The Fabric of Dissent: Public Intellectuals in South Africa

insightful analysis of Nigeria ’ s paradox of democracy with no dividends, and o ff ers some practical suggestions for dealing with this quagmire. Nigeria swims in a sea of crushing poverty, serious leadership dysfunction, and state failure where violence of one kind or another is the norm of the day in the nation due to the political class ’ s inability to fi nd a moral compass and govern well. The author shows how the majority of Nigerians are at the receiving end of the resulting misery and poverty which raises pertinent questions about the essence of democracy. The book details and explains the causes of Nigerians ’ worsening conditions, including their rising levels of poverty, inequality, and unemployment, while the particularly who have wealth instead of providing of the general populace, ts democracy themselves. The author criticised the ironic undermining of Nigeria ’ s democracy by the same group of individuals (the political elite) primary bene fi ciaries. The author thus investigates the necessity of the Nigerian democracy ’ s retreat and o ff ers plausible explanations for why democracy has not consolidated in ways that result in meeting the devel-opment yearnings of Nigerians and Nigeria.