Former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly and ex-member of the House of Representatives, Mojeed Alabi, has insisted that Nigeria’s democratic system cannot be blamed for the country’s developmental challenges, stressing instead that leadership and institutional weaknesses remain the core issue affecting national progress.
Speaking on Friday during an exclusive interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM Ilese Ijebu, Ogun State Alabi firmly declared that “Democracy can never be, has never been, and will never be a factor for underdevelopment.”
He argued that democracy, by design, is meant to empower citizens through participation, accountability, and governance choices, rather than hinder development or deepen hardship.
Alabi maintained that Nigeria’s democratic experience since 1999 should not be dismissed, but rather evaluated within the context of a system still evolving. According to him, Nigeria’s journey to a nation is still in transition, suggesting that while the country has moved away from military rule, it is still consolidating democratic governance: “Democarcy is not a one off thing, it is a process, it is something that has to be nurtured, something that has to be built over years, something that has to be consolidated upon before we can really reach the stage we are looking at, which is the stage in which advanced democracy of today have reach. Infact, the new language that I prefer is to say we are in an emerging democracy,” he stated.
However, he warned that electoral continuity alone cannot be equated with democratic consolidation if citizens continue to experience poverty, insecurity, and weak institutional performance: Of course, there are challenges. And that is why I like that aspect of the president’s speech this morning, that he himself recognizes the fact that this democracy has not brought the kind of dividends that Nigerians were desiring. For me, that was an admittance of the fact that the government cannot rest on its hoarse, an admittance of the fact that we are not yet in our Jerusalem, an admittance of the fact that we are still on the journey towards the consolidation of our democracy”, Alabi lamented.
While acknowledging the alarming spread of insecurity, ranging from banditry to armed robbery and Boko Haram-related violence across the country, Alabi argued that these challenges cannot be separated from the broader economic realities facing citizens. He maintained that the inability of the democratic system to meaningfully uplift the economic conditions of ordinary Nigerians has created vulnerabilities that fuel crime and social unrest: “ In the midst of poverty, people are bound to have recourse to a number of things that will further compound our problem. All these challenges of insecurity, banditry, Boko Haram, armed robbery, and the rest, they are a function of the fact that our democracy has not been able to economically empower the average Nigerians to feel comfortable without resorting to an orthodox means of living life. Because anyone who has a better way of living will not resort to banditry, will not be thinking of how to make money outside the norm,” he said.
Alabi maintained that although reforms and tough policy decisions may be essential for long-term economic stability, they must be backed by deliberate interventions that cushion their immediate impact on citizens.
He stressed that equity must remain central to public governance, insisting that no segment of society should be shielded from the burden of adjustment policies while others are left to bear the full weight of hardship alone: “we cannot afford to see a situation of people in government living a larger life while appealing to the average Nigerians to tighten their belts for a better future. If the future is going to be better for all of us, and we need to make some sacrifices at our level now for a better future, we must see that the belt tightening process revolve around all of us, whether you are in government or not, whether you belong to a political party or not, whether you are in the ruling party or in the opposition,”
