‘June 12’: Nigeria Is Not A Democracy; Stop Celebrating A Lie!

 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. 

Coups In Africa: It’s Time Politicians Accepted Soldiers As Rival For Power

 By Olu Fasan

The recent resurgence of military coups in Africa calls for further exposition, and I would do that here through the theory of militarism. From a cause-and-effect point of view, it’s futile, even irrational, to condemn coup d’états and ignore their root causes.

Unfortunately, a lot of contrived denunciation has dogged recent coups in Africa, whereas the underlying problems are glossed over. Indeed, some would view this piece as “coup-baiting”. Yet, the real coup-baiting is the failure of politicians to recognise that soldiers are their real rival for power, and that they must do the right things, democratically and in good-governance terms, to keep the military in the barracks and out of politics.