In a searing and uncharacteristically candid Democracy Day address, prominent stakeholder and the Ayedero of Yorubaland, Honorable Shina Peller, has launched a blistering critique against Nigeria’s political leadership, warning that the nation is currently “building a house of cards” by ignoring the deep economic and physical insecurity plaguing its citizens.
Breaking away from the traditionally sanitized, celebratory messages that typically characterize the June 12 anniversaries, the former lawmaker explicitly refused to offer what he termed “empty, sugar-coated political rhetoric.”
Instead, Peller chose the national milestone to deliver a brutal diagnostic assessment of the state of the nation, declaring that while Nigeria layout the procedural framework of a democracy, it has fundamentally failed to deliver its actual dividends to the ordinary citizen.
“Let us be brutally honest with ourselves: We are practicing a democracy, but we are yet to deliver its dividends to the ordinary Nigerian,” Peller stated.
He highlighted the widening, dangerous chasm between the ruling elite and the governed, arguing that the true essence of June 12—originally born out of a fierce, bloody struggle for justice and the popular will—is being undermined by pervasive poverty and systemic hardship.
Turning his focus directly toward the nation’s political elite, the Ayedero of Yorubaland admonished officeholders to view governance as a sacred public trust rather than a personal trophy. He cautioned that leaders cannot afford to rule with detachment or arrogance while the cries of hunger and the anxiety of the average citizen grow louder by the day.
However, the political leader did not spare the populace from accountability. In a sharp challenge to the electorate, Peller admonished everyday citizens to stop acting as passive spectators in their own governance, nor treat democracy as a mere four-year voting ritual.
He explicitly noted that when citizens trade their votes for temporary financial crumbs, or allow ethnic and religious sentiment to blind them to competence, they become active accomplices in the country’s underdevelopment.
Despite the heavy indictment of the current socio-political landscape, Peller maintained that Nigeria’s potential remains unmatched, heavily pinning the nation’s ultimate recovery on its vibrant and creative youth.
To steer the country away from collapse, he outlined an urgent three-pronged path forward, calling for uncompromising institutional accountability, deliberate economic inclusivity that guarantees basic human dignity, and a national unity rooted firmly in justice.
Closing his address with a direct charge to the younger generation, Peller urged Nigerian youth to channel their current frustrations into strategic civic and political engagement rather than apathy.
He called on all tiers of leadership to let this June 12 mark a definitive shift from national lamentation to deliberate action, urging the country to build a society where democracy is lived out every single day, rather than just shouted as a slogan once a year.
