Nigeria, May 15 -- Nigeria's democracy has survived. The harder question is whether it is deepening.

Since 1999, the country has sustained civil rule longer than at any other period in its post-independence history. Elections have been held. Governments have come and gone. Political parties have risen and fallen. At important moments, power has changed hands peacefully. These are not small achievements.

But democratic survival is not the same thing as democratic success.

For many Nigerians, democracy still feels distant from daily life. Citizens are courted during campaigns and forgotten after elections. Representatives emerge in the people's name but often govern without a meaningful connection to the people's voice. Voter turnout has...