THE DECADENCE OF DEMOCRACY TOWARDS FACISM IN NIGERIA

Muhammed Maryam  U16MM1078

Muhammad Yahaya    U16MM1002

Photo Credit: Nigerianfinder.com

Nigeria as a country got its independence from the British colonial master on the 1st of October 1960. The intention was to rule their country and be free from any control from other forces. Embracing democracy was hugely supported. However we cannot ignore that fact that Nigeria has experienced and is still experiencing, different epoch of political, social and economic turmoil.

From 1960 till date, Nigeria had four (4) consecutive republics. Most of the problems Nigeria goes through has and is still engineered and master minded by politicians in order to promote their own vested interests.

So far from 1st republic hither to, they had nine successful military coups in Nigeria which had each had devastating effects on the socio-economic activities of the country. However, the current status quo of the country’s political system is assumed to be a democratic one.

‘Assumed’ is used in this description because the supposed democracy practiced in Nigeria  is far from being potential.

Generally, people assume democracy to be the most successful political idea in the world. This is because it allows ordinary people, have a decisive say in who governs the affairs of a country and how the government goes about ruling the nation.  As it is said to be defined as the government for the people , by the people and for the people , it is based on the system of government involving the country’s citizens specifically practiced through the mechanism of elected representatives.

The basic features of democracy are:

I. Respect for basic human rights

II. A multi-party political system with political tolerance.

III. A democratic voting system

IV. Respect for the rule of law.

V. Equality before the law

VI. Democratic governance, and

VII. Population participation

While all the features listed above aims at fostering  a successful democracy , it has come to a clear realization that in the contemporary modern Nigeria today that is not the case. This is because democracy in Nigeria has been relegated to a system that came to cover the lie and corruption of human. Democracy recommends catering for others without solely thinking of ourselves but in Nigeria It is an enrich yourself largely before others kind of situation. it tells us that those of the pool of power are representing us, when in actual sense in Nigeria we do not even exist before them, it tells that we can remove those that make unrepresentative decision but in Nigeria that is almost impossible as they keep on reproducing themselves. in fact, the democracy practiced in Nigeria is oligarchy in disguise.

When diagnosing the illness of Nigerian political system it becomes very clear that politics is seen as a do or die game. Political actors see politics as a financial and social elevator and not one to improve the potentials of the people. 

The cumulating effect of the maladies of the Nigerian political system is currently setting us towards fascism. fascism is a word that gets tossed around pretty loosely these days, usually as an epivet to discredit, malign or critics someone else’s politics. Yet we must not shy away from the truth and expose the syndromes the Nigeria political structure has begun to develop. Fascism is a method of politics. It is rhetoric, a way of running for power.

The fundamental pillar of fascist ideology centers on power. However, about that, it is a tool to gain power, absolute power. The central message here is that a fascist political actor identify his enemies, appeal to the in group and smash the truth and replace it with power.

Most of this features of fascism has begin to manifest itself in today’s Nigerian government.

The political class of our dear country today is always trying very hard to destroy the truth. It is important to them because the truth is the heart of liberal democracy. The two; deals of liberal democracy are liberty and equality.

Let us ask ourselves, where is the liberty and equality today? When?

We have three (3) arms of government the executive, the legislature and the executive which are supposed to be independent of one another but in practice today one can confidently say that these three arms of government have become successfully integrated into one.

The executive have the full support, alliance and loyalty of both the legislature, upper and lower house of assembly and also the judiciary of the country. This was what we saw in Italy, Germany and Russia before and during the Second World War.

Across all government agencies one can see scores of successful breach of government protocols by the executive. In August 2018, the Department of State Service unauthorized,  sealed off the national assembly.

The police force are cracking down the protest of the IPOB, IMN and some other social activist.The freedom of speech and expression is increasingly becoming shallow although the Nigerian press claims to be  largely free, several arrests and detention of journalists and activists suggests a disturbing trend towards repression of freedom of expression and media.

The government is increasingly becoming paranoid about those protesting against their actions as they therefore see them as threats because they allow their selfish interest rule over them.

We as Nigerians need to look inward and  must raise alarm over the symptoms of fascism the political structure of our country is currently developing. No one has faith in the judiciary which is the last hope of the common man.

A word is enough for the wise.