Opinion

The Oracle: Dictatorship: Antithesis to Democracy (PT 3)

Published

5 years ago

July 23, 2021

Eric

By Mike Ozekhome

INTRODUCTION

Last week, we concluded our discourse on democracy as a form of government. Today, we shall x-ray the meaning, concept, causes and the possibility of having elective dictatorship in governance.

MEANING OF DICTATORSHIP

In all countries of the world, you won’t find a dictator who calls himself a dictator. Instead, dictators bear ordinary titles such as president, emperor, great leader and similar monikers. That’s because ‘dictator’ is a pejorative term assigned to certain rulers by other nations, particularly the developed nations of the West – that is, countries with thriving economies – such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and many others.

To be considered a dictatorship means that a country is known to be run by one person without any checks and balances on his/her power. Dictators make unilateral decisions that affect their countries without having to consult any other branch of government. That is because there is no other branch of government that is not controlled by the dictator. Human nature being what it is, dictators do not rise to power for the good of their nations (though, they usually claim otherwise). They seize power to benefit themselves, their families and their close political allies.
Dictators usually come to power through some kind of violent struggle, rather than the peaceful passage of power that we take for granted in the United States. In cases such as the late Kim Jong-il in North Korea, the ruler is even worshiped as a demi-god.

CONCEPT OF DICTATORSHIP

The concept of dictatorship, in its origin and evolution, may be better appreciated both as a complementary and protective constitutional device and as a complete antithesis to the democratic constitutional state. Thus, Carl J. Friedrich (1937), in referring to the ancient Roman model, makes a distinction between constitutional and unrestricted dictatorship. Franz L. Neumann (1957, p. 248) comments that dictatorship may arise and function as “implementation of democracy,” “preparation for democracy,” or the “very negation of democracy.” Plato and Aristotle saw the origin of tyranny in the weaknesses and degeneration of democracy, and political theory has been based on the polarity of democracy and dictatorship ever since. However, the view that a revolutionary dictatorship necessarily presupposes the existence or the counterpart of a democratic constitution is disputed. Answers may be provided by the recent sociological and political research into the historical process of transition from a constitutional, restricted dictatorship to an unrestricted, total dictatorship.

CAUSES OF DICTATORSHIP

The inability to function and the internal weakness of democracy are undoubtedly among the main causes of the establishment of dictatorial rule. The totalitarian communist system of the Soviet Union arose in consequence of the crumbling away of tsarist autocracy, hastened along by a mass movement. In general, it can be shown that unresolved social tensions and economic crises, together with the undermining of constitutional order and the development of undemocratic power aggregates, are among the conditions that give rise to dictatorial regimes.

POSSIBILITY OF HAVING AN ELECTIVE DICTATORSHIP IN GOVERNANCE

Over the years, the executive arm of government has always been seen as the primary source of tyranny, and in Britain the Parliament was developed to control its power. After centuries of struggle, this control was finally achieved in the nineteenth century by making the executive government responsible to the Parliament.

The growth of disciplined political parties in the twentieth century has reversed this responsibility, and the executive government can now often control the parliament, resulting in a form of elective dictatorship.

There is nothing new about the concept of an elective dictatorship. After all, nearly 2500 years ago, the Roman Commonwealth instituted the office of dictator, the incumbent to be chosen by the Senate to deal with crises such as war, sedition and crime, which were too difficult for the two annually-elected and often mutually antagonistic consuls to deal with. The dictator initially held office for six months.

The Nazi government of Adolf Hitler is an extreme example of a modern elective dictatorship, but Hitler was elected and his dictatorship was legal under the Weimar Constitution. The Weimar Republic had responsible government, with a Chancellor as head of government. The president-the aged Field Marshal Hindenburg at the time of Hitler’s accession-had considerable authority, including dictatorial power if public order and security were threatened.

The Weimar Parliament was elected by proportional representation, with consequent difficulty in forming stable governments.

The constitutional tradition and the rule of law are much more firmly established there than they were in the Weimar Republic. Nevertheless there are disturbing common patterns in all elective dictatorships.

