The Nigerian state and civil society movement once again commemorated “June 12” as Democracy Day this year, which marks 26 years of uninterrupted civilian rule in the country. But working-class people cannot describe what we have been witnessing as a democracy for the classes of exploited and oppressed people. It has been the same class of people who ruled us in the soldier’s khaki that have been ruling us wearing agbádá as civilian capitalist politicians.
We have not only witnessed tyranny and dictatorship of this class of super-rich people. Our lives have also become worse, particularly under the current regime.
Amidst astronomical inflation and bone crushing hunger, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu regime used two weeks to celebrate the imaginary achievements of the regime in honour of its two-year stay in office, by commissioning, several projects in The F.C.T which are of no material benefit to the people along with one of his most notable henchmen, Nyesom Wike, the minister of the FCT. For example, they claimed to have renovated the International Conference Centre with N39 billion and renamed it the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre. This is a centre that was built in 1991 with the N25 million!
On June 12, we also saw Bola Tinubu address a joint session of the Federal legislative houses, presided over by one of his right-hand men, Godswill Akpabio, the president of the senate, where he delivered a speech laden with tales of achievements, accomplishments and feats of his government, which are unknown to anyone outside of the composer of the speech.
But we are not in the slightest respect swayed, confused or misled by the propaganda campaign, as we have seen in these two years the crippling of democracy and the brazen attempt to stifle all opposition by crystallising the corruption of the regime into a de facto one-party state.
Earlier in March this year, the President imposed a fraudulent State of Emergency in Rivers State and appointed a sole administrator to run the affairs of the state. This was like turning back the clock to a time when military officers ran state affairs.
The demonstration of craze that has characterised this regime can also be seen in the frantic nature with which various governors and senators across the country from opposition parties are jumping ship to survive hurricane Tinubu which is sinking any other capitalist party’s ship that does not carry the broom insignia.
As the government hosted its regular farcical events to commemorate the day, there were several protests and demonstrations of resistance in cities and towns across the country by the people to register their disappointment in the government. It appears the only ones celebrating democracy in Nigeria are those who benefit from it, the ruling class of billionaires and multi-millionaires. The contrast between how the ruling class and the rest of the country observed the day highlights the creation of a powerful party propaganda machine so efficient that it creates an alternate reality for those who consume its output.
In 2025, we the people remain casualties of capitalist democracy and we remain contractually denied the dividends of democracy so promised to us in 1999.
With recent events such as the killings of Nigerians in Benue and Enugu, and the flooding disaster in Niger State, the people’s discontent continues to grow. And as this year marks the twenty-sixth straight year of neocolonial capitalist domination over the working class without the governmental presence of the military, the contempt for the government continues to grow in the hearts of the people.
Disregarded and disgruntled, the desires of the working people of the country to dislodge the bosses and their domination continue to grow in their hearts. They feel it; they speak it, and soon, with deepening capacity to organise to claim power from these democratic despots, the demonstration of craze will be put to a stop by a demonstration of workers’ resistance spilling into revolutionary upsurge.
by Oghenero ABU
