Professor Mike Ozekhome (SAN), a renowned Nigerian constitutional lawyer and human rights advocate, has issued a warning that Nigeria is “gradually driving without knowing it towards a one-party state,” a trajectory that he believes could lead to full-fledged dictatorship if the populace does not actively resist.
On Channels Television’s “Hard Copy” programme on Saturday, Ozekhome expressed significant concern about the current political scene, condemning what he termed “bootlicking at its highest level” as well as the growing tendency of political decampments and cross-carpeting by elected politicians.
He contended that such behaviours show a lack of intellectual foundation among politicians, who appear to put personal benefit over party objectives.
“It’s like beans, akara, and moi-moi; they’re the same,” Ozekhome stated, criticising the lack of scruples among those who switch parties.
He said that the dissolution of ideological diversity is a risky development since a one-party state ultimately leads to unfettered authority.
He said, “In a one-party state, dictatorship reigns supreme.
“Everybody will agree. National Assembly pocketed, judiciary will be pocketed, and everybody will be saying ‘yes, yes, yes.’”
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria cited historical analogies, citing the PDP’s 16-year tenure, during which they notoriously claimed they will govern for 60 years yet lost power.
He claimed that, while President Bola Tinubu has carefully put his people in important sectors of governance, if the opposition stays fragmented, Tinubu “virtually runs against himself” in the 2027 elections.
Ozekhome also expressed concern about the public’s seeming docility, which he compared to a “Stockholm Syndrome.”
He believed that the average Nigerian, pushed to the wall by adversity, would rather flee than confront their aggressors, resulting in a sense of “helplessness and hopelessness”.
