22 years after: How far, thus far?

The narratives surrounding the realities of Nigeria seem to revolve round that of a toddler that is learning to crawl and struggling to speak. ADEOLA OTEMADE and KOLA MUHAMMED relay the journey so far, amidst other issues that are begging the questions about Nigeria’s peculiar democracy that appears to be making most Nigerians poorer and their rulers wealthier.

May 29, 1999 saw to the return of democracy in Nigeria as it is the current fourth civilian government that is being practised in Nigeria. Although the federal government has now declared June 12 as the official day for democracy, considering it as the memorable day when a free and fair election was conducted and won by the media mogul, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, and which was later annulled, May 29 in history still stands as the day Nigeria inaugurated the Fourth Republic.

Following the death of General Sani Abacha in 1998, his successor General Abdulsalami Abubakar initiated the transition which saw to Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, the ban on political activities was lifted, political parties were formed and elections were set for April 1999. On May 29, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was elected president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and sworn in as the second democratically elected president of the country.

Since then, other personalities such as Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (29th May 2007 – 5th May 2010), Goodluck Jonathan (6th May 2010 – 29th May 2015), had occupied the office, including the incumbent Muhammadu Buhari, who assumed office on May  29, 2015 and got re-elected in 2019 for another four years term.

For Nigeria, its political history has been that of deep disappointment as leaders had failed to live up to expectations. Nigerians, despite huge resources available, continue to live in poverty, such that  the country, today, has overtaken India as the poverty capital of the world.

The journey so far

In interviews conducted with a cross section of members of the public, Sunday Tribune gathered various reactions concerning issues that affect the country.

Endwell Chinwe, a computer engineer, blames Nigeria’s unending problems on bad leaders. According to him, Nigeria can only be better when the right leader is in power, but as it stands, the country has not been lucky to have good leaders in place.

“Since May 29, 1999, when democracy returned, Nigeria has been going up and down, which means when the right person is in power, Nigeria progresses, but when the wrong person is in power, it depreciates. We have insecurity and killings everywhere; naira depreciation, unemployment and so on and so forth,” he said.

For Timothy Faboade, a teacher, Nigerians can no longer enjoy freedom of speech just as freedom of the press is being threatened and it is not healthy for the development of the nation.

“We had better check the basic principles of democracy. When it comes to freedom of speech and freedom of press, the current administration has taken us to the old and accursed military era.

“The issue of submission of IMEI is another instance of how the current government is working to stifle freedom of speech and press. What about dividends of democracy? We appeared to be progressing until things began to retrogress in 2015. Inflation, dilapidated facilities, insecurity, and calls for secession are markers of bad governance right now.

“The judicial system? The arm of government is still under the executive which wants the judiciary to do its bidding. Summarily, we are still lagging behind,” he concluded.

Urang Abbey, a public servant, believes that Nigeria was growing slowly between 1999 and 2015, but ever since 2015, it had been a total standstill, and the government had failed to adopt a transparent welfare system.

“Nigeria has recorded slow growth between 1999 and 2015. The slow growth has been thwarted since 2015. The previous administrations adopted market controlled policies and their approach contributed to job growth in the real sector. This current government needs to employ technocrats to manage the critical sectors of the economy and pay adequate attention to the Niger Delta and the South-East regions,” he said.

But according to Mazamaza Benjamin, a businessman, what Nigeria needs is a road map, irrespective of political party differences. He believes that would serve as a pathway to development.  “We should have a road map. Irrespective of political party, Nigeria and Nigerians should know our pathway on development. The constitution is full of unexplained clauses. I’ll rather say, we have conflicting statements within the legal book,” he stated.

In the opinion of  Samuel Legends, Nigeria has made some progress, but the gains so far recorded cannot be celebrated owing to unfettered corruption that has dominated governance at all levels.

“To say that we have not made any progress will be unfair,’ he explained. “But politicians and the elite have perfected the act of treachery and open hatred towards the vast majority in the bid to sustain their lust for power,” he said, claiming that political elite are more interested in the sharing of the common wealth than good governance.

