Nigeria's Democracy And Its Crisis Deliberate, Avoidable: When a nation declines to think; The people that benefit the way things are want it to stay that way.

Nigeria is a heterogeneous society,. an oil economy, but struggling with the challenges of inclusiveness given a prevalent ethnic/identity politics, always resulting to violence.The country inherited a power structure that concentrated power at the centre, creating unnecessary dependency culture which retards economic development and growth especially at the local levels.

The polity is dominated by few elites unaccountable to ordinary people and making participation very difficult for them. Participation is limited to elections only often determined by the elites by influencing elections outcome. The elites invest in security for control to hold on to power, resulting to high corruption.

There is mismatch of power and identity as there is no unity of purpose. There is no shared identity, so 'the pull of local identity is very strong relative to national identity', always resulting to tensions and violence especially during elections. When one tribe is in power, the other tribe tries to undermine it. 

The future requires the need for restructuring of the country to move power down to identity, but there is no sincere leadership to effect the reform. The state wants it to stay the way it is as the situation suits the government. Most people choose the safest route- ignorance and sycophancy..

There is poor infrastrcture development due to corruption and leadership is lacking in solving corruption , again , due to a mismatch of power and identity. There is lack of good healthcare and educational services whereas the elites promote medical and educational tourism as they're the only ones who benefit from it,  no good connectivity , no smart city, etc, this affects productivity and quality of life of the citizens.

If young people who are the future leaders decline to think, things will remain the way it is: endless future of uncertainty, conflict, violence.corruption, blame games, conspiracy and power. The people that benefit the way things are want it to stay that way.

Uche Okeke