There's this particular day I was traveling, I had to take a danfo bus to get to the park where I would board a bus going to my destination, on boarding the danfo, the conductor started shouting saying,"no be democratic time we dey, make una enter with una change."Everyone started to laugh, it was funny of a truth, but it bothered me, I began to think if maybe what sounds funny was actually true, because in this country of ours, democracy is beginning to look like everyone is free to suffer anyhow they like.
Election time comes, you vote, shout, stand, carry placards and even dance at rallies, but even after all of that....the roads remain poor, light is still unstable, but then you see politicians go about in convoys, visiting different countries at will an living their best lives while the rest of us(citizens) are just managing to survive each day. I think that's exactly why some people believe we need an autocratic leader; someone that will just say a word and everybody will obey. Well, they say it will help put things in place more faster.
Personally, I don’t agree with that. I very well remember a time my uncle shared somethings with me, back then, he was staying in a country where just one man ruled. He said the roads were clean, the hospitals were good, light was stable, the one and only problem was that you couldn’t talk freely. If you complain too much, you might possibly find yourself sleeping in a cell overnight. I don't want to talk too much, but just imagine we as Nigerians are told to stop talking, how do you think we will survive, we talk every where and any where we find ourselves, be it at a restaurant, bus park, on campus, even on the Internet. I think it's right to say we complain for a living. Remove speaking up/talking and something might happen to us.
I know we are all tired, we are tired of stories and fake promises, we want results. So, here comes the truth, we really need to be honest with each other....The real problem/issue is not the style of government, the issue/problem is the kind of people we put in power. You can't expect a greedy and self-centered leader not to steaI, he/she will definitely steal whether it's democracy or autocracy. Now, when we are now even afraid to speak up, won't things get worse?
I believe autocracy is not the solution. Even though at first, it might look good and feels like it's working, but as time goes on, and one wrong leader comes in, then we are finished. What we really need are good leaders, leaders that care, and prioritize the well-being of their citizens. Then we need people that are not going to be lazy and at the same time won't keep quiet when things go wrong.
Either democracy or autocracy, as long as the people in charge are after their own pocket and are not serious, we’ll only keep going in circles. We shouldn't stop talking, we are humans and are not supposed to be ruled by fear.
All pictures were generated using AI.
Thanks for taking your time to read through.