Democracy et al

We are told-:

..that Democracy has failed Nigeria;

After decades of practicing, freedom remains elusive, elections are manipulated, representatives represent only themselves.

..that Religion has failed Nigeria;

With so much religion, there’s still so much corruption, so much inhumanity, so much dishonesty. All religion and no morality, just anger and hate.

..that Dictatorship has failed Nigeria;

Strong men came and went and the nation got worse, our communities less secured, our people less united. All the power but no discipline, all the pain but very little gained.

..that Capitalism has failed Nigeria;

Decades after decades of capitalism yet only a handful have seen prosperity, the majority continue to struggle, inequality has reached historical proportions. All that capital and we seem to be getting poorer.

..that The Elite have failed Nigeria;

From the farthest north where banditry rages to the deepest south where oil floats on top of barely concealed poverty, the elite across board have failed Nigeria.

As we can see, Nigeria is the recurring decimal. Neither democracy nor capitalism can create wealth, they are tools we may use or abuse. So is religion, it will project the love or the hate within us. And our elite are our masses elevated, they are of us, alienated, not alien to us.

If we care about Nigeria, we should look inward. We breed the elite that best reflects us, we practice democracy to effect our deepest desires, capitalism is how we engage each other, with love or greed. And dictatorship is the complete breakdown of communities.

And God sees what is within us, not in moments of contrition in churches and mosques, but in the period in between, when we carry out all the unkindly acts that defines us. Until we change that, until we stop using places of worship to launder our truth, our religions will always betray us.

As we were taught in the early days of basic computing, it’s garbage in, garbage out.