This June, Nigeria reminisced on the triumphs of her democracy 25 years after the people’s struggle ended the last episode of military rule in 1999.
How has Nigeria’s democracy fared over the past 25 years? What are the gains and challenges encountered in its latest longest democratic journey?
It’s been 25 years of uninterrupted democracy, yet it oscillates between authoritarianism and hybrid regimes with manifest outright dictatorships, pervasive censorship, and an unstable political system that juggles a facade of democratic processes with repressive practices.
Since 2015, Nigeria has maintained an average democratic score of 4.0 out of 10, placing it far from a full democracy, the Democracy Index 2023 showed.
Democracy in Nigeria has improved moderately over the past 16 years, yet it remains below both the numerical and global average ratings.
Nigeria’s democracy improved from 3.5 out of 10 in 2006 to 4.2 out of 10 in 2023 (where 0 = most undemocratic and 10 = most democratic).
Despite this progress, the nation still struggles to uphold the fundamental principles of a true democratic state fully.
On the global front, democracy reversed in most parts of the world in 2023. The biggest reversals, measured by the decline in the regional average scores, occurred in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa.
In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), only Mauritius was acknowledged as a full democracy. The rest were categorized as either flawed democracies, authoritarian regimes, or hybrid systems.
This outcome coincided with a period marked by democratic backsliding and a surge in military coups across the Sahel and West Africa regions.
Nigeria’s democracy score exceeded the SSA regional average, yet it remains grouped with nations that have yet to fully achieve true democratic governance.
The Democracy Index model serves as a guide to pinpoint where and how democracy is regressing, not just across regions and countries, but also in relation to specific metrics.
It provides a snapshot of democracy in 165 countries. The scores are used to place countries within one of the four types of regimes:
- Full democracies: scores greater than 8;
- Flawed democracies: scores greater than 6, and less than or equal to 8;
- Hybrid regimes: scores greater than 4, and less than or equal to 6;
- Authoritarian regimes: scores less than or equal to 4.
In countries that are full democracies, fundamental political freedoms and civil liberties are reinforced by a conducive political culture.
Flawed democracies feature limitations on civil liberties, media freedom, and significant weaknesses in governance and political participation.
Hybrid regimes are characterized by substantial irregularities in elections, government pressure on opposition, widespread corruption, weak rule of law, and a lack of independent judiciary, as described in the Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence.
In an Authoritarian regime, civil liberties abuses are often ignored, with media either state-owned or controlled by entities affiliated with the ruling regime. Criticism of the government is suppressed, censorship is widespread, and there is no impartial judiciary.
A glimpse into the intricacies of Nigeria’s political landscape reveals a tapestry of complex governance practices.
The idea of democracy derives its moral strength – and popular appeal – from key principles like respect for civil liberties, press freedom, free and fair elections, functioning government, political participation, and transparency.
Building on these principles, we shall dissect Nigeria’s 25 years of democracy, aligning our analysis with the indices of the Democracy Index 2023.
Nigeria performed below average in 4 of 5 Democracy Sub-Indicators
In 2023, Nigeria underperformed in 4 out of the 5 democracy indices used to assess global democratic states, scoring below 5 in all but one category. The only exception was the indicator for electoral process and pluralism, where improvements coincided with the country’s adoption of technology to enhance its electoral systems.
The 2023 Democracy Report shows that in recent times, public trust in democratic institutions has been waning. Systemic corruption, lack of transparency, and accountability have eroded confidence in governments and political parties.
This trend is evident in both developed and developing economies including Nigeria, where institutional dysfunction, corruption, and unrepresentative political parties have precipitated a crisis of trust, thereby undermining faith in democracy.
Corruption Perceptions in Nigeria
Corruption and its variations exist across different economies worldwide to varying degrees. In what seems like a systemic issue, it permeates all facets of Nigeria’s public and corporate life. This pervasive corruption has eroded public trust, and hampers efforts toward transparency and accountability, creating significant challenges for the nation’s democracy.
In the 2023 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Nigeria was still perceived as highly corrupt, ranking 145th out of 180 countries and territories worldwide. It remains more corrupt than the average country in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the world.
Nigeria’s corruption perception has deteriorated in the last 12 years. The perception that Nigeria is free of corruption decreased from 27.0 in 2012 to 25.0 in 2023 (where 0 = highly corrupt and 100 = very clean).
According to the Index, democratic countries tend to outperform authoritarian regimes when controlling corruption greatly – full democracies have a CPI average of 73, flawed democracies have one of the 48, and non-democratic regimes which comprise authoritarian and hybrid regimes just 32.
Respect for Human Rights
Another key indicator of a democracy is the respect for the fundamental human rights of citizens.
Nigeria has a poor track record in safeguarding the human rights of its citizens. It operates a system that deprives citizens of their basic rights, with instances of unequal treatment and discrimination, injustice, police brutality, extrajudicial killings, invasion of citizens’ privacy, and other violations.
This is reflected in its human rights score in the Rule of Law Index 2023.
In the last 9 years, Nigeria’s score in respect for human rights consistently reflects a pattern of persistent human rights abuses, unjust treatment, and systemic violations.
The World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index shows Nigeria’s human rights score has been declining since 2019.
Similarly, Nigeria scored low in the protection of the rights to life and security of the person among the 8 sub-indicators used to measure the respect for human rights.
This underscores the dire state of human rights in the country.
When citizens cannot be assured of full protection of their rights, the integrity of the democracy is called into question.
A crucial human rights component is press freedom, allowing the media to operate independently without fear of threats or interference.
Journalists in Nigeria face severe threats, including arbitrary arrest, attacks, and forced detention, making it one of the worst countries to practice journalism in West Africa.
Nigeria’s Press Freedom is alarmingly low, scoring 51.03 out of 100 and ranking 14th out of 16 West African Countries.
Numerous instances abound, of journalists being attacked because of their journalistic activities.
Recent scenarios include the arrest and detention of Daniel Ojukwu, a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism on May 1, 2024, by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police for violating the 2015 Cybercrime Act.
Another one is the arrest of Segun Olatunji, an editor at FirstNews, by officers of the Nigerian army. This arrest was presumably linked to a report he published regarding an official from the Nigeria Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), which operates under Nigeria’s Ministry of Defence, accused of unfairly allocating public contracts.
These incidents are among many cases of journalists facing harassment and arrest solely because of their journalistic activities.
Overall, this appraisal underscores the fragile state of Nigeria’s democracy, highlighting the urgent need for robust reforms to align with international standards and promote comprehensive development.
We hope this year’s democracy celebration inspires all Nigerians to embrace the democratic principles of justice, equality, and civil liberties in our mutual pursuit of an all-inclusive development for all.