By
Nze David N. Ugwu
When a Democracy Becomes a One-Day Affair
In most democracies, political participation is a living, breathing process — a continuous dialogue between citizens and those who govern them. In Nigeria, however, participation often begins and ends on Election Day. Nigerians troop out under the sun, cast their votes, hurl accusations, swear by God and ancestors to “hold leaders accountable,” and then — silence. Deafening silence.
Immediately after the last ballot is counted, the people retreat. Leaders ascend. Offices close. Gates rise. Citizens become spectators of governance rather than participants. The very people who should shape policies, demand accountability, and question authority simply disappear from the arena.
This is not just political apathy. It is a democratic tragedy.
Elect and Retreat: The Nigerian Pattern of Withdrawal
Somewhere along the line, Nigerians adopted a political culture that says:
“Vote them in and leave them to God.”
It is a culture rooted in fatigue, poverty, and decades of disappointment. It is also deeply destructive. Elected officials become disconnected emperors the moment they assume office — not because they are inherently authoritarian, but because the citizens who should restrain them are absent.
No pressure groups.
No consistent civic engagement.
No town halls.
No petitions.
No constituency demands.
No structured public feedback.
Nothing.
The political class quickly learns that silence equals permission. And like all power, their authority expands into the vacuum citizens leave behind.
Silence is a Political Resource — And Nigerians Give It Away for Free
Elected leaders know they can govern without listening because the governed rarely ask questions. When last did your local government chairman hold a town hall? When last did your senator publish a constituency report? When last did your governor stand before non-handpicked citizens to defend budgets, policies, or performance indicators?
In functioning democracies, such interactions are non-negotiable. In Nigeria, they are optional luxuries.
But here is the truth political scientists know: Silence is not neutrality. Silence is submission. Silence transfers power.
The Nigerian political class thrives on citizens’ disengagement. It is not the loud critics they fear; it is the ordinary Nigerians who never bother to speak at all.
The Dangerous Psychology of Nigerian Citizenship
Why do citizens withdraw? There are several reasons:
- Hopelessness (“Nothing will change”)
Decades of failure have created a population that expects disappointment. When people believe engagement is useless, disengagement becomes normal.
- Fear (“Government people are dangerous”)
Citizens believe questioning power will bring trouble. This fear kills democratic accountability.
- Cultural conditioning (“Respect your elders and leaders”)
Nigerians often confuse democratic scrutiny with disrespect. In a republic, leaders are servants — not gods — yet many still treat them as untouchable patrons.
- Survival pressure (“Let me just face my hustle”)
Economic hardship forces citizens to prioritize survival over civic duty.
The result is a society where the masses are too tired, too scared, too hungry, or too conditioned to demand their own rights
.
When Leaders Become Lords and Citizens Become Subjects
Once officials get into office, they stop seeing citizens as partners and begin seeing them as disturbances. They control vast resources, enjoy immunity, and operate within opaque systems.
Because citizens do not insist on participation:
- Budgets are passed without citizen review.
- Projects are executed without scrutiny.
- Legislators disappear into Abuja like evaporated water.
- Governors operate like monarchs.
- Local government chairmen become ghostly shadows.
Many officials love this arrangement. They thrive in the absence of oversight.
The tragedy? Nigerians built this system through inactivity, not intention.
Democracies Die Not by Bullets, but by Citizen Laziness
Political scientists warn that democracies rarely collapse through coups anymore. They collapse through citizen laziness — the slow decay of public engagement. Nigeria today is not collapsing because of bad leaders. It is collapsing because good citizens have chosen passivity over participation.
Around the world, democracy survives because citizens insist on being heard:
- In Kenya, citizens publicly interrogate budgets.
- In Ghana, constituents constantly challenge MPs online.
- In the US and UK, leaders cannot survive a single scandal without facing public fury.
- In South Africa, civic groups drag the government to court when needed.
Nigeria? We simply gist about bad governance on WhatsApp.
Accountability Is Not a Favour; It Is a Right
Nigerian citizens often behave as though demanding accountability is a privilege granted by leaders. It is not. It is a constitutional right. Democracy gives every citizen the authority to question, challenge, demand, resist, and insist.
There are tools citizens are not using:
- Freedom of Information (FOI) requests
- Petitions to legislative oversight committees
- Town hall attendance
- Civic pressure groups
- Digital activism
- Peaceful demonstrations
- Media engagement
- Community-based monitoring
Nigerians rarely use them. Instead, we choose prayer points. God is now doing the work of both citizens and civil society. But even God has limits.
Why the Elite Will Never Reform Nigeria Without Pressure
Let’s be brutally honest: Nigeria’s political elite — regardless of party — has zero incentive to reform governance unless citizens force it. No leader willingly gives up unchecked power. No politician voluntarily becomes accountable. No public official embraces transparency without pressure.
The system benefits them.
The silence benefits them.
The disengagement benefits them.
Change has never come because leaders suddenly grew conscience. Change comes when citizens insist. Even the best reformers need pressure — pressure legitimizes their actions and strengthens their backbone. If Nigerians want a better country, they must make it uncomfortable for leaders to ignore the people.
Reclaiming Citizenship: What Nigerians Must Do Now
Nigeria will not change until Nigerians change their role in democracy. Every transformation in modern societies came because citizens refused to be spectators. Here is what must happen:
- Citizen participation must become daily, not occasional.
Democracy is not once every four years.
- Demand structured engagement.
Ask for constituency town halls. Ask for budget reports. Ask for performance dashboards.
- Organise, don’t just complain.
Power belongs to communities that coordinate — not individuals that complain.
- Use your voice without fear.
A democracy where citizens are afraid is already sliding into authoritarianism.
- Vote — and then monitor the people you voted for.
Your representatives are employees. Treat them as such.
- Rebuild the culture of accountability.
Teach your children, students, colleagues, and communities that asking questions is patriotism, not rebellion.
- Stop normalising silence.
Silence is how nations die slowly without gunfire.
Democracy Requires Citizens, Not Spectators
Nigeria rises or falls on the strength of its citizens. The courage of the governed shapes the character of the governors. Until Nigerians stop withdrawing after elections… Until citizens stop treating democracy like a seasonal festival…Until people stop surrendering their voice, their power, and their civic duty… Nigeria will remain a democracy on paper but an oligarchy in practice.
It is time to break the silence.
It is time to resurrect citizenship.
It is time to make governance uncomfortable for incompetence, corruption, and mediocrity.
No nation grows when its people go to sleep.
Nze David N. Ugwu is the Managing Consultant of Knowledge Research Consult. He could be reached at [email protected] or +2348037269333.
