Former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has argued that Nigerians were better off under military rule than under the country’s current democratic system.
Duke made the remarks during an interview over the weekend, expressing concern that the lives of ordinary Nigerians have not improved significantly despite 27 years of uninterrupted civilian rule since the return to democracy in 1999.
According to him, the cost of governance has increased considerably under democracy, while longstanding challenges affecting citizens have continued to worsen.
“The people were better off under the military. At least governance was not that expensive,” he said.
Duke said the success of democracy should be measured by the welfare of citizens and the tangible benefits delivered to the people.
He questioned whether Nigerians are better off today than they were in 1999, citing persistent challenges including unemployment, poor infrastructure, inadequate electricity supply and the declining state of the education and healthcare sectors.
“We’re still having the same problems we had 27 years ago. It’s getting worse. The number of children out of school has not improved; it’s deteriorating. The healthcare system is not improving; it’s deteriorating,” he said.
The former governor also criticised Nigeria’s political system, particularly the state of the opposition, which he described as “terribly weakened and self-centred.”
He argued that declining public confidence in elections has weakened democratic accountability, with many Nigerians believing that election results do not always reflect the will of voters.
“Democracy is also in danger. The results you get from the polls often don’t reflect the views of the people,” Duke said.
He further accused democratic institutions of failing to provide adequate checks and balances, citing the decision to return to Nigeria’s former national anthem as an example of what he described as insufficient legislative scrutiny.
Duke also blamed Nigeria’s elite for failing to provide the leadership required to address the country’s challenges, arguing that politics has increasingly become a permanent occupation for a small group of people.
“It’s a failure of the elite more than anything else. We’re elites; we’re enlightened people but we abdicated our leadership to those whom we should be leading,” he said.
He warned that the widening gap between the rich and poor could eventually pose a serious threat to social stability, stressing that persistent poverty could have consequences for the country’s wealthier population.
Despite his criticism of the state of the nation, Duke said he remained convinced that Nigeria has the human and natural resources required to achieve meaningful development.
“Nigeria is exceedingly blessed. It’s sad. It’s painful that we are where we are,” he concluded.
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