. While Nigerians continue to grapple with hunger and economic hardship occasioned by the anti-people policies of the present administration, political officeholders, especially members of the ruling party, keep preaching the sermon of perseverance and patience even as they continue to live in obscene opulence.
Honest leaders should lead by example and not by preaching what they do not practice. The alarm raised by the former Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume (a member of the ruling party), that President Tinubu is shielded from reality and intentionally kept in the dark about the true situation of things in the country still reverberates in the hearts of Nigerians. It cannot be forgotten in a hurry, as it explains a lot and sheds light on some of the reasons behind the indifference, insensitivity and defiance this administration has come to be known for.
N90bn was spent on Hajj subsidy in a country where a litre of petrol is sold for N900 (in some places) and people can no longer afford the basic necessities of life. How this administration finds it justified to remove fuel subsidy but then go ahead to spend N90bn in subsidising Hajj, a personal religious obligation, defies logic. The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) is now under investigation over alleged mismanagement of the N90bn allocated for the 2024 Hajj subsidy. Who do we blame, the profligate government that finds it necessary to spend N90bn on Hajj subsidy while Nigerians writhe in pain, or the corrupt NAHCON officials?
The Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have their work cut out for them. Arresting and questioning high-raking NAHCON officials is a step in the right direction. However, the anti-graft agancies must ensure that those involved in this scandal are duly prosecuted and remanded accordingly.
Barely 48 hours after the #EndBadGovernance protest, Nigerians were greeted with the now withdrawn counter subversive bill which we are told was originally introduced in the House of Representatives on July 23, 2024. The bill, sponsored by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, sought to, among other things, ensure a fine of N5 million or a 10-year prison term, or both, for those who fail to recite the national anthem.
To the Speaker of the House, the most important thing to give to Nigerians amidst the severe hunger and unbearable hardship ravaging the country is a law aimed at subtly gagging those who feel marginalized and oppressed. What could be more cold? One begins to wonder how the aloofness of our leaders can be explained. Tajudeen Abbas may have withdrawn the controversial counter subversive bill, but his ‘love’ for Nigerias has been noted.
While the government, via its numerous spokespersons and media aides, reels off misleading statistics to justify its absurd policies, the price of food items in the market shows that food inflation is going through the roof. What used to be considered food for the poor and needy is now a luxury. Must Nigerians take to open grazing before the president and members of the ruling party will admit that there is indeed hunger in the land?
It is truly mindboggling how a government that keeps urging its citizens to make sacrifices and endure excruciating hunger and hardship contemplates purchasing a presidential jet and a presidential yacht. The government would do well to note that the just concluded #EndBadGovernance protest may not have changed anything or yielded any results, but with this continued display of insensitivity to the plight of the people, another protest could be looming. And this time it will have no name, schedule, agreed venue or duration. It will simply be a genuine spontaneous reaction of the people to hunger and years of maladministration.
We might not have the panacea for the abuse of democracy by Nigerian politicians, but we can all agree that the situation calls for urgent action. Since we cannot practice democracy as it ought to be practiced, perhaps it is about time we tried something else. One might not truly grasp the sorry state of our democracy until they listen to Fela’s 1986 classic, ‘Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense.’ Democracy as practiced in Nigeria is not far away from the ‘demonstration of craze’ Fela had called it. Indeed, a system of government that fattens politicians and keeps the citizens impoverished should not be considered normal or sane. What we practice in the name of democracy is not just a demonstration of ‘craze’ but also a demonstration of calculated gratuitous wickedness.
Now that politicians have perfected the art of winning elections via court orders and convoluted technicalities, what would be the fate of the man on the street and his precious vote? How do we hold people we did not vote into office accountable? Not to spread pessimism, but the future is bleak. Very bleak! Those saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that the system works are the same people benefiting from the flawed system. Those that can effect a positive change are sadly the same people reaping the spoils of the status quo.
In a true democracy, elected representatives are expected to represent the people, protect their interests, and above all, report to them. We may just have to accept the fact that as Nigerians, we are doomed to never sip from the fountain of true democracy. How do we find a lasting solution to the inveterate problem that is Nigerian democracy? Perhaps we can find hope and possibly, a solution through the voice of ‘the forest sage’ in Niyi Osundare’s poem, ‘The Leader and the Led’. Having patiently watched the animals come to an impasse in their tussle for leadership, ‘the forest sage’ proclaimed, ‘Our need calls for a hybrid of habits…a leader who knows how to follow, followers mindful of their right to lead. But will our leaders ever learn how to follow?
Ekene Ezebuike, mystaheze@gmail.com
