Why Nigeria’s democracy is failing- Utomi, Bolarinwa

Experts have identified the tendency of politicians and political parties to prioritise winning elections rather than executing people-centred policies and the faulty electoral process as reasons why successive administrations in Nigeria have failed since 1999.

The experts, including Patrick Utomi, a professor of political economy and management, and Bolarinwa Joshua, head, security and strategy studies division, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, (NIIA), stated this Wednesday at the Nigeria investor’s webinar series.

In his presentation, Utomi faulted the structure and composition of political parties in Nigeria, noting that most of them often lost focus and failed to adhere to their parties’ programmes after winning the election into public offices despite promises to the electorates.

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Utomi noted that successive governments had failed in the last two decades, partly because qualified professionals, experts are often not appointed to implement government policies to have a direct bearing on the masses.

“When the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was elected, he called me and we talked extensively on the direction the country should go, I told him that he should appoint technocrats into some key ministries, the rest he can play politics with,” Utomi said.

The professor, however, advocated for continuity in government policies, stressing that the country must urgently increase investment in education, health and provide infrastructure that would have a direct impact on ordinary Nigerians.

He added that there was the need for more young Nigerians to be appointed into public offices.

According to him, “I was in some African countries and I saw ladies in their 40’s and 30’s who hold top public positions. These are people who our ladies here are better than”.

Meanwhile, Bolarinwa, in his presentation noted that Nigeria’s faulty electoral process and fraudulent elections conducted in the last two decades had affected the quality of leadership and governance.

The lecturer stated that the lack of punitive measures exacerbated electoral fraud in Nigeria, while expressing confidence that the recently amended Electoral Act would help restore sanity in the electoral process in the 2023 general elections.