By Olu Fasan
Last week, Bola Tinubu,
Nigeria’s president, tripped and fell as he climbed the steps of the
parade vehicle during this year’s “Democracy
Day”. Characteristically, Tinubu dismissed the incident, saying he “dobale”, that is, prostrated for
democracy. In truth, Tinubu’s tumble is a perfect metaphor for democracy in
Nigeria.
For, let’s face it, Nigerian democracy is so inherently wobbly that it’s prone to tripping and falling. Indeed, Nigeria is not a true democracy, and to celebrate annually a failed system, instead of admitting and tackling the failure, is to entrench and perpetuate a lie.