Politics in Nigeria: Democracy of 'Riggingcracy"

[Adesuyi]

Nigerian politics is another thing entirely. Compared to what happens in other countries of the world. Ekiti State Governorship Rerun Election is a case study. When will Nigeria stop 'Riggingcracy'?

[Kofi]

Originally Posted by Adesuyi

Nigerian politics is another thing entirely. Compared to what happens in other countries of the world. Ekiti State Governorship Rerun Election is a case study. When will Nigeria stop 'Riggingcracy'?

That is the main reason why Africa remains poor. What Africa needs right now is not foreign aids but good leadership. The politics in Nigeria is the same everywhere in Africa. The leaders come to power as saints and leave as devils. Most of them come with hopes of just to better themselves not the people who elected them and that is why most of them refuse to leave office even when their terms have ended. Look at what Robert Mugabe is doing in Zimbabwe. It is the same everywhere in Africa and that is why Africa remains the poorest amongst the poor. The problem in Nigeria is the same problem in Ghana, in Kenya, in Zimbabwe, In Burkina Faso, etc. They come as saints and leave as demons. They come with sweet words of hope but leave putting pepper inside our swollen wounds. They will do anything possible just to win elections but wait till they get there.

[DaughterUK]

Basically, these governments are doing what they are doing because they want to pretend to the world that they are a genuine and viable democracy, but at the same time they wish to cling to power by any means necessary. The result is vote rigging and intimidation of the voters. It would not be hard for them to rig the votes, all they would have to do is cast the fake votes using the names of everyone who died within the last ten years or so. The thing is that it is obvious to the rest of the world that such so-called democracies are nothing more than an elaborate charade.

Short of real democracies stepping in with millitary action against these fraudster tyrannts, I am not sure what could be done about the problem. Take Zimbabwe for instance, Mugabe has ruined that country and now the people are living in extreme poverty and do not dare vote for anyone other than Mugabe. I find it appalling that the world stands by and watches in horror whilst doing nothing to rid that country of a brutal dictator and help the people. The sheer scale of the humanitarian crisis alone was enough to warrant millitary action in my opinion.

In short, Africa is still learning how to do democracy, and it's going to take a while before genuine democracies become the norm there. Unfortunately there will be a lot of human misery before that time comes.