Why democracy has failed common Nigerians?

By Abubakar Bala, Electrical Engineering Department Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia, President, Initiative for Revival of Education in Nigeria (IREN)

Mahatma Gandhi once said,

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?”

The NiSS president, the vice president and other Excos. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

I would love to start by taking us on a little voyage down history. The government of Nigeria had comprised of four almost autonomous regions before their fusion into a federation.

The first post-independence government was a coalition between Northern People’s Congress (NPC) of the North and National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) of eastern Nigeria. With the Action Group (AG) of western Nigeria becoming the opposition party. This government was a parliamentary system with Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of the NPC emerging as prime minister and Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe of the NCNC becoming a ceremonial president. 

This republic lasted a few years and with the coup and counter-coup of 1966 the military took over power. Unfortunate events that ensued after these two coups led the country into a bloody 30-month civil war.

 In 1979, Nigeria decided to move to the American-styled presidential system of government. With Alhaji Shehu Shagari becoming Nigeria’s first elected executive president, taking Chief Alex Ekwueme as a deputy. This regime was also North and East coalition.

Immediately after President Shagari won a re-election in 1983, the military struck again and took over power. And they were to stay almost uninterruptedly for 16 years.

Between the year 1983 and 1999 Nigerian leadership swung between one military government to another. However, in 1999 the military restored power to the civilians. Since then Nigeria had witnessed a long stretch of civilian rule signalling that the military have finally returned to the barracks for good. 

With the short synopsis of post-colonial Nigerian governments above, one can observe that we have had an unstable leadership. While countries like Malaysia our host had 7 transitions of government since their independence, Nigeria has had 15. This instability has partly caused the slow growth of Nigeria. Because each new government hardly continued the projects or plans of the previous regime. Leading to truncated growths, despite the abundance of oil and natural resources.

Today Nigeria have witnessed almost two decades of democratic rule. This long civil rule has brought some successes in sectors such as: communication, banking, entertainment and industry. However, these developments have mostly benefited only few elite Nigerians and have created a wide gap between the haves and have-nots. The Nigerian state has failed to provide most of its citizens with a flourishing life.

 Other ills include:

1. High infrastructural deficit: Nigeria is ranked very low when you look at electricity generation indices, with a meagre 5,000 Megawatts to cater for its growing 190 million population. This has led to the near collapse of the industrial sector, because companies are forced to create alternate sources of energy which are generally expensive. Consequently, making their products pricey compared to imported goods. This has made Nigeria a consumer state, heavily relying on imports. Another critical area is the sorry state of our road networks. Most inter-state roads are riddled with potholes and have become death traps. Many communities do not have access to clean water which makes them vulnerable to waterborne diseases. Furthermore, healthcare is also in comatose resulting in high infant and maternal mortalities. Common Nigerian keep dying to treatable diseases such as: malaria, typhoid, measles and cholera. Little wonder the country’s elite rush to overseas clinics for as little as a toothache.
2. High level corruption: Nigeria today has become one of the major sources of illicit financial flows. Most of the resources meant to serve the common man are siphoned to tax havens. The corruption has become institutionalized, that it is very hard to get things done in government offices without greasing some palms. Regrettably, young desperate Nigerians who have lost faith in their country have resorted to cybercrimes, further soiling the name of the giant of Africa.
3. Insecurity: This also alarming. Kidnappings for ransom have become pervasive. Armed robbery is also common. Although it is quite commendable that the government has reduced the activities of insurgents in the northeast, more still needs to be done to sustain the relative peace in that region. Nigerians no longer feel safe as they go about their day-to-day activities. Unfortunately, many of these crimes are committed with the connivance of some bad eggs within Nigerian security agencies.
4. Tribalism: Due to differences in religion and culture, added with the initial regional nature of politics highlighted above, Nigeria has hardly achieved nationhood. Although the country was able to survive a civil war in the 60s, it is still highly polarized. Since the return of civil rule in 1999 to date, the number of ethnic and religious crises that have consumed lives and properties is frightening. These crises are often fuelled by politicians playing the “we versus them” politicking. One just needs to glance at the comments’ sections of some online Nigerian newspapers to see how sharply divided the country is. We have reached a new low, that when government appointments are made, analysts do not emphasize on the qualification of the candidate, but rather on his/her tribe and religion.
5. Low education funding: The Nigerian budget for education is far lower than the 15-20% of budgetary allocation recommended by UNESCO. Our public tertiary institutions have become glorified secondary schools because of high student to lecturer ratio, outdated curriculum and infrastructural decay. Although a lot of funding has been channelled through TETFUND to improve these schools, most of these funds are funnelled into the construction of over-inflated inferior structures. It is quite commendable that the federal government has through many schemes provided overseas training for faculty and staff. However, the lack of a healthy culture in these schools make these foreign trained teachers almost redundant when they return to Nigeria.
6. Nepotism: Today, most positions at high-paying offices in the capital of Abuja are occupied by the children of politicians and elite Nigerians. Because recruitments into such juicy places are hardly advertised or often done only as a formality. Since these recruits are hardly qualified, they cause further decay in these institutions. Common Nigerian graduates are left with low-paying jobs like the “N-Power” scheme or left to suffer unemployment and underemployment.

