Something dangerous is brewing in Nigeria, and it is not subtle. The signs are in plain sight, but too many of us pretend not to see them. If we don’t wake up, we may find that the democracy we fought for has been quietly exchanged for something darker, a family dynasty ruling over a militarized people.
Take the brazen intrusion into Benin culture by Mrs. Folashade Tinubu Ojo, daughter of the President. By attempting to impose her own choice of market leader in the ancient Bini kingdom, she not only insulted the Oba of Benin but assaulted and trampled on the cultural pride of millions. Since when did the daughter of a sitting President have the authority to crown leaders of any sort? This is not democracy; it is the behaviour of a ruling dynasty testing how much it can get away with.
Now add to that the constant, larger-than-life presence of the President’s son, strutting about with convoys and state security, as if Nigeria were a family inheritance. We saw this movie before; Saddam Hussein and his sons, Gaddafi and his brood, the Mugabe household turned into a political franchise. Always the same story; where power is unchecked, it mutates into hereditary privilege.
And while the family flexes, the streets are suffocating under militarization. Police, Army, Customs, Civil Defence, Road Safety, checkpoints sprout on highways and streets like weeds. Every Nigerian on the road is treated as a suspect. Instead of safety, we live under suspicion. Instead of freedom, we navigate daily harassment. What should reassure the people now intimidates them. To outsiders, it paints Nigeria as unsafe, unstable, and unfit for serious investment.
But perhaps the clearest red flag is political. Opposition is vanishing before our eyes. Governors, senators, and career politicians are decamping in droves to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Not out of ideology, not out of principle, but out of fear, or hunger, for relevance in a one-party state. Democracy dies when opposition collapses. What we are seeing is not politics as usual; it is the consolidation of power into the hands of one family, one party, and one destiny.
This is the slow slide into dictatorship. It rarely arrives with tanks in the streets or dramatic speeches. It comes in small doses; a daughter claiming powers she doesn’t have, a son wielding security meant for the state, endless checkpoints conditioning citizens to accept militarization, politicians gutting opposition by rushing into the ruling party’s embrace. These are the quiet rehearsals for tyranny.
Those in power must understand that Nigeria is not their family estate. Our traditions, like those of the Bini kingdom, are not ornaments to be toyed with by presidential children. The Oba of Benin is not an employee of the Villa. Our roads are not barracks. Our democracy is not a one-party show. If the government wants legitimacy, it must step back from this brink. Respect cultural institutions, scale back the militarization of daily life, allow opposition to breathe, and draw a clear line between family and state. Anything less will stain this administration forever as the one that betrayed democracy.
But citizens must also wake up. Dictatorship only takes root when people shrug and say *“na so e be.”* Every checkpoint we tolerate, every insult to tradition we excuse, every opposition voice we dismiss as irrelevant; these are the bricks with which tyranny is built. Nigerians must stop normalizing excess, demand accountability, defend our culture, resist one-party domination, and refuse to be ruled like subjects instead of citizens.
Nigeria is at a crossroads. One path leads to a truly democratic republic where the people are sovereign, traditions are respected, and power is accountable while the other leads to the suffocating embrace of family rule, militarized life, and a one-party dictatorship in all but name.
The warning signs are here. The question is whether Nigerians, state and citizens alike, will act before it is too late.
*Dr. EK Gwuru writes from Nkolo Ikembe.*
