Quick one on Nigeria’s “democracy”

A long debate is ongoing as I type this in my secondary school WhatsApp group. Given that we are Bini children, the debate is about the newly minted governor in our home state, Edo, and what he brings to the table or what he apparently does not bring.

Some people are unhappy that we (the Edo people) let the electoral theft happen, and phrases such as “the people deserve what they get” have been thrown around. There was a time when I agreed with all of this, but my personal evolution has put me on a slightly different path in terms of reasoning.

Just to throw a small cat among the pigeons: when we say, “Nigerians (or in this case Edo people) ‘let it happen’,” are we forgetting to take into account that a fundamental ingredient for democracy, which is missing in Nigeria writ large, is a properly educated citizenry that is well aware of its group interest?

Such an animal does not exist in the geographical expression called Nigeria and has never existed since the geographical expression came into being, so how then do we expect a different outcome from what we are now seeing?

Our problems are very fundamental, and they start from the economy. A very illuminating moment for me was during the Anambra elections back in 2013. I was monitoring the election, and since Anambra is a geographically small state, I could move around. In a place called Umudim, not too far from Nnewi, I came across a live example of people selling their votes, so I accosted a man who looked approachable with the middle-class ignorance of, “Why are you selling your vote, don’t you know that collecting ₦3,500 for your vote will mean that you can’t hold the government to account for the next four years?”

The man looked at me as if I was insane and then proceeded to explain to me in Igbo and, with the aid of quite a few proverbs, why I was very silly. It hit me. We are playing very different games in this geographical expression.

To be honest, it took me another seven years to finally unplug, but whenever I think about it, that was the beginning. Nigeria is fucked, but when you really think about it, what country, including those in the West, ever developed from the Hobbesian state to modern multiparty liberal democracy without some form of broad-based prosperity? There is none.

In summary, “Democracy cannot thrive in poverty”. What we should be looking at is how to get Nigerians prosperous, and democracy may (or may not) follow. Democracy is too messy and requires a huge and enlightened elite that has a common interest, is aware of that interest, and is able to work towards it. Without all that, well, you have Nigeria…