In modern times, attention was first called to the new elective dictatorships by Lord Hailsham, in a famous address on the BBC in 1976. He later wrote:
Disregard the fundamental human values of justice and morality and you will soon turn majority rule into unprincipled tyranny. But in practice, human nature being what it is, every human being and every human institution will tend to abuse its legitimate powers unless these are controlled by checks and balances, in which the holders of office are not merely encouraged but compelled to take account of interests and views which differ from their own.

In pointing to the dangers of an elective dictatorship, Lord Hailsham was in fact echoing the views of a long tradition of political theorists, dating back to the times of ancient Greece. Even the expression ‘elective dictatorship’ was similar to Thomas Jefferson’s description of a type of government as elective despotism.

He wrote: The concentrating [of all the powers of government] in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation, that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. One hundred and seventy-three despots would surely be as oppressive as one … An elective despotism was not the government we fought for.

The founders of the United States of America, particularly Jefferson and Madison, brought remarkable intellectual rigour and imagination to the problems of creating a new democracy. They may have been somewhat misled by the French philosopher Montesquieu, who thought that the separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers was the secret of the success of the English system after 1688, and the American system was modeled on that principle. ‘The Americans of 1787’, wrote Bagehot, ‘thought they were copying the English Constitution, but they were contriving a contrast to it.’ In fact what Montesquieu was emphasising was the importance of the independence of the judicial system from political forces (unlike the situation in France), and this separation of powers is common to both the British and American systems.

As Lord Acton put it: ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ Edmund Burke was also aware of the dangers of untrammeled power. Two hundred years ago he wrote that ‘in a democracy the majority of citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppression upon the minority.’ His views were echoed nearly a century later by J.S. Mill when he wrote of:
‘the evil effect produced upon the mind of any holder of power, whether an individual or an assembly, by the consciousness of having only themselves to consider … A majority in a single assembly easily becomes despotic and overweening, if released from the necessity of considering whether its acts will be concurred in by another constituted authority. One of the most indispensable requisites in the practical conduct of politics, especially in the management of free institutions, is conciliation: a readiness to compromise; a willingness to concede something to opponents, and to shape good measures so as to be as little offensive as possible to persons of opposite views.’

He went on to say that, to control a government, it was essential to:
‘throw the light of publicity on its acts; to compel a full exposition and justification of all of them which anyone considers questionable’.

This attitude was totally different to that of Dicey three decades later. Dicey believed that the true source of the life and growth of the British Constitution was ‘the absolute omnipotence, the sovereignty of parliament’. It must be admitted, though, that when this sovereign Parliament was prepared to take action with which Dicey disagreed-as in Home Rule for Ireland, his respect for the Constitution seemed to vaporize. He recommended a referendum (so much for the sovereignty of Parliament) and, if a majority voted for Home Rule, he was prepared to see armed insurrection (so much for respect for the British Constitution).

None of the countries above has anything approaching responsible government in Bagehot’s sense, though all pretend they have. What they have is party government, where the party which wins the majority of seats in the lower house forms the government and its leader become prime minister. The government is responsible, not to the parliament, but to the caucus of the government party MPs. The lower house merely registers the laws proposed by the government, after discussions with the government party caucus. The caucus relies for its electoral success on the party organization, which in some of the parliaments may give orders to the parliamentary party.

There are also other constraints. The doctrine of the sovereignty of parliament, under which its enactments cannot be struck down by any court, now applies only in New Zealand. Canada and Australia are federations, with entrenched constitutions. The powers are divided between the federal and state governments, and any disputes are decided by the courts. The UK is a de facto provincial member of the European Federation, with laws enacted by its Parliament liable to be overridden by European Union laws on certain designated subjects, and disputes resolved by a Union court.

