Electing A Dictator – A Major Drawback For Nigeria’s Democracy

By Lloyd Ukwu

Prelude:

The problem with dictatorship is that it usually lacks the capacity and patience to understand the meaning of the rule of law and due process. Both doctrines are often slow and therefore require patience. Dictators don’t have patience, they want it here, now and by any means necessary. 

 In 1984, Muhammadu Buhari overthrew the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari. It is true that every coup plotter is guilty of breaching the Nigerian constitution and shooting his way into power. But arguably, unlike Ibrahim Babangida that overthrew a military junta, Buhari’s offense was more egregious because he overthrew a democratically elected government – an expression of the collective will of Nigerians. In his false feeling of importance, Buhari has always believed in his messianic mission. He thinks that he knows it all, and that, unlike any other Nigerian, he knows what is best for Nigeria. His twisted sense of superiority and inordinate craving for power found expression in his 1984 coup and his subsequent, repeated run for the presidency. Before he finally won in 2015, he had been defeated in three earlier presidential elections. 

On his third defeat, he broke down and wept in public, an action that would have ended his political career if he were an American politician. Politicians hardly weep in America. To me, that unrestrained public effusion of tears signified his utter desperation for power. His frequent threats to Nigerians were also indicative of his excessive hunger for power. 

After he lost the 2011 presidential election, he made his threats; vowing to make Nigeria ungovernable. And true to his word, he attempted to make Nigeria ungovernable. Through his Boko Haram connection, he unleashed terror on Nigeria. Some say that if Buhari had no relationship with Boko Haram, why did the terrorist group nominate him as one of its negotiators? And before the 2015 election, he threatened to spill blood and cause mayhem if he loses the election. Unfortunately, in 2015, Nigerians buckled under Buhari’s threats and shenanigans, and elected a dictator-president.