Somber Tuesday! Democracy on my mind. Given the global erosion and backsliding observed, I wonder what matters the most. Is it the integrity of the process or the outcome and its reflection of adherence to minimalist requirements such as the right to run for elections and vote? Is it about elite consensus to follow rules that said elites produced? Not only is there a long history to the contestations on these issues, but the transitions to democracy literature in the last decades of the twentieth century also spilled much ink on them. My point: scholars of democracy know that these are not new questions. Neither are they unique to Nigeria. The “emil’okan era can in light of these contestations, be assessed using metrics that have become popularized in the era of pax Americana, one of which is Freedom House’s.
According to Freedom House, Nigeria is regarded as “partly free,” in part due to the persistence of “electoral irregularities.” For political rights, Nigeria is ranked 20/40, and for civil liberties, (http://23/60 (https://freedomhouse.org/country/nigeria/freedom-world/2023). This was before the 2023 elections, so, the ranking would probably be different now. However, I cannot imagine that there are more than minuscule changes.
Meanwhile, this just happened in Paris: “Summit For A New Global Financing Pact: Towards More Commitments To Meet The 2030 Agenda?” (https://nouveaupactefinancier.org/en.php). Some Africans who are sick and tired of having our heads of state attend such events without speaking truth to power were jubilantly circulating Kenya’s President Ruto’s pronouncements that challenge global north powers’ dominance over the institutions and rules that govern the world’s economic and political systems (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3umy3D_gSL0). The star of the event is PM Mia Mottley of Barbados (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74AnmWmtpEs), although President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa also made a good showing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhHBIpvyQ_A). Some Africans have even dug up Ghana’s President Akuffo-Addo’s similar pronouncements from a few years ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPEeiFBUwM4).
They are happy that some African heads of state are letting the former colonizing countries know that they are responsible for many of the problems confronting the world today and that things must change. I’m glad too. However, these pronouncements are not new. Other African leaders whom people have forgotten have spoken up in the past. Congo’s Patrice Lumumba, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere, Burkina Faso’s Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara, even Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe come to mind.
Some courageous African women like Kenya’s Wangari Maatha’i also criticized the global north’s domination in the past but are usually never remembered. Prior to that, there were valiant struggles against colonialism and imperialism by African women which hardly receive attention in historical and contemporary recollections (https://republic.com.ng/vol5-no3/gender-and-anticolonialism/). The Group of 77 and the non-aligned movement tried to push for a new international economic order in the 1970s, achieving the proclamation of a UN declaration to that effect (https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/218450?ln=en), but given that we are yet to see any appreciable change in the world order, I wonder how effective such efforts are. Concrete results notwithstanding, I also wonder with many Nigerians why we heard nothing from Nigeria’s new President.
More importantly, in my now out-of-print book, I considered the interplay between democratization and economic liberalization in the context of Nigeria’s political economy in my first book: A Sapped Democracy: The Political Economy of the Structural Adjustment Program and the Political Transition in Nigeria, 1983-1993 (https://a.co/d/8oYf52i).
The suspension and arrest of Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor, and his interrogation continues. He did not act alone, and even the suspension and arrest plus interrogation of the EFCC’s chairman, AbdulRasheed Bawa does not suffice to address the problem (https://guardian.ng/opinion/emefielisation-of-the-buhari-administration/). The NDIC matter of being prevented from fulfilling its mandate continues. Femi Falana’s “Catalogue of Looting and Brigandage in Nigeria” (A Sapped Democracy: The Political Economy of the Structural Adjustment Program and the Political Transition in Nigeria, 1983-1993 (https://247ureports.com/2023/06/catalogue-of-looting-and-brigandage-in-nigeria-as-the-real-subsidies-are-not-for-the-poor-but-for-the-rich-class-femi-falana-san/) and the matter of Nigeria subsidizing crony capitalists who benefit from the lack of institutions to check kleptocracy continues.
High inflation is still a problem. So is the problem of how to make ends meet for majority of Nigerians. Of course, the 133 million multidimensionally poor Nigerians suffer more, but nothing on the horizon shows that their plight is a priority for the powers that be. How do interest groups, including organized labor see their role as actors in a democratic system? They are expected to act in the interest of their members. Are they doing this? Are they doing it well?
I decided to recall some of what I’ve said over the years about the matters I write on weekly. Here is one written on insecurity in 2015 A Cause for Alarm: The State, Human Security and National Security in Nigeria (https://www.academia.edu/11574209/A_Cause_for_Alarm_The_State_Human_Security_and_National_Security_in_Nigeria).
It bears repetition that the emil’okan era continues Nigeria’s nonchalance about gender equity, the inclusion of people living with disabilities, the poor, and the youth. On the gender issue, 11 months ago, I presented this: (Gender, Elections Integrity & Accountability: Moving Nigeria towards corruption free elections, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDTvvoAxBYk&t=43s). Nigeria seems determined to keep political power in the hands of a somewhat ableist, but definitely oligarchic gerontocracy. 70 percent of Nigeria’s population are youths (under 30 years old) Let’s not forget the 133 million Nigerians mired in multidimensional poverty, and that they are 63 percent of the population. People living with disabilities remain marginalized and excluded from power in Nigeria.