These restraints still leave formidable and effectively unreviewable powers in the hands of a government which controls the lower house. The only remaining barriers to party despotism are upper houses, but these barriers are of very uncertain strength. If the government party has the numbers in the upper house it is really no barrier at all for, except in the UK, where party members of both houses meet in a common caucus where the upper house members are usually heavily outnumbered by those from the lower house. The decisions of this caucus are usually binding on upper house members, even in cases where most of them actually oppose the decision. Cross voting is rare; it is effectively non-existent among Labor members in Australia. The House of Lords was a special case, for most of the peers did not accept party discipline. The answer was inevitable. Exploiting the non-elective character of the House of Lords, governments managed to reduce its power to a mere delaying role.

However, if the government party does not have the majority in the upper house-and this is becoming increasingly common, with four of the six elected upper houses using proportional representation-the upper house can be a formidable obstacle to an elective despotism, reviewing legislation thoroughly, and amending and sometimes rejecting it. Government activities may be closely and critically scrutinized and inquiries held into matters the government does not want investigated. If elected by proportional representation, upper houses can reasonably claim to be more reflective of actual community opinion than a lower house elected by single member constituencies. This claim should be slightly qualified, if only part of an upper house-usually half-retires at each election. This is deliberately done to make the upper house a continuing body, without violent fluctuations in balance caused by temporary changes in public opinion. (To be continued).

FUN TIME

There are two sides to every coin. Life itself contains not only the good, but also the bad and the ugly. Let us now explore these.

“Yesterday, I attended a burial of a friend’s grandfather. But their tradition is that at every burial ceremony, an old man would come out and announce the next person to die. So this old man said the first person to leave the burial ground will be the next person to die. Since yesterday, we are still at the burial. Even one elderly man that is over 95years is asking me if my parents won’t be looking for me.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.” (Plato).

Opinion

The State of Leadership Today: A Look at Global, African and Nigerian Realities

Published

4 days ago

January 31, 2026

Eric

By Tolulope A. Adegoke PhD

“Leadership for our age is measured not by the height of the throne, but by the depth of its roots in integrity, the breadth of its embrace of collective talent, and the courage to cultivate systems that bear fruit for generations yet unseen” – Tolulope A. Adegoke, PhD.

Leadership today is at a crossroad. Around the world, in our communities, and within our organizations, old ways of leading are straining under new pressures. This isn’t just a theoretical discussion; it’s about the quality of our daily lives, the success of our businesses, and the future of our nations. Let’s walk through the current trends, understand their very real impacts, and then explore practical, hands-on solutions that can unlock a better future for everyone.

Part 1: The Leadership Landscape – Where We Stand

The Global Picture: Beyond the Solo Leader

The image of the all-powerful, decisive leader at the top of a pyramid is fading. Today, effective leadership looks different. It’s more about empathy and service than authority. People expect their leaders—in companies and governments—to be authentic, to listen, and to foster teams where everyone feels safe to contribute. Furthermore, leadership is now tightly linked to purpose and responsibility. It’s no longer just about profits or power; stakeholders demand action on climate, fair treatment of workers, and ethical governance. Leaders must also be tech-savvy guides, helping their people navigate constant digital change while dealing with unpredictable global events that disrupt even the best-laid plans.

Africa’s Dynamic Challenge: Youth and Promise

Africa’s story is one of incredible potential meeting stubborn challenges. The continent is young, energetic, and full of innovative spirit. Yet, this tremendous asset often feels untapped. Too frequently, a gap exists between this rising generation and established leadership structures, leading to frustration. While the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents a historic chance for economic unity, it requires leaders who think beyond their own borders. At the same time, democratic progress sometimes stalls, with leaders clinging to power. The most pragmatic leaders are those who engage with the vibrant informal economy—the hustlers, market traders, and artisans—who form the backbone of daily life and hold the key to inclusive growth.

Nigeria’s Pressing Reality: Crisis and Resilience

In Nigeria, the leadership experience often feels like moving from one emergency to the next. Attention is consumed by immediate crises—security threats, economic swings, infrastructure breakdowns—making long-term planning difficult. This has triggered a profound loss of confidence, visibly seen in the “Japa” phenomenon, where skilled professionals leave seeking stability and opportunity abroad. This brain drain is a direct critique of the system. Politics remains deeply influenced by ethnic and regional loyalties, which can overshadow competence and national vision. Yet, in the face of these trials, a remarkable spirit of entrepreneurial resilience shines through. Nigeria’s business people and tech innovators are daily solving problems and creating value, often compensating for wider systemic failures.

