Lola Shoneyin is not mincing words on the state of democracy in Nigeria in a new spoken word rendition first published on the Financial Times website.
The six-minute video, laced with music from Made Kuti, is directed by Daniel Ehimen.
“It always starts with one man and his gun, peddling promises of new beginnings. 'I have come to save you,' he says, his finger dancing on a trigger. Save yourself, soldier. We've been here before,” Shoneyin, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives author, says in the video.
The rendition is part of a series from the FT featuring writers from across the world speaking about the state of democracy in each region.
“We know what happens when the euphoria settles into a cycle of terror and fear. Soon, the jackboots take over the markets - left, right, right, left, right, wrong - fire. Strong arm of justice is fractured. It's house arrest for the gavel and the hand that wields it. Wigged warriors become acquainted with the jingle of a warder's key. Decrees overturn laws. Impunity trumps freedoms. We've seen it all before,” Shoneyin says.
The piece dives deep into the state of democracy in Nigeria, and the role of the Western colonial masters in the unrest that has engulfed huge parts of not only Nigeria, but the African continent writ large.
“We know how this goes. Freedom fighters flee in the dead of the night. Men and women are lost forever, shot, poisoned, blown up by letter bomb. Memory is tied to a stake, history silenced by firing squad. The sword decapitates the pen, spilling blood on every page. Words are no longer enough to keep the wise alive,” she says.
She also spoke about the re-emergence of military coups on the continent, an age-forgotten idea of leadership that has been returning to the region in countries like Guinea in 2021, Sudan in 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Niger in 2023.
“We've heard it all before - transition and return to civilian rule in 3 months, 6 months, 2 years, 10 years. A fragile state is caught in the crosshairs of a power struggle between those who fight with their blood and those who seize it for themselves. Power cleanses all sin,” she says.