US midterms: True democracy at work

By SUNNY IKHIOYA Should democracy be the rightful route to leadership? That has been the question since the time of the early philosophers. Socrates (470–399 BC), the father of Greek philosophy, argued: “Democracy must fall because it will try to tailor to everyone. The poor will want the wealth of the rich, and democracy will give it to them. Young people will want to be respected as elderly, and democracy will give it to them.

Women will want to be like men, and democracy will give it to them. Foreigners will want the rights of the natives, and democracy will give it to them. Thieves and fraudsters will want important government functions, and democracy will give it to them. And at that time, when thieves and fraudsters finally democratically take authority because criminals and evildoers want power, there will be worse dictatorship than in the time of any monarchy or oligarchy.” As recently as August 12, 2026, former President Olusegun Obasanjo asked whether there was such a thing as African democracy.

He concluded: “Let us not deceive ourselves, there is nothing like African democracy. We were given Western liberal democracy by our colonial masters. Western liberal democracy that we inherited pulls from monarchy, hence we can have a government and a loyal opposition, loyal to the monarchy. But when you talk about loyal opposition in an African setting — and I have gone into many African languages — opposition means enemy.

That is the word.” With the recent US midterm elections, people all over the world are beginning to believe again that democracy is practicable, if done in the right manner. The United States has shown again that it remains the leading democratic nation in the world — no one comes close — despite its wobbling and fumbling. Man, by nature, is flawed, but strong structures and institutions keep him in check.

Democracy says the people’s voice must decide leadership. Sometimes, out of emotion, the choices turn out badly, as we witnessed in the decision to bring in Donald Trump. But the beauty of real democracy is that the same system allows the people to correct their mistakes in subsequent electoral cycles. That is what we have just witnessed. A strong, overbearing and intimidating presidency was brought to its knees by what was assumed to be a passive opposition party.

But the people had their say, and that will remain the will of the American people until the next general election. Many people, especially those of us from this part of the world, have come to see democracy as a scam — a game of the powerful elite, the military, business oligarchs and their cronies imposing their will on the people. We see elections as a do-or-die affair, with extreme religious and ethnic sentiments on full display.

True democracy is real, and the US has just shown it. When it happens, it brings so much joy to the people. As one voter said: “I had to drag my daughter out yesterday and drove her to the voting centre. America is a working democracy. Not even all the money can influence suffering Americans.” Democracy was under siege all over the world. Woke culture wars were exported to other parts of the globe, breeding extremist leaders practising the politics of hate.

The UN and WTO were almost rendered comatose, as nobody could rein in the raging bull in the china shop — but the great American people just did. There is a limit to how you can use power, or it will be taken away from you. That is the purpose of democracy: the wish of the people — the one that will keep them happy, healthy and prosperous. What Socrates prophesied about democracy was becoming a reality in Donald Trump’s America, but the people stood up for their country.

They stood for the philosophy that all men are created equal, irrespective of ethnicity or race. They stood for togetherness, with one love for America — a country founded on the strength of diversity, one that has always stood on the side of the people. It was a big relief to the whole world, and more especially to those pivotal countries that export Western-styled democracy to other parts of the world.

It shows that no matter how challenged the people of the world have become, if they stand in unity on the side of good causes, the world will make progress. Donald Trump diminished America in the eyes of the whole world, and people wondered what had happened to the country of great world leaders that pioneered global unity and borderless trade. He did a lot of damage that will take the world years to recover from.

Through his policies, the Middle East lies prostrate from endless conflicts. The invincibility of the US Armed Forces was demystified, and the war with Iran became an Achilles’ heel for the Republicans’ campaign. He couldn’t even bring peace to the Ukraine-Russia war — huffing, puffing, merry-go-rounding and achieving nothing. Trump’s actions were truly embarrassing to the good people of the US, estranging traditional friends like Canada and Europe, raising unnece