Folake Olalekan, a teacher believes Nigeria is yet to experience true democracy, but he agreed that things were better between 1999 and 2014. For her, the concept of democracy has been changed by Nigerian politicians to mean the government of the privileged.

“Nigeria has not really experienced democracy in the true sense of it,” she said. “But suffice to say it was better between 1999 and 2014. Though democracy is said to be a “government of the people by the people and for the people,” it has turned out to be government of the privileged few, by the few and for the privileged few. The country has been taken over by bandits, Boko Haram, unknown gunmen and hunger. And the degree to which situations deteriorate every second shows our leaders have lost touch with reality.  They are no longer in control,” she added.

For better or worse?

Dr. Solomon Ayegba Usman, a political scientist and lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University, opined that the return of democracy had been a pretence, as it has only given a false impression about the military rule which was generally known to be power-concentrated. According to him, the truth that surrounds the current situation of Nigeria is that the masses are powerless even with the so-called democracy.

“We cannot even begin to talk about Nigeria returning to democracy in 1999 in the first place let alone asking whether it has served its purpose. If at all Nigeria ever returned to democracy, it was a ‘pretence return’. Moreover, if democracy also has served any purpose, it has only given a false impression that the military has been chased away from power and power has since been returned to the people but the truth is that mass of the Nigerian people have been left powerless in the so-called democracy since the advent of it in 1999.

“Chief MKO Abiola once said, you do not shave somebody’s hair behind his back. In the case of ordinary Nigerians, our collective hairs have severally been shaved on our behalf by the ruling class under the disguise of democracy. What democracy? This gun-toting democracy or what I would call ‘Tatatocracy’ – government by the might of the gun with pretense to ballot. At best, we have had elections that are not in any way competitive and when they appeared to be competitive, they are not reflective of the supposed competition. I am sure it is no longer news to anybody that in 2007 presidential election, the prime beneficiary of daylight robbery under the supervision of Professor Maurice Iwu, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, came out openly to admit that the election outcome that produced him did not measure up to the acceptable standard of election anywhere in the world.

“Today, escalation of most condemnable challenges that we are witnessing in the country, including insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, robbery and all forms of violent and extreme behaviours are by-products of feelings of relative deprivation. Ted Robert Gurr mentioned in his book, Why Men Rebel, that when human beings have feelings that they are deprived of what is legitimately theirs, such feelings could morph into frustration and when frustration is not quickly tamed, it leads to aggressive behaviour. This is not to say that I am condoning this extreme behaviour but to say that most of them are precipitated by feelings of perceived injustice and deprivations of demands that are sometimes legitimate.

“There is a general sense among majority of Nigerians that there is a letdown on the part of political class on the promises that democracy will bring them relief in terms of adequate representation and attendant dividends. It is now glaring now that the political class played tricks on our sensibility. We entered what Nigerians called ‘One Chanced’ democratic bus in 1999. The question many continue to ask is, can we in all honesty even beat our chests to say Nigeria even had democracy in 1999 in the first instance? At best, what we have had is what Fela would describe as ‘arrangee government’. What we have been sustaining since 1999, in my view, is a ‘civilian government’ and even that has failed abysmally because a civilian government is a government that is civil and believes in civility in governing the political space. A civilian regime abhors use of violence to attain power. Is there any election in this country that most politicians do not use violence as weapon to intimidate opponents? Maybe very few.”

In his own view, Professor Abiodun Folawewo, an economist and also the Head of Department Banking and Finance, University of Ibadan, believes democracy progresses in two ways, which is reflected in the power given to the masses in determining who lead or govern them. At the same time, the elements that make up the system are however lacking, which thereby fault the intents of having a democratic system of government in Nigeria.

“If we look at it from mere system of governance, that is regime type, we will say yes. Democracy is defined as government of the people, by the people and for the people. From this aspect one will say to a large extent the return of democracy has afforded Nigerians to determine who lead or govern them.

“However, if we consider several elements inherent in a democratic system of government such as freedom of speech, right of association, respect for human rights etc., one will be tempted to say No. That is, the return to democracy in Nigeria has not yielded the much-desired purpose. The return to democracy in Nigeria has only succeeded in giving us civil rule rather than democratic system of government,” he explained.

