Democracy is often eulogized and embellished as a one-stop solution for all human needs, vis-a-vis the citizen’s relationship with the State and vice versa. Perhaps, this is why even known despots and pretentious liberals often hide under the open guise of protecting Democracy and its principles, to embark on their diabolic partisanship to achieve selfish desires against the wishes of the rest of the pauperised citizenry.
In Nigeria where the exception has become the rule, political actors thrive in disorder, while they pretend to maintain orderliness in the face of stack and self-induced anomie. And this is becoming nauseating, to say the least.
Political events in the past few weeks have shown stubborn deafness to popular opinion, on the part of the State, to rein in discord and avoid setting a dangerous precedent that attempts to lock democracy and constitutionalism in a bottle only the powerful can unlock. This is worrisome.
It is against this backdrop that one needs to dispassionately understand the looming danger, lurking around as opportunism to unleash terror on perceived “enemies” of the State, nay the government of the day, and its present handlers, all in the name of protecting Democracy and ensuring stability.
There’s no denying the fact that there’s a growing perception among scholars and political watchers that democracy is on the decline all over the world, little wonder that Nigeria is taking her fair share. Larry Diamond, arguably the foremost authority on democracy worldwide, equally believes that democracy is presently in recession across the globe.
Nigeria, therefore, belongs to the global system where authoritarian leaders masquerading as true democrats bare their fangs if not checkmated by the people it elects to govern, the very reason we must not be quiet at all.
The recent action of President Bola Tinubu, when he declared a state of emergency in Rivers State against the constitutional provisions and his recalcitrance to undo the anomaly, is a growing sign of authoritarianism a little above the embryonic stage. It is one key indicators of authoritarian behaviour that must be nipped in the bud.
The guardrails of democracy must be protected from both professed democrats and authoritarians alike, if we must move forward beyond this democratic backsliding to compete favourably among the comity of nations and be respected by all.
A cursory look at the most stubborn political crisis in the nation’s “swing states” today, shows a connection with the struggle for power by the Nigerian gullible elites in 2027.
From Lagos, where the majority members ruled for the removal of an overbearing Speaker of the House of Assembly and his diabolic return against the run of play, being orchestrated by a ubiquitous leviathan; to Kano where there are two traditional rulers, one “representing” the federal government while the other represents the state in one indivisible Emirate, to the imbroglio in Rivers State which came to enthrone the dictatorship of the progressives, democracy is continuously been buffeted by those who were elected to preserve it, all in anticipation of a possible power grabbing in 2027.
Until and unless we shout out and continue to shout, even with the risk of being called pitiful and pitiable names, this same democracy will be further endangered by the unwholesome activities of those who want to impose their selfish desires on the rest of us.
Any action by any leader in a democracy that undermines constitutional provisions and the general opinion of the people, is a deliberate affront on freedom and the well-being of the people. We must be mindful of this, all the time.
Austen Akhagbeme,
