Continuing Story Of Nigeria’s Undemocratic Posture

 By Tonnie Iredia

No democratic nation is expected to undermine any of the easily recognizable 5 pillars of democracy.

These are: (i)the sovereignty of the people in which government functions only on behalf of the people (ii) the rule of law which presupposes the absence of arbitrariness in a society where everyone is equal before the law iii) free and fair elections, that is, periodic contests which throw up political leaders that are truly determined by only the electorate (iv) majority rule in which government is formed by the political party which has the highest number of lawful votes and (v) minority rights in which government is obliged to protect the rights of the vulnerable and powerless segments of society.

One feature which runs through all the pillars is that governance ought to be guided by the due process of law which abhors the abuse of power.  

An ideal democracy may no doubt be hard to attain but no supposed democratic society is expected to continuously undermine any of the above-named 5 pillars. Unfortunately, the political class in Nigeria does so all the time while consoling itself with the saying that the worst form of democracy is better than the best form of dictatorship. The truth however is that every bad form of democracy is a dictatorship. 

It is rather regrettable that many political leaders in Nigeria are not accountable to the people they claim to represent apparently because they are conscious of the fact that they were not the true choices of the people. They are able to use impunity to remain in power while despising the people through criminalizing political dissent. When Nigerian leaders say they welcome constructive criticisms, no one is left in doubt that the term ‘constructive’ remains the subjective determination of only the leaders.

Before 2023, some state governors especially those of Ebonyi and Cross River States took delight in ensuring the arrest and detention of political opponents and critics including even the media that is constitutionally mandated to hold government accountable to the people. 

Each time a critic was arrested, the law enforcement agencies would say the report of the critic embarrassed the governor or that aspects of the said report were capable of destabilizing society but at no point were the same agencies interested in scrutinizing the veracity of the reports they acted against. Painfully, the position is yet to change as we keep hearing of one critic or the other who has been arrested for criticising a top political office holder. In the last two weeks, 2 Nigerian citizens were allegedly arrested for criticising the governments of Sokoto and Imo states respectively.

From Sokoto, undisputed social media reports stated that a young Nigerian lady, Hamdiya Sidi Sharif produced a video which recorded the bitter experiences of some victims of bandits’ attacks in some communities and villages in the state. It was said that because the report embarrassed the state government, the Nigeria Police decided “to pursue, arrest, and secretly arraign” the young woman. 

She was reportedly first arrested on November 9, 2024 and later released only to be rearrested some 4 days later. According to the media, Hamdiya was “accosted on the streets, dragged into a tricycle, beaten with a machete, and was then arraigned in a court in Achida town for allegedly embarrassing the government of the state.”One would have thought that the unending bandits’ attacks on people that the government is supposed to protect is what should give the authorities more cause for embarrassment than a media report on survivors of the attacks.

In the case of the report from Imo state, a citizen Fabian Ihekweme who had served as a commissioner from 2020-2022 in the administration of Governor Hope Uzodinma was arrested on account of what the police claimed to bea petition accusing him “of seditious and inflammatory publications aimed at inciting civil unrest in the state.” Ihekweme had since moved from the governor’s party to the opposition People’s Democratic Party PDP thereby serving as a veritable critic of the activities of the state government.

The new role assumed by Ihekweme is necessary in a democracy to keep the government on its toes – a basic fact which the police ought to appreciate, except it is compromised. Otherwise, how can today’s law enforcement agencies rely on excerpts from the same law of sedition employed by the colonial dictators of old to curtail the activities of foremost leaders of nationalist movements fighting for their nation’s independence?

We do not even believe that Governor Hope Uzodinma agrees with the police that Ihekweme aims to incite civil unrest in Imo state. Uzodinma is probably the friendliest governor of the media who is more conscious of the essence of public accountability. Since coming into office, no other Nigerian governor has been as helpful to the media as Uzodinma who has severally hosted media conferences and conventions of both the Nigerian Union of Journalists NUJ and the Nigerian Guild of Editors NGE. 

He ought to have had useful media advice to set up a formidable team to counter what critics like Ihekweme can say about government activities. If Ihekweme alone is stronger than the governments’ media team, the governor should review the team and perhaps extend invitation to Ihekweme to join the team rather than using whatever other means to criminalize political dissent. It is not for nothing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a strong media team.

Every political office holder should expect commendation from loyalists and some other persons who are persuaded by his or her policies, but not every citizen would be so disposed. It is better to employ effective publicity to enlighten critics than to respond harshly to criticisms. 

A leader should endeavour to correct certain policies that are criticised while a few criticisms that are made in bad faith are best ignored. There is indeed nothing to suggest that fighting critics and the media can give positive support to the reputation of government. Instead, it is better to be inclusive, tolerant and open minded-an approach which may be more effective in silencing critics. One analyst the other day praised Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State for adopting such an approach that has reportedly reduced Buni’s critics drastically.

Unknown to some leaders, an undue harsh reaction to a criticism merely helps to make a larger segment of society to become aware as well to believe the negative points contained in a particular criticism. What this suggests is that using law enforcement agencies to frighten opponents and critics is ill-advisable. This is because each time a government critic is arrested, public reaction is usually negative with many asking the obvious questions which underscore the feature of freedom in a democracy. 

At a recent gathering, some participants demanded to know the exact law which empowers a governor to order the arrest of a citizen while others were questioning the power of the police to detain a citizen for more than 48 hours without a court order. The direct implication of these questions is that official harsh reactions to criticisms further escalate public distrust for political office holders.

It is time for the Nigerian Governors’ Forum NGF to take up the issue of incessant arrests of critics by their members because the subject is making the public see every Nigerian governor as a tyrant notwithstanding that some of them are innocent of the accusation. It is also time for our federal legislators to review aspects of the Cyber Crimes Act which seem to equate the Act to both the law of sedition enacted by dictators of the old colonial government and Decree 4 of the military. It is contradictory for Nigeria as a democracy to purport to have a constitution which guarantees free speech while at the same time employing some other law to suggest that every criticism a criminal offence. This needs to be urgently done to allay the fears of those who are no longer able to different their country’s democracy from a dictatorship.

One poser which Nigerian media professionals are unable to resolve is how to implement the mandate of Section 22 of the Nigeria constitution which directs them to hold political office holders accountable to the people when those in power are able to lock-up those to hold them accountable! Big pity, while other nations are designing technologies for combating fake news and disinformation, Nigeria is only able to arrest opponents and critics of persons in power.

*Iredia is a commentator on public issues