Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has warned that Nigeria is edging dangerously close to becoming a failed state due to worsening democratic decline, weak institutions and growing public distrust in governance.
This is because, as she said, democracy does not belong to politicians but to the citizens.
Speaking at the Movement for Credible Elections, Emergency Stakeholders Engagement, on Monday in Abuja, Ezekwesili said Nigeria’s democratic system had steadily deteriorated since 1999, noting that citizens had increasingly lost confidence in elections and public institutions.
Ezekwesili, the convener of the Movement for Credible Election, stressed that the low voter turnout in 2023 reflected deep distrust in the electoral system.
“It is quite evident that years later, our democracy has degraded to a churn. In all the indicators that define functional democracies, we absolutely do badly,” she said.