Insecurity, abductions and kidnappings are still serious problems for Nigerians. Good governance remains elusive. The political institutions remain weak and state capacity and political will are equally weak.
Nigeria Bureau of Statistics’ 33.4 percent unemployment and high underemployment statistics (https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/) show that many Nigerians are in dire straits. Decent jobs would solve the problem, but they are nowhere to be found for most. Entrepreneurial efforts should be deployed but statistically, more businesses fail than succeed.
Nigerians remain hopeful that the socioeconomic problems that can be solved through good governance. Through this hopefulness, people are demanding the physical manifestations of the hope promised by the current president. For everyone’s sake, I hope that the country is able to go beyond promised hope to its concreteness as lived reality for majority of Nigerians.
Given Freedom House rankings, Nigeria is backsliding in its democratization. Human development indicators also show dismal performance (https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Nigeria/human_development/#:~:text=The%20latest%20value%20from%202021,to%20compare%20trends%20over%20time) Thus, electoral integrity and respect for democratic principles should be fast-tracked in Nigeria. INEC must be strengthened and its capacity for election management enhanced. Nigeria’s economy must also be revived and the interest of the majority should be prioritized.
One does not need to be a rocket scientist to know that nation-building remains an unfinished project in Nigeria. The constitution should be respected and the full rights of citizenship must be enjoyed by all Nigerians. All Nigerians must have equitable access to all benefits available to citizens. Justice and fairness would facilitate the evolution of unity. Peace is impossible without justice. Peace and justice contribute to the possibility of positive political, social, and economic change. However, going from potential to reality requires an end to agonizing, and steady “all hands on deck” determination to create the better Nigeria that we deserve.
Shapa (unrelenting suffering) motivates many Nigerian youths to want to japa–leaving the country by any means necessary as an avenue to upward mobility abroad. Their hopes and aspirations for better lives are legitimate, and decent jobs must be provided for them in Nigeria (International Labour Organisation’s definition of decent work: https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang–en/index.htm). Octogenarians’ control over Nigerian politics must stop. Gender equity and gender equality are urgent imperatives.
Emefiele and Bawa were arrested, but the lack of fitness for purpose of economic and financial institutions and technologies continues to cost the country time, money, and energy. It would be a miracle to see ATMs dispensing cash on demand. It would be equally miraculous for internet connectivity to power mobile telephones to deliver some of the promises of the cashless economy. Wasting time and energy on electronic transactions that should be instant should be a distant memory. High inflation and the fuel subsidy removal have made things worse for the poor, who are majority of the population. True democracy and sound economic development, Guaranteed personal and human security, durable well-being and welfare of citizens, and reliable access to basic needs are all necessary.
The 2020 #EndSARS protesters hoped for a better Nigeria and that the 2023 elections would enable us to experience a new Nigeria. They were active in voting and active participants in other aspects of the electoral process but were disillusioned by the shoddy management of the elections. The #EndSARS protests were demands for good governance, for an end to police brutality, extortion, impunity, economic inequality, marginalization, profiling, and characterizing youths and other minorities as miscreants. They demanded the cessation of political violence. They believed that it is possible to achieve the deepening of democracy. The state response was ferocious, vengeful brutality, and repression. As with most protests demanding social and economic justice in Nigeria, state-sponsored disinformation and disinformation categorized the #EndSARS youth protesters as instigated by foreign sponsors. They were also characterized as unpatriotic.
The 2020 Lekki massacre at #LekkiTollGate & other locations should not happen in a democracy.
Nigerians desire unity, peace, democracy, and sustainable development, all fundamental to the demands of the #EndSARS protesters.
Kleptocracy corners and appropriates resources belonging to all Nigerians, accumulating wealth for the few oligarchs and their cronies and jeopardizing the life chances of present and future generations of Nigerians. Kleptocracy, cronyism, and their lethal consequences must end.
Nigeria is ripe for genuine, democratic economic and political transformation. Getting from imagining the desired positive and egalitarian endpoint to experiencing it in real life will be difficult, since the rot began a while back. Regardless, we embrace the agenda with determination, tenacity, and optimism. Hope is also required, as is unity if the Nigeria we want is to materialize.
#NigerianWomenArise
#EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeriaNOW
#EndSars
#EndSWAT
#EndImpunity.
Howard Zinn’s words apply to Nigeria’s situation:
“Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while, the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.”
Like a broken record, I repeat:
Let the kleptocrats give back our stolen wealth so that we can fix our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and also offer worthwhile social protection to our people. Let the masses enjoy the full benefits of citizenship in Nigeria. Let the leaders and political class repent and build peace with justice.
This is no time for politics as usual. The people elected should be those trusted to bring justice, equity and human security to the entire country, not expedient, unethical and egocentric individuals determined to dominate for self-aggrandizement or sectional gain. We don’t need oligarchs’ continued domination. We also need a government that puts the interests of the majority of citizens first. I am hopeful that I will see the transformation in my lifetime.
