Editors’ Conference 2026: After 27 years, why democracy still fails ordinary Nigerians — Onaiyekan

By Juliet Umeh For 27 uninterrupted years, Nigerians have lived under elected governments. They have queued under scorching sun and rain to vote, watched presidents and governors come and go, and seen disputed elections move from polling units to courtrooms. Read Also: All Nigeria Editors Confab, 2026: Before ballot box, Africans already knew democracy — Achebe Yet, for the ordinary Nigerian, John Cardinal Onaiyekan believes a fundamental question remains: Has democracy really put the people at the centre of governance?

At 82, the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja has witnessed Nigeria’s journey through colonial rule, independence, military governments and civilian administrations. His conclusion is sobering: having democracy is one thing; making it work for ordinary people is another. “I speak as an 82-year-old Nigerian who has seen this nation going up and down with hopes of greatness that have continued to elude us,” Onaiyekan told editors at the All Nigeria Editors Conference, ANEC 2026, in Enugu.

For him, the true test of democracy is not merely how many elections have been conducted or how long civilians have remained in power. It is whether the government serves the people. When citizens become pawns Nigeria has achieved something that once seemed difficult: more than a quarter-century of uninterrupted civilian government.

But elections alone, Onaiyekan argued, do not make democracy meaningful. He said: “Democracy must be governance for the good of the people. The leaders must be serving the interests of the governed, and people must be at the centre of governance – what we call the common good.” It is, he said, “the kind of democracy that Nigerians have been dreaming about.” Yet, that ideal is tested whenever elections become primarily struggles among politicians for control of power Onaiyekan accused some politicians of adopting a “do-or-die” attitude because political office brings wealth and influence.

“In all this, the people hardly count at all,” he said. “Rather, they are just pawns on the political game.” That is perhaps one of the contradictions of Nigeria’s democracy: the citizen who is supposed to be its most powerful participant can become its least influential actor. Since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999, successive elections were expected to strengthen democratic institutions.

“We have had several elections since…