Umpires don’t determine fair or foul pitches at all. They determine if pitches are strikes or balls. When an umpire or referee—whether in sports or a metaphorical sense (like an electoral body)—grows under the burden of credibility concerns, it indicates a crisis where trust in the institution is being replaced by doubt, directly threatening the legitimacy of the outcome. This situation often manifests through perceived bias, inconsistent decisions, and a failure to maintain a neutral, impartial stance similar to the sad and unfortunate events of the recent past weeks in Nigeria.
Empirical facts suggest that a true democracy requires strong institutions such as an independent judiciary and INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission). Inec cannot afford to be seen as an umpire with a jersey.
Suffice it to say! Democracy is not just about voting but about accountability, rule of law, and good governance, which remains weak. The focus on electioneering rather than governance leads to issues like insecurity and poverty.
Experts argue that for true democracy to thrive, focus must shift from simply holding elections to strengthening institutions, ensuring the security of the voters, and enhancing the accountability of elected officials. While periodic elections have become a regular feature of Nigerian political life since 1999, the quality of democracy remains flawed due to issues like election rigging, voter apathy, and elite-driven politics.
Further to my reflection on *”INDEPENDENCY OF UMPIRE”* I’d like to highlight another piece of feedback I received from one of my readers a distinguished researcher and academia. Below is another perspective:
“Greetings my brother. Hope you are going well. To this piece, I argue that the viability and resilience of Institutions is significantly dependent on the *civic culture DNA of a given society, hence its democracy*. The people bend the society and the society bends the people in reaction such that a dynamic equilibrium condition/state occurs. Disequilibrium, chaos and lack of progress results when this relativity is distorted. In the Western democracies, they seem to have realised this relevance of the theory of relativity in human affairs and governance. The interacting active force of any society is the “pull” of its people on its institutions and vice versa. This delicate relative interaction is the underlying force that pushes towards progress or pulls down into the black hole of misery and backwardness. Donald Trump and his rich associates are currently exercising their bend/warp on the so-called entrenched and deeply-rooted American institutions and we can see the tension and disequilibtium as the institutions are struggling to exert an equivalent effect on them – a fight back of sorts. What this means is that democracy is only partially dependent on institutions no matter how strong and rooted, instead its viability depends on the level of education of the people living within the democratic enclave with its own uniqueness. I argue that democracy has a local character (e.g Singapore vs Switzerland), hence, if we want our dream of a responsive society/democracy, we must begin to instill the virtues we expect to characterise the *relative pull or push between people and institution* in our kids from the ages of 1 to 3, i.e., very early in life!
Just thinking loud!”
That is the real challenge before Nigeria today. The question is no longer whether elections will hold. The deeper question is whether citizens still believe the umpire has not already chosen the winner before the whistle is blown. And if that confidence disappears entirely, what remains may no longer be democracy —but merely the ritual of it.
Richard Odusanya can be reached via odusanyagold@gmail.com, @richardODUSANYA
