Democracy Under Siege in Nigeria: Open Letter to Foreign Democratic Stakeholders
By Abbati Bako,psc,UK,
University of Kent Alumnus
Ladies and gentlemen of the world, friends of Nigeria, defenders of freedom and democratic Stakeholders around the world: US, UK, EU and other global Southern Homesphere as well as our brothers and sisters in African countries. I’m writing this letter with a warning that Nigeria’s democratic transition seems to be committing harakiri.
In fact Nigeria’s democracy is under siege. Not by foreign invasion. Not by open war. But by the slow, silent suffocation of possible rigged elections, captured courts, and a civic space that grows smaller every election cycle.
You cannot claim to stand for democracy and look away while the giant of Africa (Nigeria) is forced to its knees.
1. The Ballot: We were promised “one man, one vote.” What we got was “one wallet, one vote.” Vote-buying is no longer an accusation, it’s a budget line.
2. The Bench: When courts become waiting rooms for the highest bidder, justice dies. And when justice dies, democracy follows.
3. The Voice: Journalists arrested. Activists and opposition leaders tagged enemies of the state. Youth silenced. A democracy without free voices is just a building with no people inside. Hence, democracy is not a game of using coercion. Is a game of fairness to all.
What is going on, isn’t democracy rather is what (late) Fela Anikulapo Kuti described as “democrazy” and growing pains. And this is democratic asphyxiation. So I ask the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and every partner around the world who signs MOUs with Nigeria to take note.
Will you fund elections, or will you defend them? Will you shake hands with winners, or will you stand with voters? Will you measure Nigeria by oil barrels and GDP, or by the strength of its ballot? Please think of that.
Sanctions without observation are noise. Statements without consequences are theater. Nigeria does not need your pity. Nigeria needs your principle.
To my fellow Nigerians: Democracies are not given. They are guarded. To the world: You cannot call it democracy promotion if you only show up on inauguration day. According to Professor Albena Azmanova of University of Kent, UK, opined that “democracy has competing values, interests and ambitions”.
Hence, this letter understands that political democracy is a system that is supposed to protect your life and security, your hope and aspirations, economic interplay, culture and traditions, religion and environment. Also, freedom of expression, to protect your interests and achieve your ambitions in life. So, this is the meaning of constitutional democracy; also defined as representative democracy both in advance or less advanced democracy in all continents of the world.
The siege of democracy is real in Nigeria. Stand with Nigeria’s voters or stand by while democracy bleeds. The choice is yours!
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Abbati Bako: abbatibako@gmail.com
Political Strategy and Communications consultant and researcher/scholar in Globalization Policy @Skyline University Kano, Nigeria