By Anuoluwapo Lebi
June 12, a day in Nigeria singled out to celebrate democracy; dignify the sacrifice of Nigerians who fought ‘tooth and nail’ to liberate Nigeria from the shackles of the invasive cankerworm, the colonialists who exploited our land and to sing the song of honour and dedicate heroic ode to our gone heroes, who paid the ultimate price to free Nigeria from the satanic den of military rule in Nigeria.
June 12, a day that ought to mark Nigeria’s democracy and reflect the peoples’ true freedom has become a day of capital Shame and Magnification of Shambles.
Intriguingly, the current President of Nigeria, Bola Hammed Tinubu, the Napoleon of our time was among the strongholds of the then National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, a Nigerian pro-democracy movement formed in 1994 to demand the annulled 1993 presidential election results be honored and that M.K.O. Abiola be recognized as president. It was a significant force in the struggle against the military regime of Sani Abacha.
A respected writer, Femi Ademiluyi must have seen the future— Ayò Badejo, in his masterful novel, ‘The New Man’ is a doppelganger of Bola Hammed Tinubu— a good man who upheld the ideals of freedom, equality and democracy, but later became a notorious tyrant, who committed egregious evil and unforgivable crimes against humanity.
On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, a man who fought against the tyrant and military dictator, Abacha and demanded that the legacy of the unacknowledged Winner of the 1993 presidential election, MKO be respected, Bola Tinubu maliciously declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended a democratic Governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the state House of Assembly for six months.
Despite the outcries that greeted Tinubu’s undemocratic hijack of power in Rivers state, an action intended to massage the ego of his new dog and a larger strategy to win the state for his party, the new man turned deaf ears to the protest and plight of the people, just like he did when he insensitively said, in his inaugural speech, “subsidy is gone,” a simple statement that sent millions of Nigerians into abject poverty and pain.
Under the present regime paddled by Tinubu, countless protesters have been killed by security operatives, journalists have become targets and many critics have been sent into an ocean of lawsuits for simply advocating accountability, transparency and good governance.
Peter Ogban, a disgraced Nigerian professor was convicted and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for rigging a 2019 senatorial election for the country’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, yet, a single statement did not crawl out of Tinubu’s camp, whether to condemn the injustice or to reassure the people of a more transparent system that encourages accountability.
The same Senate President of Nigeria, whose emergence has been marked by rigging, accused of sexual harassment, also suspended his accuser, Natasha Akpoti, a democratically elected Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District since 2023.
Under Tinubu, Nigeria has emphatically become a crime scene: where the security of lives and properties is an imagery duty of the government; bandits and terrorists now take an enviable share in the governance of Nigeria; many local governments, especially in the Northern region of Nigeria are governed by terrorists, while social media posts have earned many Nigerians jail term, for calling the government to do just what is right.
One of the major achievements of the Tinubu’s regime is the systemic use of cyber crime act to repress, oppress and torment dissents — what else is democratic about Nigeria?
One of the beauties of democracy is the monopsony of political ideas, ideology and loyalty, but with Tinubu, a harmless pursue by crimes commissions and other security agencies is enough to buy everyone into his party, raising serious concern of transforming the country into a one-party state.
One of the Chieftain of Tinubu’s party, APC, Adams Oshiomhole already announced that joining APC is the atonement for the cruelty in government.
Nigerians cannot protest— hey fear being forgotten in jail or being killed by an underpaid, hungry and angry police. This is our reality in Nigeria. The sacrifice of our heroes are appreciated, but still in vain!
