Widely seen, most societies face challenges under democratic rule, If the Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, had been a democratically elected leader, he might not have been able to tackle the problems of his country, the way he is handling them right now.
He might even have been roundly rejected at the polls, by the majority of the people in the first place,
However, any President who would tackle the problems of Nigeria with the right political will and adequate solutions, may not necessarily be a leader, who would be elected on a four-year democratic mandate to govern Nigeria.
President Bola Tinubu feels convinced that he is reforming Nigeria right now.
But, if he leaves office tomorrow, under Nigeria’s current democratic system and politico-structural configuration, another leader might reverse, or mess up many of the things he believes he is doing right for the country at the moment.
As good as democracy appears to be, power can still be handed over to a wrong and visionless leader, who may not mean well for the collective good of society.
If a country is not fortunate, a good leader may be voted out for a wrong one to come into power, and vice versa.
It is my strong opinion, therefore, that any leader who would be bold enough to tackle the knotty, age-long and perennial problems of Nigeria in the way they ought to be tackled, may not necessarily be a democratically elected leader.
If a democratically elected leader genuinely wants to tackle these problems exactly the way they should be addressed, he may be voted out by a majority, who may neither like, nor appreciate such efforts.
In the case of present-day Nigeria, all I can say is this: may President Tinubu, like others before him, not leave Nigeria the way he met it.
The main reason it has been difficult for any President to govern Nigeria satisfactorily is because the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria are not COMPATIBLE in almost everything.
The way the North wants Nigeria to be governed, is sharply different from the way the South wants the country to continue to be governed.
This is, in my opinion, one of the biggest fundamental issues bedevilling our regional co-habitation, unity and progress as Nigerians, throughout our history.
If the majority in Nigeria feel that the country should continue to run the same way, it would be difficult for a democratically elected leader to become the ideal solution to all the critical problems of Nigeria.That is one of the disadvantages of democracy worldwide.
I reiterate that if Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, had been a democratically elected President of his country, he might not have been able to confront all the problems of Burkina Faso head-on, the way he is handling them today.
He might either have been voted out of office, or faced the threat of being voted out by a majority of the people, who may have preferred Burkina Faso to continue in the same manner that led to his emergence through military intervention.
Above all, if the Northern part of Nigeria, and the Southern part of the country, had been optimally and socio-orientationally compatible to a extent, then it would probably have been easy, or possible for any democratically elected president to govern Nigeria as smoothly, and as satisfactorily, as Nigerians expect it to be
– Olukayode Salako.