Partly due to these mentioned challenges, many talented young Nigerians are forced to leave the country. Some do so by taking suicidal trips of reaching Europe through the Mediterranean Sea by boats.

 But can these issues be remedied? Yes, I have these suggestions:

1. Creating an ideal African-made democracy: One thing Nigeria and many African nations lack is the right leadership. The leadership recruitment process in Nigeria for example is very corrupt. Right from the selection of delegates by political parties for primary election to the final election day, the system involves huge amounts of money given as bribes either to the electorates or election officers. The party ticket for contesting political office is often given to the highest bidder. This corruption process puts fraudulent leaders into power. They in turn continue to fund the system with illicit funds and become political godfathers. Thus, creating a vicious circle that can be difficult to break. Appropriate electoral reforms are needed to improve our leadership recruitment scheme. This even brings to question this copied ‘democracy’ of ours. Shouldn’t we try other systems of government Epistocracy? Technocracy
2. High investment in infrastructure: Due to the high infrastructural deficit, there is an urgent need to inject funds. We need to declare a state of emergency in electricity. The African giant should not be running its companies with diesel generators. I believe unless 24/7 electricity is available, Nigeria has no business launching satellites into space -a typical case of misplaced priority. However, Nigeria needs to be careful, with its sources of funding. We need to be wary of burdening the next generation of Nigerians with heavy debts. Alternative sources of funding such as government bonds should be harnessed.
3. Restoration of family values: If we want to nurture a strong Nigerian youth of tomorrow, we need to start early. It is fascinating that when kids play together, they don’t worry about their tribal and religious differences. This shows that we are taught these prejudices by adults as we grow older. Thus, we need to teach our children very early how they can tolerate other opinions or beliefs. To cure ourselves from tribalism and religious hate, we need laws that prevent provocative statements from politicians and religious clerics.
4. High investment in education: Presently, it is sad that if you look at any world ranking of universities, hardly any Nigerian university makes it to the top 1000. We need to restructure our universities to meet market demands of the 21st century. With the advent of the industrial revolution 4.0, our graduates should be trained by competent teachers in order to face the ever-changing labour market. 
5. Building a strong judicial system: We need to restore the judiciary to its status of the last beacon of hope for the common man. We need to create a judicial system that punishes crime expediently. These will serve as a deterrent to other Nigerians and create a better Nigeria.
6. Consumer protection: In Nigeria today, most commodity retailers have form strong unions. These unions have become cartels that hoard and fix prices of basic goods in order to reap exorbitant profits. There is an urgent need for the government to save the masses from these cabals. We need to fix the price of basic goods such as rice, cooking oil, beans and maze.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a pan-Nigerian, I can talk for hours. I end with the lyrics of the “man in the mirror” a song by the late American POP star, Michael Jackson.

I’m starting with the man in the mirror

I’m asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you want to make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself, and then make a change.