When Democracy Fails: Should Africa Reconsider Autocracy?

The level of bad governance in African countries is so bad that when you visit some nations with good governments as a citizen of the former country, it'll seem as though you're in paradise, and the reason for that isn't far-fetched: bad leaders tend to only focus on power, embezzling public funds and treating their friends and loved ones to a royal lifestyle with little or no concern about the dilapidated state of the nation. It takes a good and empathetic leader to govern a country and implement effective policies that bring about positive changes to the country. So since democratic leaders can't seem to bring our expectations to reality, is it high time we go back to autocratic leadership? Check out my take below.

The truth is that it's easy for children of the present-day generation to easily pick a side when such a question pops up, but if you've witnessed what it feels like to be governed by autocratic leaders, especially in a country like mine, Nigeria, then you'll for no reason whatsoever pray to ever be in such a situation again. An autocratic leader has the sole power to do whatsoever they feel is right without anyone being able to question them. I remember how I caught a glimpse of that during my early childhood during the 1993 election and the power tussles that followed between General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha.

We were literally running helter-skelter from one place to another due to the unrest and endless inhuman behaviors and atrocities that happened during that time. Imagine being shot for not stopping when the national anthem is being sung or being thrown in jail for questioning the decision or policy of leaders. People like Fela, even Tinubu, our present president, and the like were all jailed for standing up against the autocratic military leaders, and that's not even to talk about the numbers of people that were being killed, making many leave the shores of the country for other places for safety and better governance.

With the little unrest I witnessed during my childhood, coupled with the recounts of my parents and grandparents, who had better and more concrete experience of that for decades, that has made me despise anything that has to do with autocratic leaders. I understand that democratic leaders are more like birds of the same feather, but then it's a little bit better than that of the military. At least nowadays we've got people like Sowore, Rufai, Ben, VDM, and the like who on several occasions criticize and condemn the president and those in power, and yet, all they can do is do their own damage control.

Back in the day, not only would they all be arrested and jailed, but even their family members and relatives would suffer the consequences of their words, as we saw play out during the military regime. So what should we do? And how can we get the right leaders to rule our country and take us to the promised land in terms of infrastructure, development, and the like?

I think what we need is a reform of not just the electoral body but the entire political party and a total overhaul of the present-day politicians, both those presently in power and those clamoring for it. The truth is that they're all thieves, regardless of the party they're in or the kind of coat they wear; all they're after is the resources of the nation and the power to be in charge, and aside from that, nothing else. So bringing in a new set of leaders into politics and making sure they all are paid according to the minimum wage of civil servants and a body fact-checking all the projects and contracts they give out—only then will African nations begin to thrive.

All photos are taken and edited on canva.