Nigeria Is A Permanent Failed State! (1)

 Without any iota of doubt, Nigeria is a permanent failed State. It was aptly described as a "hybrid regime" by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index. This classification is evident by virtue of Nigeria's democracy flaws and shortcomings. Nigeria's democracy score index is 4. 16, categorizing it as hybrid regime as well as flawed democracy. This score is based on 5 parameters: 

• Electoral Process and Pluralism (5.17),

• Functioning of Government (3. 57),

• Political Participation (3. 89),

• Political Culture (3. 75), and

• Civil Liberties (4. 41). 

These scores are indeed out of 10, with 10 being the highest possible score. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index (EIU) uses these scores to categorize countries into four types of regimes, such as:

(a) Full Democracy (scores above 8), 

(b) Flawed Democracy (scores between 6-8), 

(c) Hybrid Regimes (scores between 4-6), and 

(d) Authoritarian (scores below 4).  

 The above scores, according to the EIU, indicate that while Nigeria has some democratic elements, it also exhibits characteristics of authoritarianism and tyranny, resulting in its hybrid regime classification. According to this report by EIU, Nigeria is classified as both flawed democracy and hybrid regime. What are the meanings of flawed democracy and hybrid regime? Flawed democracy means countries which conduct elections in order to have elected presidents, governors, legislators, local government area chairmen, and local councilors. Even though they conduct free and fair elections or indulge into electioneering malpractices, they still exhibit significant weaknesses in other aspects of the democracy process, such as limited or total lack of government accountability, weak or total lack of rule of law, restricted civil liberties, corruption and stealing of government's resources and funds. Fraudulent public office holders, euphemistically refer to stealing government's funds as embezzlement. But, I call it stealing! Hybrid regime governance are those countries with a mixture of democracy and authoritarian or tyrannical elements. 

The hybrid regimes are characterized by elections that are often manipulated and grossly unfair, limited political freedoms, harassment and detention of opposition groups by government in power, media censorship, and total resentment or aversion to freedom of speech or expression. Hybrid regimes characteristically arrest, detain, and jail peaceful protesters, and others. The characteristics of flawed democracy and hybrid regime are similar. Both of them do not follow the true principles of democracy.

From all indications, Nigeria is a permanent failed State. Why? It is because the country does not abide by the principles of any system of government. Parliamentary system of government cannot succeed in Nigeria, wheras it is a huge success in other countries of the world. Neither can democracy which wonderfully succeeded in Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden find its footing in Nigeria. Therefore, we can affirmatively say that it is not the system of government adopted by a country that makes the difference. Rather, the difference lies in the modus operandi applied by the concerned country or countries. A hood does not make a monk! The Bible tells us that the leopard cannot change its skin. What makes an animal to smell is inside that animal, and not outside it. What I mean is that Nigeria, irrespective of any system of government adopted, must surely exhibit all the faceless characteristics of both flawed democracy and hybrid regimes. 

Election rigging and manipulation are rampant in Nigeria, often marred by irregularities, intimidation of voters (The way APC touts dealt with Igbo people in Lagos during the 2023 presidential election was unfair. They cut Igbos with knives, burnt their shops and offices with fire at Oshodi, Ladipo, Idumota, and Alaba International Markets. The Yoruba APC supporters seized Igbo people's belongings forcefully. I saw it with my eyes in some areas of Lagos. Many Igbos were denied their voting rights at the polling booths.), and alleged rigging. To the best of my knowledge, the 2023 presidential election was unfair and undemocratic to the core. APC officers paid voters money to vote for their candidate (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) in broad daylight. Those who refused their offers were branded enemies of the Yoruba race; and advised to go back to their own States or face their wrath. 

The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index (EIU) and other international electioneering observers reported that the 2023 presidential election lacked all appearances and elements of democracy and fairness. It was not free and fair at all. Neither did the voting exercises hold human lives in sacrosanct. Hence, scores of lives were lost during that dare-devil presidential election of 2023. It is on record that fresh graduates from the Nigerian universities and tertiary institutions (National Youth Service Corpers) who were recruited to work under the apex electoral monitoring agency called Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), were gruesomely felled down by bullets from thugs sent by the Rivers State APC helmsman, for their blatant refusal to manipulate the elections to the advantage of APC's presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The videos of those arbitrary killings went viral and were seen by many people in Nigeria and abroad. Foreign ambassadorial offices in Nigeria cannot claim that they did not see those pictures depicting the atrocities meted out to fellow citizens of Nigeria during that fight-to-finihsh battle to the presidential throne. Yet, nobody did anything about it. That callous incident was swept under the carpet of history like the END-SARS killings. All international electioneering observers saw those unprovoked killings with their eyes. They also knew too well that the 2023 election was massively rigged and manipulated. Yet, they kept quiet and went back to their respective countries as if everything was Uhuru with that election in Nigeria. I do not even know why they came since their presence did not change things! Nigeria is a permanent failed sovereign State. 

