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The Lagos mess and continuing failure of citizenship 08 Aug 2025

Each time Nigerians want to assert their citizenship, there is something that strikes it down. That thing is policy. Nigeria is a hugely incoherent country. Incoherence, more than corruption, is a reason Nigeria has remained a wished-for great country. 

In the 1990s, a few years after independence, the Nigerian experiment in democracy collapsed on the idea of citizenship. In 1959, as Nigeria prepared for independence, the minority ethnic groups expressed deep concern about the perils of majoritarian politics in Nigeria. They feared that the major ethnic groups would oppress and marginalise them once the British handed government to Nigerians. The Willink’s Commission that reviewed the concerns of the minorities recommended the Bill of Rights as a counter majoritarian measure to safeguard liberty and freedom post-independence Nigeria. Nigeria became the first Commonwealth African country to have a bill of rights in 1960. Ever since, Nigeria has maintained this constitutional pillar of its nationhood. 

However, this constitutional guarantee did not last long before it was turned into a mere formality. It did not take long before post-independence leaders began to question the right of other Nigerians to live and work in their region. It did not take long before the idealism of democratic citizenship collapsed under the firepower of ethnocentric politics. Realpolitik trumped constitutional idealism. A Nigerian was no longer seen as a Nigerian. He has to be an Igbo, Yoruba, or Hausa or one of the over 300 ethnicities. Soon, Nigerians fought against themselves in a civil war that has no good explanation than the rejection of the ideals and practices of democratic citizenship.

Nigeria survived the war and pledged “no victor, no vanquished”. As usual, Nigeria does not follow through. It did not even pay attention to what it wisely stated in Chapter 2 of its constitution as The Fundamental Objectives and Directing Principles of State Policy, which proclaims the economic and social dimensions of democratic citizenship. Nigeria’s leaders refuse to offer to its citizens the care and protection required of a modern democratic state. They continue to divide their citizens for the benefits of winning and keeping political power.

The result of leadership failure since the end of the civil war is the growing spate of separatist movements, each tearing at national unity and even the fact of Nigeria’s existence. Nigeria is now a country whose demise is no longer a fairly tale. It is now a distant possibility because of the refusal of the captors of state power in Nigeria to treat Nigerians as full and equal citizens. Nigeria’s refusal to treat its citizens as equal citizens is both illogical and incoherent. Section 42 of the Constitution prohibits any government in Nigeria from conferring any form of advantage or disadvantage on any Nigerian by virtue of his or her ethnic, religious, or social identity and status. This prohibition applies to privileges, advantages, or denials and deprivations created by law or administrative action. 

The language of the prohibition is clear and comprehensive. But Nigerian governments continue to make laws and issue orders that disadvantage other Nigerians because of their ethnic origins. Lagos State stands out in this regard. Recently, if you are not Yoruba in Lagos, Nigeria’s beloved former capital, you miss out on much, especially if you are Igbo, including losing street names and legitimately earned property.

Everyone acknowledges that Nigeria has tremendous potentials to become a leading global country. Despite its notable failures, Nigeria was on its way to some form of greatness in the sense of being the largest African economy by GDP, ahead of the more industrialised South Africa. Then suddenly, something happened. Angry political elites hungry for political power conspired and defeated the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 presidential election, a party that had become both indolent and self-indulgent. These conspirators brought Muhammadu Buhari, a man they should know is not fit for 21st century leadership. President Buhari calmly reversed Nigeria’s match to economic growth and supervised the retraction of Nigeria’s economic ascent.

In the language of Nigerian music icon, Fela Kuti, when Nigeria wants to make real progress on democratic citizenship and economic growth, someone’s booth will hit it back. Fela thought that booth that knocks Nigeria back was ‘soldier booth’. But since 2015, when the conspirators overthrew the reign of PDP and brought Buhari and he inaugurated his famous 95% versus 7% formulas for national development, which required that citizens from areas that contributed 95% of the votes to his electoral victory stands on higher citizenship pedestal than those who contributed 7%, we are seeing that it is the civilian booth that is kicking Nigeria back now. 

President Tinubu pledged to continue President Buhari’s legacy. He has kept his words. The segregation of citizens into ethnic in-groups and out-groups has taken roots in Lagos, Tinubu’s political fiefdom. It started during the 2023 presidential elections when Tinubu’s political associate, frightened that they would lose power to Mr. Peter Obi, let out the dogs of ethnic war, just to win Lagos State. They weaponised ethnicity and spread hate speech against the Igbos. Ever since, Lagos is now being reshaped to express the death of Nigeria’s democratic citizenship.

This peculiar Lagos mess will go a long way to create a self-reinforcing failure of citizenship in Nigeria, if it is not quickly combatted. 

Sam Amadi, PhD, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, is the Director of Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts.