Former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has stirred fresh debate over Nigeria’s democratic experience, declaring that Nigerians were better off under military rule than they have been during the 27 years of uninterrupted civilian government.
Duke said the huge cost of running democratic institutions since 1999 had not translated into meaningful improvements in the welfare of Nigerians, arguing that the country continued to grapple with many of the problems that existed before the return to civil rule.
“The people were better off under the military. At least governance was not that expensive,” Duke said in a weekend interview.
According to him, the performance of democracy should ultimately be judged by the benefits it has delivered to citizens rather than by the mere continuation of electoral politics.
He questioned whether Nigerians were substantially better off today than they were in 1999, citing worsening conditions in education, healthcare, infrastructure and employment.
“I’m speaking broadly now. If we focus on the well-being of the people, what we term democracy dividends, how much has been delivered?” he asked.
Duke noted that the number of out-of-school children remained a major concern, while the healthcare system and infrastructure had continued to deteriorate.
“Are we better off today than we were in 1999? Hardly so. Hardly so,” he said.
‘Same problems, no structured solution’
The former governor said Nigeria had failed to tackle fundamental challenges such as inadequate electricity supply and unemployment despite nearly three decades of democratic rule.
“The problems that existed before 1999—electrification, unemployment—those things are still there. And I don’t see a structured approach towards dealing with these issues,” he said.
Duke argued that there was nothing peculiar about Nigeria’s challenges that prevented the country from finding workable solutions.
He urged policymakers to learn from countries that had successfully addressed similar problems instead of repeatedly recycling failed approaches.
“This is my frustration, because there’s no problem we cannot resolve. We’re not a unique country. There are peer reviews you can do. How did you solve this? How did you do that? Are we thinking through our problems?” he queried.
Opposition ‘terribly weakened’
Duke also blamed Nigeria’s democratic shortcomings on the weakness of the opposition and what he described as a flawed electoral system.
He argued that opposition parties had become too self-interested to effectively hold governments accountable, while disputed election outcomes had contributed to widespread public distrust in the political process.
“The opposition is terribly weakened and self-centred. Democracy is also in danger. The results you get from the polls often don’t reflect the views of the people,” he said.
According to him, voter apathy is partly driven by the perception that votes do not count.
“So there’s a disenchantment with the system, both by the contestants and the public. Most people don’t vote because they believe their votes don’t count,” he added.
Duke warned that when elected officials did not believe they were genuinely accountable to voters, they could easily ignore the needs and demands of citizens.
“Because your vote doesn’t matter, there’s a tendency to take people for a ride and disregard what is required by the people,” he said.
‘We are pretending democracy’
The PRP presidential candidate went further to describe Nigeria’s democratic system as a façade, arguing that the legislature and judiciary had failed to provide effective checks and balances on executive power.
“We don’t have a democracy. We are pretending democracy. We’re not a democracy. You and I know that,” he said.
Duke particularly criticised the National Assembly, alleging that lawmakers often failed to subject executive proposals to sufficient scrutiny.
He cited the 2024 return to Nigeria’s former national anthem as an example, saying the legislation was passed with little visible resistance or debate.
“We changed the national anthem in a week. Nobody was asking questions. They shouted, ‘On your mandate, we shall stand,’ abdicating their responsibilities,” he said.
He also questioned the independence of the judiciary, recalling that the Chief Justice of Nigeria participated in the singing of the anthem during the process.
“There’s no judiciary. We all know it. But are we prepared to deal with it?” Duke asked.
‘Politics has become an occupation’
Duke attributed much of Nigeria’s political crisis to the failure of the country’s elite to provide effective leadership.
He said educated and influential Nigerians had largely abandoned the political arena, allowing individuals focused on retaining public office to dominate the system.
“It’s a failure of the elite more than anything else. We’re elites; we’re enlightened people but we abdicated our leadership to those whom we should be leading,” he said.
According to him, politics has increasingly ceased to be viewed as public service and has instead become a means of livelihood and permanent occupation for some politicians.
“Politics is no longer a vocation. It’s an occupation for those people. And you can’t get them out,” he added.
Duke warns of widening inequality
The former governor also expressed concern over the widening gap between the rich and poor, warning that growing economic inequality could eventually threaten social stability.
Recalling a warning attributed to Professor Sam Aluko during his time on the National Economic Intelligence Committee, Duke said there could come a point when the wealthy would be unable to enjoy their prosperity because of widespread hunger among the poor.
“There was a time when I used to be in the National Economic Intelligence Committee and Professor Aluko used to say, proverbially, that a time is coming in this country when the rich won’t sleep because the poor have not eaten. I think the time is coming,” he said.
Duke said the situation was particularly frustrating because Nigeria had abundant human and natural resources capable of transforming the country’s fortunes.
“Nigeria is exceedingly blessed. It’s sad. It’s painful that we are where we are,” he lamented.
Leave a Reply