Cardinal Onaiyekan warns Nigeria’s democracy is regressing, citing poverty, corruption, and flawed elections as threats to 2027 polls.
Newsroom (19/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) John Cardinal Onaiyekan has issued a solemn warning that Nigeria’s democracy is regressing, cautioning that decades after the country’s return to civilian rule, political leaders have betrayed the ideals of democratic governance. Speaking in an interview with ACI Africa on Saturday, January 17, during a thanksgiving Mass for the 43rd anniversary of his Episcopal Consecration, the Archbishop emeritus of Abuja lamented a deepening decline he described as both moral and structural.
“After we got over military rule,” the 81-year-old cleric reflected, “we thought we had started to move into a democratic era. One of the things that makes me saddest of all is that instead of the democratic dispensation moving us forward, unfortunately, it has been moving us downwards and backward.”
Broken Promises of Civilian Rule
Cardinal Onaiyekan said the promise of democracy as a “government of the people and for the common good” has been replaced by a system driven by greed, exclusion, and disregard for justice. He noted with dismay that since the end of military dictatorship, the Nigerian state has struggled with worsening poverty, insecurity, and inequality—conditions that continue to alienate citizens from the political class.
“The basic rules of democracy—the government of the people, by the people, the pursuit of the common good, and the service of the people—have been thrown overboard,” he said. “The situation appears to be getting worse with every new government.”
For millions of ordinary Nigerians, the Cardinal observed, the consequences are painfully visible: unreliable infrastructure, soaring living costs, poor access to healthcare and education, and shrinking opportunities for upward mobility. He described a society increasingly divided between a privileged few and a struggling majority.
Elections as a Measure of Democratic Decline
One of the clearest indicators of this democratic decay, according to the Cardinal, is the state of Nigeria’s elections. “A good gauge of it is how elections have gone, one after the other; the elections get from bad to worse,” he said. He accused those in power of deliberately weakening electoral institutions to protect their control, adding that many who claim to act for patriotic reasons are motivated instead by personal gain.
“If they tell us that they are doing that because they love Nigeria, they are only trying to deceive themselves, not us,” he remarked.
Power, Wealth, and the Corruption of Politics
Cardinal Onaiyekan lamented that politics in Nigeria has become synonymous with wealth and status rather than service. He pointed to the disturbing trend of political officeholders amassing sudden riches while most citizens grow poorer. “They are holding on to the fact that there’s no bad government in Nigeria, but we know that there is bad government,” he said. “For the poor, such abuse of power translates into fewer resources for education, healthcare, and social welfare.”
He described the system as one where governance is seen less as stewardship and more as an avenue for personal enrichment—a distortion of democratic values that has corroded public trust and undermined genuine development.
Rising Discontent and the Threat of Unrest
As frustration mounts, the Cardinal warned that sustained disregard for the people’s suffering could trigger protests. “The rulers should please wake up, because if they don’t, there could be protests from the people, which may rise naturally,” he cautioned. While noting that most youth-led protests have so far been peaceful, he warned that economic hardship and continued injustice could lead to unpredictable outcomes.
“You don’t know who is going to lead that kind of protest, how they’re going to handle it, whether it will be peaceful or not,” he said, urging those in power to act before discontent turns into crisis.
A Call to Return to Founding Ideals
Despite his criticism, Cardinal Onaiyekan emphasized that good governance serves everyone, including those in power. “Even for the rulers,” he said, “it is better to have a nation that is well ruled. It is better for them and their children.” He concluded with an appeal to Nigeria’s leaders to revive the spirit of the national anthem—to build a nation “where no woman or man is oppressed.”
As the 2027 elections approach, the Cardinal’s words echo as both a warning and a moral challenge, inviting Nigeria to rediscover the principles on which democracy was built: justice, service, and care for the common good.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from ACIAfrica
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