Nigeria practising civilian rule — not full democracy, says Fayemi

Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti, says Nigeria is yet to attain full democracy status. 

Speaking during a Channels Television programme to mark Democracy Day on Thursday, Fayemi said the country must go beyond conducting elections.

“What we mustn’t do is to conflate elections with democracy,” he said.

“What we got was to re-establish the right to vote our leaders into office in 1999.

“What we are yet to get is real democracy in my view. We got civilian rule, we are proudly on the journey — we now have a semi-democracy, but we don’t have full democracy.

“The effort that the previous president and now President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has put into it, we all must build on that.”

Fayemi, who also served as minister of mines and steel development in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, reflected on his role in the fight against military rule during the Sani Abacha regime.

He recalled how he and other pro-democracy activists ran Radio Kudirat, a clandestine broadcast platform set up to challenge the dictatorship.

“It’s not that we were not afraid or we were aimlessly bold,” he said.

“We just didn’t fully think of the enormity of the threat it constituted beyond wanting to do the right thing.

“I mean, I carried the transmitters of Radio Kudirat on an Air France flight that was destined for Cotonou in the Benin Republic and made a detour to Lagos in the heat of the crisis.

“I could have been picked up on that flight, I would have been history by now as many found themselves to be.

“During the Oputa Panel Commission, some of the characters that were mandated to eliminate leaders of the struggle came up with their stories.”

‘I WASN’T HAPPY’

Fayemi said many persons who died in the struggle were not reckless but brave.

“So, we shouldn’t make light of what happened,” he said.

“I don’t by any stretch of imagination want to create the impression that we were invincible in what we did.

“I think some of us are just fortunate that we are still alive. Those who lost their lives were not stupid in what they did, they were following their convictions.”

He commended Tinubu for recognising some of the democracy activists with national honours but said more should have been done.

Fayemi urged the government to also honour those who operated Radio Kudirat and others who made sacrifices for Nigeria’s democracy.

“I wasn’t particularly happy and I must say this upfront. Those who were the drivers of that project… yes, I led that project, but none of them was recognised today by the president,” Fayemi said.

“Yes, I was the face of Radio Kudirat, I was responsible for its management but there were so many people who risked their lives.”

On Thursday, Tinubu conferred national honours on 66 individuals who played defining roles in Nigeria’s struggle for democracy.

Among the most prominent were Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Humphrey Nwosu, and Kudirat Abiola, posthumously recognised for their critical roles in the June 12 struggle.