Part 2: The Real-World Impact – How This Affects Us All

These trends are not abstract; they touch lives, businesses, and countries in tangible ways.

· On Everyday People: When leadership is perceived as self-serving or ineffective, trust evaporates. People feel anxious about the future and disconnected from their leaders. This can manifest as cynicism, social unrest, or the difficult decision to emigrate. The struggle to find good jobs, feel secure, and build a future becomes harder, deepening inequalities.

· On Companies and Organizations: Businesses operate in a tough space. They face a war for talent, competing to retain skilled employees who have global options. They must also navigate unpredictable policies, provide their own power and security, and balance profitability with rising demands for social responsibility. The burden of operating in a challenging environment increases costs and risk.

· On Nations: Countries plagued by poor governance face a competitiveness crisis. They struggle to attract the kind of long-term investment that builds economies. Policy becomes unstable, changing with political winds, which scares off investors and stalls development. Ultimately, this can destabilize not just one nation but entire regions, as problems like insecurity and migration spill across borders.

Part 3: A Practical Pathway Forward – Building Leadership That Delivers

The situation is complex, but it is not hopeless. Turning things around requires deliberate, concrete actions focused on systems, not just individuals.

1. Fortify Institutions with Transparency and Merit.

We must build systems so strong that they work regardless of who is in charge.

· Action: Legally protect key institutions—the electoral body, the civil service, the courts—from political interference. Appointments must be based on proven competence and integrity, not connections.

· Action: Implement technology-driven transparency. Let citizens track government budgets and projects in real time through public online portals. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

2. Bridge the Gap Between Leaders and the Led.

Leadership must become a conversation, not a monologue.

· Action: Create mandatory Youth Advisory Councils at all levels of government and in large corporations. Give young people a formal platform to contribute ideas and hold leaders accountable on issues like education, digital innovation, and job creation.

· Action: Leaders must adopt regular, unscripted “town hall” meetings and use simple digital platforms to explain decisions and gather feedback directly from citizens and employees.

3. Channel Entrepreneurship into National Solutions.

Harness the proven problem-solving power of the private sector.

· Action: Establish Public-Private Impact Partnerships. For example, the government can partner with tech companies to roll out digital identity systems or with agribusinesses to build modern farm-to-market logistics. Clear rules and shared goals are key.

· Action: Launch National Challenge Funds that invite entrepreneurs and researchers to compete to solve specific national problems, like local clean energy solutions or affordable healthcare diagnostics, with funding and market access as the prize.

4. Redeploy Nigeria’s Greatest Export: Its Diaspora.

Turn the brain drain into a brain gain.

· Action: Create a Diaspora Knowledge & Investment Bureau. This agency would actively connect Nigerians abroad with opportunities to mentor, invest in startups, or take up short-term expert roles in Nigerian institutions, transferring vital skills and capital.

· Action: Offer tangible incentives, like tax breaks or matching funds, for diaspora-led investments in critical sectors like healthcare, renewable energy, and vocational training.

5. Cultivate a New Mindset in Every Citizen.

Ultimately, the culture of leadership starts with us.

· Action: Integrate ethics, civic responsibility, and critical thinking into the core curriculum of every school. Leadership development begins in the classroom.

· Action: Celebrate and reward “Local Champions”—the honest councilor, the community organizer, the business owner who trains apprentices. We must honor integrity and service in our everyday circles to reshape our collective expectations.

Conclusion: The Work of Building Together

The challenge before us is not to find a single heroic leader. It is to participate in building a better system of leadership. This means championing institutions that work, demanding transparency in our spaces, mentoring someone younger, and holding ourselves to high ethical standards in our own roles.

