Will Nigerians Believe Empty Electoral Promises?

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a feast meant to celebrate power is haunted by the murdered Banquo: triumph cannot silence the evidence of what preceded it. Nigeria’s electoral theatre often resembles that banquet. As the 2027 electioneering campaign gathers momentum, candidates will promise security, jobs, electricity, affordable food, good schools and hospitals, as though the nation’s difficulties began yesterday and salvation has just arrived. But the ghosts are familiar: promises from earlier campaigns, projects announced and abandoned, targets postponed, and citizens told to wait.
Since “civilian rule” returned in 1999, Nigeria has experienced achievements, policy experiments, democratic...