Commentary

摘要

In 1999 Nigerians did something remarkable: they elected a President. After 16 years of military rule and four decades of political and economic failure, Africa's most populous country held a free election. "Globally, things are going democratically," a Lagos slum dweller told the New York Times. "We want to join the globe." It was a good time to get on board. The percentage of democracies in the world had doubled since the 1970s, to more than 60%. Many of the remaining autocracies— pariah states like North Korea, Burma and Iran—seemed to be living on borrowed time. In ideological terms, as Francis Fukuyama famously declared, history was ending—and Nigeria didn't want to be left behind.