For Nigeria and Africa, the possibility of a brighter future is not a dream; it is a choice. It is the choice to move from complaining about leaders to building leadership. It is the choice to value competence over connection, to seek common ground over division, and to invest in the long-term health of our community. This work is hard and requires patience, but by taking these practical steps—starting today and in our own spheres—we lay the foundation for a tomorrow defined by promise, stability, and shared success. The power to deliver that possibility lies not in one person’s hands, but in our collective will to act.

Dr. Tolulope A. Adegoke, AMBP-UN is a globally recognized scholar-practitioner and thought leader at the nexus of security, governance, and strategic leadership. His mission is dedicated to advancing ethical governance, strategic human capital development, and resilient nation-building, and global peace. He can be reached via: tolulopeadegoke01@gmail.com, globalstageimpacts@gmail.com

Opinion

Globacom Redefines Standard for Telecoms in 2026

Published

5 days ago

January 29, 2026

Eric

By Michael Abimboye

As always, Globacom is at the heart of telecoms transformation in Nigeria. The acquisition of additional spectrum, is a decisive move that has expanded network capacity and fundamentally improved customer experience.

With the ability to carry significantly higher data volumes at greater speeds, users are seeing faster downloads, stronger uploads, seamless video streaming, and clearer voice calls even at peak periods. Crucially, this expansion has driven down latency. Independent performance testing has ranked Glo as the network with the lowest latency in Nigeria, meaning faster response times whenever data commands are initiated.

This spectrum advantage is being matched on the ground by the rollout of thousands of new LTE sites nationwide. Network capacity has increased pan-Nigeria, with noticeably higher download speeds across regions. At the same time, the installation of thousands of additional towers is easing congestion and closing coverage gaps, particularly in high-density locations such as markets and tertiary institutions, where demand for fast, reliable internet is highest.

Power reliability, often the silent determinant of network quality, is also being reengineered. Globacom has deployed hybrid battery power systems across numerous sites, reducing dependence on diesel while improving sustainability. Beyond cost efficiency, this greener model delivers stronger uptime ensuring uninterrupted power supply and optimal performance for base stations and switching centres.

Behind the scenes, Glo has upgraded its switching systems and data centres to accommodate rising traffic volumes nationwide. These upgrades are designed not only for today’s demand but to ensure the network consistently meets performance KPIs well into the future, even as data consumption continues to grow.

Equally significant is the massive reconstruction and expansion of Globacom’s optic fibre cable (OFC) network. Along highways and metro routes affected by road construction, fibre routes are being reconstructed and relocated to safeguard service continuity. Thousands of kilometres of new fibre have also been rolled out nationwide, fortifying the OFC backbone, improving redundancy, reducing network glitches, and enabling the network to handle increasingly heavy data loads with resilience.

These investments collectively address long-standing coverage gaps while driving densification and capacity enhancement in already active areas, ensuring a more balanced and reliable national footprint.

At the core layer, Globacom is modernising its network elements through new platforms and applications, upgraded enterprise and interconnect billing systems, and an expanding roster of roaming partners for both in-roaming and out-roaming services strengthening its integration into the global telecoms ecosystem.

Taken together, these are not incremental upgrades. They represent a deliberate, system-wide repositioning.

In 2026, Globacom is not just improving its network; it is asserting itself as the technical leader in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry and has gone on a spending spree to satisfy the millions of subscribers enjoying seamless connectivity across Nigeria.

Opinion

How GLO Sustains Everyday Businesses in Kano, Nigeria’s Centre of Commerce

Published

1 week ago

January 25, 2026

Eric

By Dr Sani Sa’idu Baba

For more than two weeks, Kano woke up under a veil of fog. Not the poetic kind, but the stubborn Harmattan fog that dulls vision, slows movement, and disrupts daily rhythm. Dawn arrived quietly. Shops opened late. Calls failed repeatedly. Internet bars blinked on and off like uncertain promises. Across the state, one reality became impossible to ignore: communication had become a struggle. This reality carried even greater weight in the capital of Kano, the centre of commerce in Nigeria.

