Kenechukwu Ofomah
Awka
As the nation marks democracy day on June 12, 2025, many Nigerians are of the opinion that what the country should be celebrating is the transition to civil rule, instead of democracy.
This edition marks 26 years of uninterrupted democratic rule in Nigeria, following General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s handover of power to President Olusegun Obasanjo as a civilian President on May 29, 1999.
Nigerians, who our correspondent sampled their mood on the celebration, believe that there is nothing to show for the 25 years that the country has practiced democracy.
According to a Professor of Public Health Parasitology at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Dennis Aribodor, he does not agree that Nigeria has practiced democracy, because the elements of democracy are not yet visible in the Nigerian civil rule.
He regretted that in Nigeria, voters are still suppressed, votes sometimes do not count, money politics is the order of the day, the people are excluded or bought over, and there is no freedom of expression.
He also noted that the nation’s political leaders do not see the need to empower the citizens of Nigeria because if they are empowered, it will no longer favour them.
“Politics in Nigeria has become an enterprise for only the rich. No matter how brilliant your ideas are to advance the welfare of the masses, to give them quality education, health, and food, if you are not corruptly enriched, you can never find yourself in the corridors of power. And it is a very sad commentary on the nation’s democracy.
“What this means is that a professor in Nigeria cannot afford to purchase the form to contest for local government chairman, not to mention prosecuting the campaign processes. The same is applicable to the House of Representatives, Senate, Governorship and President, where people purchase forms for as much as N100 million and N50 million. Tell me an average Nigerian civil servant or genuine businessman who will cough out such a huge sum to purchase an expression of interest only,” he noted.
Aribodor maintained that a country where a civil servant is not sure of a good meal per day should not be celebrating democracy.
He called on Nigerians to organize themselves and begin a new movement that will give rise to a people-oriented leadership process.
According to him, if Nigerians do not get the process right for political leaders, the country cannot move forward.
“How can Nigeria, as a country under civilian rule for the past 25 years, not have a steady power supply, which is a catalyst for development? How can we have a country where our political leaders jump an aircraft at the slightest illness, to secure medical treatment overseas? How can we have a country where the children of political leaders are all abroad for education?
“Medical services are nothing to write home about. People still die of preventable diseases. Pregnant mothers still die in their thousands while giving birth. And all these boil down to leadership.
“For there to be a democracy, the voice of the people should matter. But in Nigeria, only the voices of the rich matter. And these people that are rich are not as a result of hard work but by political maneuverings,” Aribodor lamented.
Also speaking, a Professor of Environmental Law at the College of Law Novena University, Ogume, Delta State, Professor Theodore Okonkwo observed that a democracy means that the people are at the centre of governance.
The legal practitioner noted that Nigeria is still struggling, not because there are no institutions of democracy, but because the people who pilot the democratic system are greedy, self-centred and not people-oriented.
Prof Okonkwo berated the recent wave of defections into the ruling party at the centre, which he noted, could turn the country into a one-party state.
“Look at the wave of defection into a certain political party just because the political leaders want to protect their selfish ambitions to remain in power or to be protected from criminal prosecution for corruption charges.
“So, I will say that there is nothing to celebrate. There is hunger in the land. People are dying on a daily basis. There is insecurity, boko haram, insurgency, and all kinds of criminality. We have not had it this bad,” he noted.
The university don however, said the people are still holding on to hope and faith in God that one day, God will give them a leader that will turn things around, adding that to change thing to change the way things are, the people must focus on building institutions and not individuals.
He urged the people to put in place strategies and policies that will strengthen institutions, deemphasize the worship of individuals, and the leaders should stop paying lip service to human development.
For his part, a Senior State Counsel, Anambra State Ministry of Justice, Barr Chuks Ananti believes Nigeria has gone far in terms of democratic dispensation, citing some of the rights Nigerians enjoy today that were not tenable before 1999.
Insisting that democracy is better than a dictatorship, Ananti said to strengthen democracy, Ananti, the country must begin to observe and respect the rule of law.
“Judicial pronouncement should be respected, irrespective of whoever is involved. That is where the Nigerian government is not getting it right, because they choose the judgment to obey.
“So, to retain a democratic system, we must observe rule of law.
Also, the legislature, both at the federal and state levels must always stand their ground in making laws that can be impactful. They should desist from being rubber stamps to the executive arm.
“The INEC should be able to conduct credible elections.
“Nigerian leaders, on their part, should shun selective obedience to the rule of law,” he said.
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