“A State in the grip of neo-colonialism is not a master of its destiny. It is this factor which makes neo-colonialism such a serious threat to world peace” – Kwame Nkrumah
With the Parliamentary and Presidential systems of government now tested, Nigeria has eaten two sour fruits of democracy and remains undecided in choosing which is less bitter. But some schools of thought hold very strongly that the vinegary of democracy in our clime is made worse by us the chewing mouth, not the fruit. The two systems were marketed and successfully sold to us at different times and circumstances by the United Kingdom (Parliamentary) and the United States( Presidential). The question agitating the minds of not a few now is whether we still need any of them or go for other alternatives.
These two great nations, the USA and the UK have exerted influence on Nigeria and her citizens in all ramifications more than any other country in the World. From the duo comes numerous sociopolitical negatives and positives that shaped the decades of Nigeria’s political growth.
Having married these two wives and gone through the turbulence of the marriage for 64 years, it’s now left for Nigeria to choose which is a better wife. And to critically examine if the 64-year-old romance is worth continuing with or discarding and going for a third wife or a divorce if none of the two meets what was envisaged.
The United Kingdom for obvious reasons has longer and closer years of relationship with Nigeria than the USA. It was the UK who as colonial masters expectedly laid the foundation of what became modern Nigeria following the Amalgamation of Northern and Southern Protectorates in the year 1914. It midwifed the country until 1960 when it granted her independence.
The UK gave Nigeria the official means of communication which is the English language and made sure that our various mother tongues were relegated to the background. They also downgraded and assigned an inferior status to our various cultures and traditions which they effectively labelled dirty, unkept and from a religious angle termed idolatry, fetishism and paganism. They needed to do all that to take absolute control of the situation physically and spiritually.
Also to be consigned in the history cupboard by the UK was our traditional political structure seen as archaic, despotic and undemocratic.
They therefore structured Nigeria to suit their interest and to help them extend their control over us beyond the independence for a neo-colonialism role. A country of over 200 ethnic groups was structured along the three major tribes of Igbo for the Eastern region, Hausa-Fulani for the Northern region and the Yoruba for the Western Region. The country’s political structure was placed on the tripod of the three major tribes. Three years after independence in 1963, the new regime found the need to add the Mid-Western region.
But less than a decade of experimenting with this, the system collapsed resulting in a military coup of 1966 that even generated crisis upon crisis that culminated in a 30-month brutal civil war. Consequent to the disruption of the civil rule and the subsequent civil war, the country transmitted from a federation to a unitary system of government which favoured the then military juntas.
After The Civil War ended in 1970, military rule continued and dominated the nation’s polity for almost thirty years with patchy and spasmodic civil rule(1979 to 1983).
Persuaded that Democracy collapsed within six years ostensibly because of the type of government handed down by the colonial masters, the military juntas decided in 1979 to dump the parliamentary and the regional system for the United States Presidential model. This was how indirectly we hoisted ourselves to another neo-colonialist, the Americans.
Before then our knowledge of the US had always been a country of elderado, America was a wonder as they made us believe. Immediately we embraced the Presidential system, we thought everything would work well but instead, our value system and our socio-political lives started nosediving. The discipline, modesty and sometimes civility associated with the British and their parliamentary system, gave way to a more vibrant and open Presidential system. While the system made more noise about democracy and its ideals, it also provided more windows for its abuse than the parliamentary.
Today, after 25 years of unbroken democracy(1999-2024) and 29 years of a Presidential system in Nigeria 1979 to 1983 and 1999-to 2024), not a few wish for the parliamentary and regional system that lasted just for six years to return. Even though some critical minds still believe that our problems are in us not in the system we operate, many schools of thought continue to insist that the American Presidential system is too weighty and expensive for a developing and struggling nation like ours.
The recent happenings in our political life particularly the 2023 general elections have further raised the conversation about which system is better for us. The American system and its actions and inactions on what happened in our country in 2023 have gravely dented the Presidential system by providing cover for all kinds of political misdemeanours, in contrast to the parliamentary that easily unveils weak and incompetent leaders.
For instance, during the electioneering for the 2023 poll, an opportunity provided itself for America to show that the Presidential system they bequeathed to us was foolproof and detested duplicitous acts, but it failed woefully. All the peccadilloes and delinquent attitudes committed on American soil and very well known to them by a top candidate in Nigeria, they feigned ignorance and allowed us to swim in our dirt. Since we began practising the Presidential system, election rigging became part of our electoral system making the people’s franchise ineffective. And in all cases, amidst protests, America endorses it saying it’s a reflection of the populace’s wishes.
Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the Presidential system as was made visible in 2023 was allowing candidates to hire attack dogs while they hide their deficiencies from the people. For instance, Bola Ahmad Tinubu as the ruling APC candidate snubbed every means of scrutinizing his candidacy through political debates, media interviews and conferences and instead devolved his responsibility to hirelings. As a result, even as President, he has hardly defended any of his policies.
Those yearning for the return to the parliamentary system are anchoring their position on the fact that, unlike the Presidential system, it would expose and bring to the fore the candidate who must always provide leadership himself not through proxy or hirelings.
The confusion accompanying the entry of Donald Trump into America’s political system has also further exposed their duplicity. Like nemesis, what they overlooked In Nigeria over the credibility of Presidential candidates, age and court-related issues appear to be hurting them now.
Very similar to Nigeria’s instance, the American Supreme Court has endorsed immunity for a President using his position to commit electoral offences. Also, a sitting President fighting dementia is refusing to go yet everything is apparent that he cannot cope. What are learning here? Today, the world watches as almighty America and her democracy are boxed in between two impossible namby-pamby candidates.
Many political pundits are wondering if there is really anything worth copying from today’s America politically speaking. It’s now becoming clearer why North Korea’s second Supreme leader, Kim Jong ll is holding the view that “the liquidation of colonialism is a trend of the times which no force can hold back.”
If we must tell ourselves some hard truth, rather than dilly-dallying with people who have no morals to bequeath to our polity, the time has come for Nigeria to provide a pathway for themselves and return to the old African way where a thieving leader is discarded even with his family by the society. Since colonial masters made us call thieves corrupt leaders instead of thieves, the offence has been watered down and offenders are no longer ashamed. The question is, Do we really need this Western democracy to grow? May God guide us.
