CELEBRATION is in the air as Nigeria marks the 19th anniversary of the Fourth Republic. On May 29, 1999, Africa’s most populous country witnessed the dawn of civil rule. In place of the long, arduous years of military rule, elected public office holders were sworn in at the state and federal levels of government. In commemoration of that milestone, there will be festivities in government houses and public squares across the land. While the brutal repressions of military dictatorship have seeped into distant memory, the current situation is more like the peace of the graveyard.
Not that the politicians, who have enjoyed the limitless perks of public office, to the exclusion of the majority, really agree that under supposed democratic rule, the country is rapidly marching to the precipice. To the political class, the growth of the Fourth Republic is measured by almost two decades of…
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