As Ramadan approaches and gradually leads to the celebration of Eid-el-Fitr, everyone understands what this season represents. It is a period when online businesses, both big and small, become a major source of livelihood for millions. Traders prepare for peak demand, online vendors scale up advertising, and buyers from across the country look to Kano for goods. Visitors stream in from other states, transactions multiply, and the success of this entire commercial ecosystem depends heavily on one thing: seamless network connectivity between buyers and sellers.
In Kano, where business breathes through phone calls, alerts, and instant messages, poor network is not just inconvenient, it is costly. Calling became difficult. Browsing the internet felt like a battle. For many, it meant frustration. For others, it meant loss.

As these challenges persisted day after day, conversations across the city began to take a clear and consistent direction. In homes, offices, and markets, a new conversation began to dominate discussions. A brother of mine, deeply involved in the communication business at Farm Center Market, the largest hub for telecom activity in Kano shared his amazement. Day after day, customers walked up to data vendors with one clear, confident request: “Glo data.” Not alternatives. Not experiments. Just Glo, he said. At first, it seemed puzzling. If you were already on Glo, you might not even notice the difference. But for those struggling on other networks, the contrast was undeniable. In the middle of foggy mornings and unstable signals, Glo stood firm.

And soon, the conversation spread everywhere. At tea junctions in the early hours, as people warmed their hands around cups of shayi, discussions circled around how Glo “held up” when others disappeared. In university classrooms, students whispered comparisons before lectures began, who could download materials, who could submit assignments, and which network actually worked. More strikingly, Glo users quietly turned their phones into lifelines, sharing hotspots with classmates so others could access lecture notes, submit assignments, and stay connected. At sports viewing centres, between goals and missed chances, fans debated networks with the same passion as football rivalries. In markets, traders told customers how Glo saved their day. In every gathering of people across Kano, Glo became the reference point. The reason was simple: Glo had saved businesses.

Consider the POS operator by the roadside. Every successful transaction that attracts him/her ₦100 here, ₦200 there is survival. Failed transfers mean angry customers and lost income. During these fog-heavy days, many operators would have been stranded. But where Glo bars stayed strong, withdrawals went through, alerts dropped, and trust preserved.

Picture a roadside trader making her first sale of the day through a simple WhatsApp call, her voice steady as she confirms an order that will set the tone for her business. Nearby, an online vendor advertises products in WhatsApp groups, responds to messages, takes calls from interested buyers, and confirms deliveries, all in real time. Behind every one of these small but significant transactions is reliable connectivity. Delivery riders weaving through traffic and racing against time also depend on uninterrupted network access to reach customers, confirm payments, and complete orders. In moments when other networks struggled, Glo quietly kept these wheels of commerce turning, ensuring that daily hustle did not grind to a halt. Beyond the busy streets of the city, the impact of this reliability becomes even more profound in remote villages in Kano.

Back in Kano city, rising transportation costs have reshaped the way people work. Many professionals have had no choice but to adapt, turning their homes into offices and relying heavily on the internet to stay productive. Many now attend virtual meetings, send large files, collaborate remotely, and meet deadlines without leaving their homes. In a period marked by economic pressure and uncertainty, dependable internet is no longer a convenience, it is a necessity. In these conditions, Glo continues to provide the stability that keeps work moving forward.

At this point, Glo stops being seen merely as a telecommunications company. It emerges as the invisible backbone of the Nigerian hustle, supporting the determination and resilience of everyday people. From POS operators and online merchants to students, delivery services, market traders, and remote workers who refuse to give up, Glo remains present in the background, quietly powering their efforts. In tough terrains, harsh weather, and challenging times, when other networks fluctuate or fade, Glo stays connected.

You may not always hear it announce itself loudly, and you may not notice it when everything is working smoothly. But when a single call saves a business, when one alert prevents a financial loss, and when one stable connection keeps a dream alive, Glo proves its value, not as noise or empty promises, but as consistent reliability and lived experience. And that is how quietly, consistently, and powerfully Glo continues to power Nigeria’s everyday businesses, sustaining dreams and survival UNLIMITEDLY…

Dr. Baba writes from Kano, and can reached via drssbaba@yahoo.com