Activist and social commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has expressed a stark view on the state of democracy in Nigeria, arguing that it has caused more suffering than relief for citizens. He stated that from 1999 to the present, democracy has amounted to “nothing but a killer Pill, a source of pain and death.”
Shehu criticized politicians for their greed, deception, and deep insensitivity to human suffering.
In a post shared on X on Sunday, the 25th of January, 2026, he said that many elected officials have failed the people they were chosen to serve, adding that they have violated virtually every aspect of the social contract with citizens.
While acknowledging that a small number of politicians may have good intentions despite occasional mistakes, Shehu claimed that the majority are “wicked, selfish, greedy and treacherous, and act without conscience.”
“They cause pain, trauma and melancholy to millions daily. They breach every aspect of the social contract with the electorates and other citizens.”
He further accused political leaders of depleting the nation’s resources through theft, misappropriation, wasteful spending, and extortion, while ordinary Nigerians continue to suffer from hunger, starvation, and untreated illnesses.
“They display open and extravagant life styles on the face of increasing hunger, starvation and malnutrition, avoidable but left untreated diseases. They watch their constituents die from hypertension, Diabetes and imposed mental health diseases.
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Their myopically conceived and implemented economic policies have destroyed millions of small and medium businesses. Sent millions out of their means of livelihood, pushed millions into unemployment circles, destroyed families , communities and societies.”
Shehu also argued that many politicians pretend to be righteous leaders, yet are inwardly cruel, noting that they “portray the face of Moses but conceal the heart of Pharaoh.”
He concluded that for countless Nigerians, democracy since 1999 has become a source of suffering.
“Indeed for many Nigerians, Democracy from 1999 to date means nothing but a killer Pill, a source of pain and death, a road and root to poverty. Indeed democracy in Nigeria has been the best example of man’s inhumanity to man, day without night, winter that is not cold, summer that is not warm, rainy season without rainfall.”