By : Dr. Josiah AE
Encouraged by my co-inlaw Dr. Peter Obiefuna; who just wrote and launched a powerful book on relationship snd love titled: “ when love is a scam” I am moved to adopt a similar title in looking at the state of democracy in my state and Nigeria and title my opinion as “Nigeria: where democracy is a Scam!
Democracy, in its purest and classical sense, is founded on a simple but powerful idea: the will of the people is supreme. From its Athenian origins through its modern representative form, democracy presupposes popular sovereignty, accountability, the rule of law, and strong institutions that outlive and restrain individuals. It is a system where power flows upward from the people, not downward from godfathers, cabals, or private interests. Sadly, when these defining principles are measured against political practice in Nigeria, what exists is not democracy in substance but a hollow imitation—one that increasingly resembles an elaborate scam.
The Meaning and Promise of Democracy
Democracy means government by consent. In representative democracies, citizens elect leaders to act on their behalf, not as overlords but as stewards. These representatives are expected to remain accountable to their constituencies, regularly consulting them, especially when major decisions affecting their welfare are to be made. True democracy requires that when a legislator or governor is confronted with a critical policy choice, he returns—physically or politically—to “feel the pulse” of the people and then articulates their collective position at the seat of power.
Another defining feature of democracy is institutional supremacy. Institutions—not individuals—shape outcomes. The legislature makes laws, the executive implements them, and the judiciary interprets them, each acting independently within clearly defined constitutional boundaries. No one is above the law. Attempts to subvert the popular will or undermine constitutional order are met with legal consequences, not political rewards.
In a functioning democracy, the judiciary stands as the last hope of the common man: independent, fearless, and guided solely by law and justice, not by technicalities designed to shield injustice. There is no room for godfatherism, as elective offices are protected from external manipulation. A governor, for example, is accountable to the people and the constitution—not to private individuals who claim ownership of political structures.
This is the democratic ideal Nigerians embraced in 1999, hopeful that military arbitrariness had finally given way to popular sovereignty.
The Nigerian Reality: Democracy in Name Only
In Nigeria today, many of these foundational principles exist only on paper. In practice, democracy has been captured, distorted, and weaponized against the very people it was meant to empower.
Representation has become a farce. In many constituencies, the people neither determine who represents them nor influence how they are governed. Candidates are imposed through party machinery controlled by powerful individuals. Elections are often won not by persuasion or popular support but by manipulation, intimidation, and financial muscle. Votes are counted, but the will behind them is routinely ignored.
Once in office, many representatives sever all meaningful ties with their constituents. Consultation is seen as weakness. Constituency offices become ceremonial, and town hall meetings are replaced by press statements crafted far from the realities of the people. Ironically, the people—who should command authority—now fear their representatives, who operate as untouchable elites rather than public servants.
Even more troubling is the phenomenon where private individuals openly boast of their ability to determine state outcomes: who becomes a legislator, who remains a governor, and who is removed. In such a system, impeachment—a grave constitutional mechanism meant to address serious misconduct—is reduced to a political weapon deployed at the whims of unseen hands. When an individual outside government can “bring down” an elected governor by exerting control over the legislature, democracy has clearly collapsed into oligarchy.
The Legislature and the Subversion of Popular Will
The legislature, ideally the closest arm of government to the people, has, in many instances, become the weakest link in Nigeria’s democratic chain. Rather than acting as the voice of the people, some legislative houses operate as extensions of external interests. Laws are passed, positions adopted, and impeachments initiated without regard to public sentiment—even when the people loudly and clearly oppose such actions.
This inversion of power is profoundly anti-democratic. When representatives impose their will against the collective will of their constituents, democracy ceases to exist. What remains is coercion cloaked in legality.
Judiciary: Justice Deferred and Democracy Undermined
Perhaps the greatest betrayal of Nigeria’s democratic experiment lies in the judiciary’s increasing retreat from substantive justice into the safe harbour of constitutional technicalities. While adherence to procedure is essential in law, procedure must never become a refuge for injustice.
In situations where the abuse of democratic norms is glaring—where legislative processes are evidently compromised or the will of the people brazenly subverted—courts are expected to rise above narrow interpretations and defend constitutional democracy. Too often, however, the judiciary has allowed manifest injustice to stand, citing procedural defects while ignoring the spirit and purpose of the constitution.
When citizens lose faith in the courts to protect their mandate, democracy loses its moral foundation. The judiciary’s independence is not merely about freedom from executive interference; it is also about courage—the courage to defend democracy itself.
Rivers State and the National Pattern
The political developments in Rivers State, alongside similar episodes in other states, illustrate a broader national malaise. They reveal a system where institutions are weak, individuals are powerful, and the electorate is largely irrelevant after elections. These are not isolated anomalies but symptoms of a deeply flawed democratic structure.
Democracy as a Tool for Elite Enrichment
For many Nigerians, democracy was embraced with hope—the hope that their voices would finally matter. Instead, it has become a means for a small political class to enrich and empower itself. Public office is treated as private property. Elections are investments to be recouped, not mandates to be honoured. The electorate is remembered only during campaigns and abandoned immediately afterwards.
When leaders “write” their way into office and govern without regard to public interest, democracy degenerates into a transactional scam—expensive, exclusionary, and dishonest.
Conclusion: A Stolen Ideal
Nigeria does not suffer from the absence of democratic language or constitutional provisions. It suffers from the absence of democratic culture, accountability, and moral restraint. What is practised today is democracy in form but not in substance—a system that uses the rituals of elections to legitimize the domination of the many by the few.
Until the will of the people truly reigns; until representatives fear their constituents more than godfathers; until institutions are stronger than individuals; and until the judiciary consistently chooses justice over convenience, Nigerian democracy will remain what many citizens now bitterly describe it as: a scam.
The tragedy is not merely that democracy has failed Nigeria—but that it has been deliberately betrayed.
Dr. Josiah AE, Writes from Port Harcourt
In this article