Each year, as Nigeria commemorates Democracy Day, we gather to admire the edifice of our democratic journey, with June 12 standing as its most significant monument. We celebrate its symbolism and the sacrifices made to preserve its memory. Yet, a careful inspection of this structure reveals a profound and dangerous flaw—a foundational pillar is conspicuously missing. Without this pillar, the entire edifice, for all its symbolic weight, remains inherently unstable. This missing pillar is the national recognition of Professor Humphrey Nwosu, the man whose work provided the very structural integrity of the election we celebrate.
Professor Nwosu, appointed to lead the National Electoral Commission (NEC) in 1989, was the master architect of the 1993 election. A brilliant political scientist, he did not merely manage a process; he designed its very foundation. His innovations, the Option A4 and the Open Ballot System, were the load-bearing columns that gave the election its strength, transparency, and credibility. He engineered a system robust enough to support the full weight of the people’s will, resulting in an outcome so clear it has become the gold standard of our democratic history. To celebrate the structure without acknowledging its architect is to fundamentally misunderstand how it was built.
The true strength of this pillar was tested when the military junta moved to demolish the entire democratic project. In the face of immense pressure, Professor Nwosu demonstrated profound courage. By continuing to announce the verified results, he was not merely performing a duty; he was shielding the foundational pillars of the election from being ground into dust. He ensured that even if the structure was abandoned, its strong, verifiable framework would remain for posterity. This raises a critical question about our national values: Do we honor only the memory of the edifice, or do we also honor the strength of the pillars that held it up against the storm?
Regrettably, the Nigerian state seems content to leave this pillar missing. In April 2025, a motion before the Senate to formally recognize Professor Nwosu was defeated, cast aside as “controversial.” This act was more than a political decision; it was a conscious choice to ignore a critical structural weakness in our national narrative. It begs the question: Why would the custodians of our democracy refuse to install a pillar so essential for its support? This refusal suggests a troubling willingness to prioritize political convenience over the foundational principles of justice and historical truth, thereby weakening the entire democratic structure.
This is why recognizing Humphrey Nwosu is a philosophical imperative, a matter of urgent structural repair for our national identity. A nation’s identity is an edifice built upon the pillars of its recognized heroes and cherished values. A missing pillar signifies a missing value. By failing to honor Nwosu, we leave a void where the pillar of institutional integrity, procedural justice, and technocratic courage should be. This is not a cosmetic issue; it is a fundamental flaw that compromises the stability and authenticity of our entire democratic identity.
Therefore, as we reflect on June 12, our task is clear. We must move beyond merely admiring the monument and begin the essential work of securing its foundation. Immortalizing Professor Humphrey Nwosu—through a posthumous national honor and the naming of a key democratic institution after him—is how we install the missing pillar. It is the act that finally makes the structure whole, affirming that our nation is built to last because it stands on all its foundational pillars: the will of the people, the sacrifice of its martyrs, and the unwavering integrity of the guardians of its process.
RT Hon sir Jones Onyereri PhD KSP FCIPAN
