The context of what is being celebrated as democracy in Nigeria is merely civil rule. Although some scholars describe this period as an uninterrupted, unpierced, and unbroken 25-year democratic era, this is due to the fact that on May 29th, 1999, 25 years ago, the military who controlled and operated the political space were sent back to the barracks.
The above context simply uses military intervention to define democracy. What we may need to know is that the struggle that birthed democracy in Europe was not under military conditions but in an era when people ruled themselves without checks, equality, rights, transparency, and being accountable to the community (Rousseau), commonwealth (Bodin), and republic (Locke).
There is no democracy in most parts of Africa but civil rule. Civil rule is merely a form of rule that underscores that the government is not operating under military rules or dictatorship. Therefore, the term civil rule is relational, merely to distinguish that the military is not in power.
The fact that a country is not under military dictatorship has little or nothing to do with democracy. This is because such a rule does not naturally mean that the rulers are elected by citizens, accountable to them, or serve them. Therefore, legitimacy, accountability, and governance are applicable to democratic government.
The Nigerian stakeholders must first accept that they are yet to have a democracy so that they can start thinking about when to start the journey if it is their choice to practice it.
However, while civil rule means non-military individuals ruling the state, we say happy civil rule to all Nigerians for this unbroken 25-year civilian dispensation. The question remains: when will Nigeria begin democracy?
Comrade Salako is a public affairs analystÂ