Nigeria’s Governance Dilemma
When it comes to governance, we've got a lot of systems of government that different countries use to govern their people, from democracy to autocracy, unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, federal monarchy, and the like, and each seems great in their own world, especially when it's been governed by an empathetic leader that has the best interests of the people at heart. But then we can't disregard the fact that many of the styles of government that promise to be for the people aren't actually so in reality, which is an issue arising in different aspects, and these have made different people clamor for a change in the system of government of their nation. Do I want the same for my country?
A democratic style of government is what my country is said to utilize, but I for one can tell you for a fact that we're very far from running a democratic style of government, because we don't have freedom of speech, voting is void with violence, vote buying, and the like, and that's not to even forget how every single person that has held a political office runs it with corruption and gets power drunk to the point where they care less about the people they ought to serve, and with all of these happening, I'm not surprised many people want a change in style of government. I mean, come to think of it, there are nations that don't run a democratic style, and they're prospering.
Top world nations such as the United Kingdom don't run a democracy-style government but a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, and yet they're thriving. The same is the case with African nations such as Morocco, which are enjoying development and mind-blowing infrastructure like they're top world nations, and these kinds of things make me wish we ran the same, but then on other thoughts I realized some nations run the same style of government and are not doing well, such as Thailand, Bhutan, Cambodia, and Nepal before it was abolished in 2008. Also, it's worth noting that such a style of governance can't really hold ground in a country like Nigeria that houses over 250 ethnic groups; giving one of them some leadership over everyone would definitely cause insurgency within the nation.
So given the fact that we've got over 200 kings in our country, it'll be difficult to just pick one and say they should be the sole ruler of a nation with multiple tribes, when even kings of the same tribes still have attractions between themselves over territory. Also, I can't go for autocratic leaders or military regimes because I've not only heard tales of their terror but also witnessed it firsthand myself while growing up, and so what then should I go for since what we used in the past didn't go well and the one we're using presently is flawed?
For me personally, I'll still go with having this style of government we are currently running, which is the democratic style of governance, and why I said so is because overall what brings about progress and development to a nation isn't the style of government they use, but the kind of leader they've got. And that's why you'll see some nations that run some style of government we think is terrible, and yet they're having the best of everything, including development. Take, for instance, the authoritarian style of government in Libya used by Muammar Gaddafi during his lifetime. Ask anybody from that part of the world today, and they'll prefer to go back to life during Gaddafi's rule than what they have now.
So even though I understand that through the years democracy hasn't favored us, I can tell you that it's still what I prefer for my country. What I think we need is to change the entire population of leaders and politicians we've had in our political space and bring in new empathetic individuals that care for the people and have the best interests of the nation at large.
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Seriously o, it's not just about the style of government but about wether the leaders are serious about helping the people or not.
Some countries do better despite practicing what seems like a bad style of leadership
That's just it my brother, what we need a change of isn't the style of government, but the people in the helm of affairs.
Your point about 200+ kings in a country with 250 ethnic groups says a lot. Even Netflix would struggle to cast one monarch for that story. It shows the label on the system matters less than the guardrails, like credible elections, rule of law, and real local power. If money politics and intimidation keep deciding winners, swapping models won’t change much. If you had to pick one fix first, cleaner primaries or tighter election security?
Absolutely, it's going to be chaos having power rift between multiple kings.
I'll go for tighter election security.
Yeah, democracy is also my choice for my country and this is because of its checks and balances unlike the other rules which is autocratic. Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome, it's a wonderful style of government when done right.
Our problem is not democracy but our leaders seriously democratic system is one of the best system of government if our leaders will understand that the leading human and animals our country will be good. We have all it take to make this country a better place.
That's just it, what we need is a good leader and that's only when our nation can be great again.
Imagine the kind of war this would bring 😅. This is where democracy has the upper level. Even as it is now in Nigeria, the mode of selecting a president through the democratic style is saving us a lot of war even though the style is shaky as well