News Editor
By Hon. Dahiru Yusuf Yabo
Democracy, we are told, is sacred. A system to be revered. A deity of governance. But what happens when this deity is drenched in dirt, manipulated by thieves, and worshipped by citizens who know they are empowering their own tormentors? That is the tragedy of our politics today.
We know the thieves. We see them. Their looted wealth is paraded in our streets—mansions, convoys, private jets, foreign bank accounts. Yet, on election day, the same citizens who curse them line up to cast votes in their favor. Why? Because poverty has been weaponized. Because ethnic and religious sentiments are exploited. Because a few thousand naira and a bag of rice suddenly look like salvation. In truth, it is the selling of a future for crumbs.
This is not democracy. It is misplaced consent. It is complicity. It is the legitimization of corruption. And it is killing our nation.
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Worse still, the so-called fight against corruption is nothing but a selective ritual. Anti-corruption drives are unleashed only against opposition figures, not against those in power. Justice is applied with tribal, religious, and political filters. A thief aligned with the ruling party becomes a “statesman,” while a thief in the opposition is paraded as the face of corruption. This double standard makes a mockery of both democracy and justice.
The consequences are everywhere: hollow institutions, weak rule of law, stolen wealth, and deepening poverty. The citizen is left battered, while the thief enjoys immunity—protected not by the constitution but by the ballot he bought. Then the elite tell us: “Respect the will of the people.” But what will is this? The will to remain poor? The will to enthrone rogues? The will to sanctify criminality?
We must stop pretending. Democracy is not a religion that demands blind worship. It is a contract of accountability. When citizens knowingly hand power to rogues, democracy becomes dangerous—dirty, deceitful, and destructive.
The way forward is not in slogans but in courage. Citizens must reject vote-buying and ethnic manipulation. Civil society and media must tear away the masks of selective justice and expose corruption wherever it hides. Electoral laws must punish both the buyer and seller of votes. Above all, Nigerians must summon the courage to say: “Enough! No more thieves in power—whether they are our thieves or theirs.”
Until then, we remain prisoners of a dangerous deity democracy—bowing to thieves, endorsing injustice, and blaming God for what our own misplaced consent has created.
