Former governor of Cross River State, and presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) Donald Duke, has argued that the situation of Nigerians was better off under military rule, than in the last 27 years of democracy.

He lamented that successive civilian administrations since 1999 have failed to deliver meaningful improvements in the lives of citizens.

Duke made the remarks during an interview in Abuja on Sunday, where he questioned the cost of governance under the current democratic system and whether it had yielded sufficient dividends for Nigerians.

“The people today, I would tell you, were better off under the military,” he said. “At least governance was not that expensive.”

The former governor said Nigeria’s democracy should be assessed primarily by its impact on citizens’ welfare rather than the existence of democratic institutions.

According to him, many of the challenges confronting the country before the return to civilian rule in 1999 remain unresolved, while some have worsened.

“I’m speaking broadly now. If we focus on the well-being of the people, what we term democracy dividends, how much has been delivered?” he asked.

“We’re still having the same problems we had 27 years ago. It’s getting worse. The number of children out of school has not improved; it’s deteriorating. The healthcare system is not improving; it’s deteriorating.

“Infrastructure deficiency over the last 27 years—are we better off? The question is: are we better off today than we were in 1999? Hardly so. Hardly so.”

Duke identified electricity, unemployment and infrastructure as some of the longstanding challenges that successive civilian administrations had failed to adequately address.

“The problems that existed before 1999—electrification, unemployment—those things are still there. And I don’t see a structured approach towards dealing with these issues,” he said.

He also expressed concern about the value of citizens’ votes, saying the perceived inability of voters to influence governance had encouraged politicians to disregard the needs of the electorate.

“Because your vote doesn’t matter, there’s a tendency to take people for a ride and disregard what is required by the people,” Duke said.

The post Nigerians were better off under military rule –Donald Duke appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Top Stories from Ripples Nigeria.