Donald Duke: Nigerians Better Off Under Military, Says Democracy Has Failed to Deliver

Decries weak opposition, electoral disputes, widening inequality

Sunday Ehigiator

Former Cross River State governor and presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has said Nigerians were better off under military rule, arguing that 27 years of civilian administration have imposed huge costs on the country without delivering commensurate improvements in citizens’ welfare.

Duke made the assertion in an interview, where he questioned the dividends of democracy since Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999.

“The people today, Sunny, I would tell you that they were better off under the military,” Duke said. “At least governance was not that expensive.”

According to him, the performance of democracy should be measured primarily by its impact on the wellbeing of Nigerians and the quality of services and infrastructure available to citizens.

“I’m speaking broadly now. If we focus on the well-being of the people, what we term democracy dividends, how much has been delivered?

“We’re still having the same problems we had 27 years ago. It’s getting worse. The number of children out of school has not improved; it’s deteriorating. The healthcare system is not improving; it’s deteriorating.

“Infrastructure deficiency over the last 27 years, are we better off? The question is: are we better off today than we were in 1999? Hardly so. Hardly so.”

Duke said successive civilian administrations had failed to develop a structured approach to addressing some of the fundamental challenges that predated the return to democracy.

“The problems that existed before 1999; electrification, unemployment, those things are still there. And I don’t see a structured approach towards dealing with these issues.

“This is my frustration, because there’s no problem we cannot resolve. We’re not a unique country. There are peer reviews you can do. How did you solve this? How did you do that? Are we thinking through our problems?”

The former governor also blamed Nigeria’s governance challenges on what he described as a weakened opposition and an electoral system in which election outcomes often failed to reflect the preferences of voters.

“The opposition is terribly weakened and self-centred. Democracy is also in danger. The results you get from the polls often don’t reflect the views of the people. So, there’s a disenchantment with the system, both by the contestants and the public. Most people don’t vote because they believe their votes don’t count.”

He argued that disputed electoral processes had undermined accountability, as politicians who did not feel indebted to voters could disregard their concerns.

“Because your vote doesn’t matter, there’s a tendency to take people for a ride and disregard what is required by the people,” he said.

Duke went further to describe Nigeria’s democratic system as a pretence, alleging that key institutions meant to check executive power had failed to effectively perform their constitutional responsibilities.

“We don’t have a democracy. We are pretending democracy. We’re not a democracy. You and I know that. And the checks and balances from the National Assembly; you know there’s no check; there’s no balance.”

Duke cited the speed with which the National Assembly approved the reintroduction of Nigeria’s former national anthem as an example of what he considered inadequate legislative scrutiny of executive initiatives.

“We changed the national anthem in a week. Nobody was asking questions. They shouted, ‘On your mandate, we shall stand,’ abdicating their responsibilities.

“We had a Chief Justice of this country singing, ‘On your mandate, we shall stand.’ There’s no judiciary. We all know it. But are we prepared to deal with it?”

The former governor attributed the shortcomings of the political system to what he described as the failure of Nigeria’s elite to provide effective leadership.

“It’s a failure of the elite more than anything else,” he said. “We’re elites; we’re enlightened people. But we abdicated our leadership to those whom we should be leading.

“Politics is no longer a vocation. It’s an occupation for those people. And you can’t get them out.”

Duke also warned that the growing disparity between the rich and poor could eventually threaten social stability.

“There was a time when I used to be in the National Economic Intelligence Committee and Professor Aluko used to say, proverbially, that a time is coming in this country when the rich won’t sleep because the poor have not eaten. I think the time is coming.”

Despite his criticism of the country’s leadership and democratic institutions, Duke said Nigeria had all the resources required to overcome its challenges.

“Nigeria is exceedingly blessed, but It’s sad. It’s painful that we are where we are.”