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As a middle level officer in The Post Express Newspapers, we were among the journalists that monitored the dictatorial tendencies of the General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha military regimes. Attempts by the two to remain in office by whatever guise were confronted with stiff resistance from the media and other activist groups. Each time I reflect on the heroic battles to drive the soldiers back to the barracks, I have reasons to pray that the democracy we currently enjoy does not slip out of our hands.
I recall in particular the epic encounter of the five million-man anti-Abacha protest in Yaba, Lagos, of March 3, 1998. I keep recalling, as if it was yesterday, how some of us, young reporters, lay on the rail tracks to dodge bullets from trigger-happy soldiers and policemen detailed to disperse the protesters. I recall how news filtered from the Ojuelegba axis of the front that popular human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Olisa Agbakoba, had been arrested by the security goons. We actually saw him momentarily dumped at the back of a police van with a bruised face. We were about being discouraged by that gory sight when, from the Jibowu end, the peoples’ lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, marched on, unbuttoned his suits and invited the soldiers to shoot at him. His appearance energized the struggle. Some of us that witnessed the actions survived to tell our stories. But not the likes of Bagauda Kaltho of TheNews Magazine and other colleagues. They were not lucky; they paid the supreme sacrifice. The efforts by journalists and like minds accounted for the democracy Nigerians are enjoying.
While the struggle for the restoration of democracy raged, the people, old and young, had hoped for an arrangement that would give them a voice in the administration of the country; one that would restore their dignity after years of assault and humiliation by the military. They had looked forward to a situation that would accord them freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution and an atmosphere that would allow them unleash their latent energies to develop the nation.
But after 27 years of unbroken democracy practice, the entire hopes and aspirations are vanishing. In place of prosperity, Nigerians have been thrown into unmitigated poverty, to the point of a whopping 63 percent of the population experiencing multidimensional poverty, according to statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Instead of deepening democracy with its encompassing principles of rule of law, freedom of association and multi-party politics, the system is shrinking and yielding to anarchy, rule of the thumb and absurd gravitation to one-party state. Rather than men and women cultured in the nuances of democracy being in charge, buccaneers have literally taken over, turning the land into personal estates where their dispositions determine how far the people can operate.
In the process, cronyism, propaganda, blackmail and outright coercion are being promoted over the cardinal ethos of democracy that manifest in robust debates, persuasive encounters and active engagements. Because the government of the day lacks the content and capacity to deliver, it resorts to intimidation. Those that are considered opposing voices and likely obstacles in the agenda at power retention and regime preservation are destabilized or destroyed. More than any other evidence, the show of shame by the agents of the state against opposition political parties indicates the extent of pettiness and intolerance on the part of the government against individuals and groups with alternative views.
With the build-up to the 2027 elections, the creeping recklessness by politicians and their supporters must give cause for concern to every right-thinking Nigerian. In the last few weeks, for instance, there have been disturbing instances of attacks on members of the opposition by thugs suspected to be at the behest of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have been mostly subjected to the unprovoked attacks. The party and its supporters were recently molested in Cross River, Enugu, Delta and Ebonyi states. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) was denied venue for its rally in Sokoto State. APC campaign train was attacked in Nasarawa and Katsina states by thugs of rival camps. In Lagos, Enugu, Edo and other APC-controlled states, posters and billboards of other political parties and their candidates are hardly permitted.
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This is clearly not the type of democracy Nigerians fought for. I had, in an earlier article of Friday, January 10, 2025, drawn attention to a 2018 publication on comparative politics by Harvard University political scientists, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, titled “How Democracies Die”. The book analyses how leaders can subvert the democratic process to increase their power. In the words of the authors; “Democracies may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders – presidents or prime ministers who subvert the very process that brought them to power”. The book advises against denial of legitimacy of the opponents.
Nigeria’s current democratic experiment fits into the scenes in the book. The APC and its managers are increasingly getting desperate and demonstrating that their desire to acquire and retain power is for the fun of it and not for service to the nation. In the frenzy to achieve the design, foot soldiers of the presidency have been prancing about in manners that lack decency and decorum. Consequently, they undermine all known institutions of democracy and trample on their opponents. Tinubu, of course, sees the Presidency as a prize to be kept at all cost, not a job to be done, hence his infamous declaration that all is fair in politics. That can explain the creeping culture of violence across the land.
For maximum effect, the opposition is to be rendered irrelevant, or cast in a way that portrays it as a threat to the nation. This has been the lot of Peter Obi, the candidate of NDC. As the 2027 elections draw near, Obi has been marked for vilification by attack dogs of the administration. But there is a limit to which Obi can be blamed or made scape goat of the piteous situation at hand. What Nigerians need is an assurance on how the issues of hunger and poverty presently holding them down can be tackled. They need assurances of a better future for their children. They need adequate security for their businesses and properties. Peter Obi is providing answers to the questions. Let the President and his managers equally come up with templates on how to address the challenges. Nudging supporters to resort to violence is not the way to go. Election-related violence was a factor in the demise of the First Republic in 1966. It equally featured in the collapse of the Second Republic in 1983.
Tinubu and his fellow politicians should allow this democracy thrive. To be sure, the President has the constitutional right to go for another term, if returned by the voters. That is democracy. But there is a caveat, even if not expressly stated; Reelection is a referendum on the performance scorecard of an office holder. The basic consideration here is a determination on how the electorate have fared under him. It is about security, standard of living, fairness in programmes and policies and general wellbeing of the country. If these are to serve as standards for assessing President Tinubu for another term, he does not stand enough chance. And he knows it. Under him, Nigerians have literally passed through hell fire. With rising incidences of insecurity in virtually all parts of the country, acute hunger among the citizens and undisguised inclination towards his South West region of birth in policies and programmes, Tinubu has left the country more divided than he inherited it in 2023.
It is therefore, not surprising that the President is deploying panicky measures, including the unconventional to remain relevant in 2027. But there is need to ensure that this democracy does not die and the opposition allowed to exist.
