This One Thing... A Fragile State By Lola Shoneyin 

“We both know what it means, but does it have the same resonance? Have you ever known its absence? Have you watched it disappear?” These are the haunting opening lines spoken by Nigerian poet Lola Shoneyin in A Fragile State. It’s part of Democracy 2024 – a series of films from the Financial Times, directed by Juliet Riddell, exploring the instability of rights and freedoms across the world as a record 2 billion voters across 60+ countries head to the polls in 2024. Seven of the world’s 10 most populous nations (Bangladesh, India, United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Mexico), have elections this year. In Africa, there are ballots in Chad, Ghana, Namibia, South Sudan, Rwanda and South Africa. 

Yet democracy has never faced such existential threat. In A Fragile State, two dancers performing to an original score by Nigerian musician Mádé Kuti powerfully combine with Shoneyin’s words addressing the state of democracy within Africa. Shoneyin is a poet, author and literary pioneer, best known for her award-winning novel The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives. She is also the founder of Aké Arts & Book Festival (Africa’s largest book festival) and Book Buzz Foundation, a charity that promotes literacy across the continent.   

In the film, her words echo from the song sheet of history: “Democratic freedoms can vanish in a gunshot.” As she speaks, we see real news clips of military coups and the rise of dictators – the long receipts of when democracy has failed in Africa.

She lists events from Benin in 1972 to Chad in 2021, leaving a startling reminder of the fragile state of democracy and how, for many nations, it is still under threat. “We know what it means when there is no escape from the heat of tyranny and every victory is snatched from death’s yawn. This is why we fight to keep it. Fold it into our palms. Hold it tight. This is why we must hammer out its imperfections, pound it, mould it, and bake it in the kilns of our histories. We chant because we remember, and we never want to live a day without it ever again.” 
Discover more from The Financial Times Democracy 2024 

Jamie Styles is Digital Editorial Assistant at Service95

_{Democracy 24 series directed by Juliet Riddell. Location directed and filmed by Daniel Ehimen. Edited by Dan Susman. Music by Mádé Kuti}