Limited or absent government accountability is another significant issue plaguing Nigeria's democracy and stability. Successive Nigerian government's lack of transparency and accountability has led to widespread and state-scale corruption and abuse of power. In both civilian and military regimes in Nigeria, mismanagement (misappropriation) of public funds and resources, poverty, unemployment, non-payment of salaries, insecurity, and tribalism are common-place. Till this moment, pensions are not yet paid to our aged men and women who worked assiduously under different Federal and State Government ministries. For many years, they have paraded their former offices asking for their peanuts called "pensions" but all in futility. Many of them have died. I once saw one elderly woman pensioner crying and asking someone to help her capture her pictures which the Lagos State Government asked them to bring. They told her to turn her face front, left, and right to prove that she was still alive. She wept loud and cursed Lagos State Government for making her suffer for her money after meretriciuosly serving her for decades. Recently her daughter told me that her mother (the pensioner) had died without receiving the pension. Does this happen in Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, and other countries practising genuine democracy? When the pensioner dies, the office holding the money seizes it forever. Is that fair? 

The phrase, "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely" means that if the executive arm of government brings the legislature and judiciary into its armpit, the executive may want to strangle the country's democracy. It implies that excess power vested in the executive can lead it to act immorally and unethically. That is why checks and balances must be a part and parcel of true democracy. Without separation of power, democracy will fail woefully. Without rule of law, democracy cannot succeed, too. Once the executive buys over the legislature and judiciary as it traditionally obtains in Nigeria right from independence in 1960 till today, the executive relapses into wanton corruption, abuse of power, and endless tyranny. This concept highlights the importance of accountability, transparency, and limitations on power to prevent abuse of authority and protect the rights of citizens. The weak rule of law in Nigeria further exacerbates the problem of the democratic process. Nigeria's judicial system always moves at snail speed. It is often sluggish, lack-lustre, and ineffective, allowing bizarre corruption and impunity to thrive. This has led to a situation where those in power act with disregard for the law, knowing that they can act with impunity and go un-scathed. 

Restricted civil liberties are also a major concern; with limitations on freedom of speech (expression), assembly, association, and religion (worship). Past and present Nigerian governments derive avid pleasures in harassing and intimidating opposition groups, activists, journalists, peaceful protesters, and stifling dissenting voices to the detriment of democracy. Massive corruption and loots of offices are endemic in Nigeria's democracy. Corruption and misappropriation of government's resources have become acceptable norms in our country, with those in power using public resources for personal and family gains. This has led to widespread poverty, inequality, and under-development. Limited political freedoms also characterize Nigeria's fledgling democracy, with the government often restricting citizens' ability to participate in the political process. The media is also not free; it is facing gloomy and dire censorship and intimidation from governments. In Nigeria, journalists are hated, arrested, detained, and always treated with disdain, for reporting on sensitive issues . These undemocratic issues have contributed to Nigeria's rating of 104th out of 167 countries in EIU Democracy Index, with a score of 4. 23 out of 10. 

Financial corruption and selfish aggrandizements are pervasive issues in Nigeria, drastically affecting various aspects of the society and governance. Nigeria's economy has been affected, with an estimated $2 trillion lost to the monster called corruption between 1970 and 2022. This staggering amount of money could have been invested in essential sectors like education, healthcare, and infrastructure, which are critical denominators for Nigeria's development. Some of the notable cases of financial corruption in Nigeria include the following:

1. Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Scandal:

Candidly speaking, there are innumerable cases of corruption and rottenness in the Nigerian oil sector. Crude oil is Nigeria's highest exportable good. She ranks 6th highest OPEC's crude oil exporter. Crude oil is the benchmark for running Nigeria's government for many decades. Unfortunately, the military junta from the northern extraction hijacked the oil industry from the early 1980's. They allocated the oil blocks in those littoral States of Nigeria (Rivers State, Bayelsa State, Delta State, Akwa Ibom State, Cross River State, and others) amongst themselves. Most top military brass from North-Central, North-East, and North-West geopolitical zones of Nigeria, including past military presidents from these zones, have many personal oil blocks (concessions) containing many oil wells. A standard oil block is a little more than the size of a football field whether it is a continental shelf (located on dry land), deep water, and ultra deep water oil blocks. Each oil block contains many or few oil wells according to where the hydrocarbon is found. A high degree producing oil well can produce crude oil for many years of active exploration, day and night. The top brass military men from the North have sold billions of barrels of crude oil for decades to enrich themselves to the detriment of national economy. Two past civilian presidents from the South made daring efforts to withdraw some of those oil licenses from the North but did not succeed in their bids to do so. 

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To be concluded in the next post ...