Nigeria still on the right track?

The journey of a thousand miles they say starts with a step. The journey of 22 years thus far should reflect certain growths and developments in each sector. For Professor Folawewo, since the rebirth of democracy in Nigeria, the journey has fared well looking at the several parameters in terms of socio-economic development. According to him, the current Nigeria is far better off than it was 22 years ago, with notable references to point out.

“Since our return to democracy, the journey has somehow fared well when we look at several parameters. In terms of socio-economic development, Nigeria is far better off than where we were about 22 years ago. The economy has grown and there has been tremendous infrastructural development.

“However, much as one will say Nigeria has fared better, there are several indices to show that we are not where we should be politically, socially and economically. Politically, our democracy is still crawling even after two decades, we lack the right democratic culture. Socially, there is grown insecurity since the advent of democracy, and economically people’s welfare has witnessed overwhelming deterioration rather than improvement considering the level of growing unemployment and poverty. While the current economic situation suggests that the economy is on the very of ruins, but the Nigerian economy is resilient, so the situation can be salvaged. You will agree with me that the Nigerian economic situation is due to two major external shocks, the fall in international crude oil prices of 2015-16 and the COVID-19 pandemic that has dealt a huge blow on the world economy generally.

“As I said, the Nigerian economic is resilient and rugged. What we need to do is get the right fiscal and monetary policy mix. We need policies and programmes that will help boost productivity, revive industrial sector, stimulate micro-small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) businesses. We need also the right fiscal stimulus that can simultaneously to boost productivity and consumption, such that income and wealth will be created, and employment is generated. Once these are done, the economy will recover and then be on the right trajectory of growth and development,” he concluded.

Dr. Solomon Usman, however, maintained the stance that the journey so far lacks and is still lacking the essentialities that can be attributed to a growing nation as Nigeria has lacked the essentialities. In his view, Nigeria is yet to start the real journey on democracy, as the current situation of the country negates the system of government that is being practised.

“It has been a journey of herd of sheep with a shepherd. This is not too difficult to see anyway. After 22 years of so-called democratic experiment, we are still talking about hijacking of ballot boxes in our elections, buying and selling of votes with sums as paltry as N500 and insecurity where a state is almost incapacitated to safeguard itself not to talk of the generality of the society.

“Twenty-years down the line in our supposed democratic journey, we are still talking about university lecturers going on strike for 10 months; we are still debating whether it is the turn of the North to produce the next president come 2023 or the turn of the South – what the late Alhaji Isah Funtua would call ‘Turn by Turn Nigeria Limited’. We are not bothered about who can do the job but where he or she comes from or what religion he or she professes. I pray that statistics that said Nigeria has overtaken India, as the poverty capital of the world is not true. If it is true, that is the journey of our so-called democracy in the last 22 years. Altogether, we have journeyed very badly in the last two decades and two years, no doubt. If you look at Nigeria, the size of economic problem has caused stealing and all kinds of atrocities that have taken place in the past and even now.

“For Nigeria, affliction has arisen many times yet the country remains, though, with rumblings this time. It seems to me that our economic challenges have developed strong resistance to all previous drugs we have so far administered on it but I believe that the only one we need to administer repeatedly until we get the administration right according to prescription without abuse is leadership recruitment. Therefore, in view of this, the only solution that I can think of our country’s economic malady right now is to get our leadership right. Once this is accomplished, every other thing will follow.

“Given the rate of failure of IMF and World Bank prescriptions on how poor countries should address the challenge of endemic poverty in their societies, Mahbubul Hag of Pakistan once lamented in 1971 by saying that: ‘We were taught to take care of our GNP as this will take care of our poverty. Let us reverse this and take care of our poverty as this will take care of the GNP’.

“In our own case, let us take care of our leadership recruitment process to reflect capacity and capability for the job. When we are able to accomplish this, if not all, most of our economic and other problems would be addressed. This is not about APC or PDP. It is about us as a people,” Usman enthused.

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