President of the Nigerian Political Science Association, Prof. Hassan Saliu, has questioned Nigeria’s claim of practising liberal democracy, arguing that the country lacks the institutional strength and political culture required to sustain it.
Speaking in the podcast, ‘Conversations with Professor Jideofor Adibe,‘ Saliu said Nigeria’s democratic system is weakened by the absence of strong ideological grounding among political actors.
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He noted that politicians frequently defect from one party to another without ideological consideration, describing the trend as a clear sign of a fragile democratic structure.
Saliu also criticised what he called the Nigerian state’s tendency to pay lip service to issues affecting citizens while prioritising matters with little direct impact on public welfare.
He further argued that despite long-standing expectations from Western powers that democracy would resolve Nigeria’s socio-economic and governance challenges, the system has yet to deliver meaningful prosperity or stability.
According to him, even attempts to adapt Western democratic models into an African context have not produced the desired outcomes.
“Western democracy is not capable of advancing the course of governance in Nigeria,” he said, insisting that it is difficult to describe the country as a true liberal democracy in its current state.
The political science professor also accused many self-styled champions of democracy of exploiting the system for personal gain rather than national development, warning that self-interest continues to undermine democratic practice in the country.
