A one time renowned American President Abraham Lincoln whose definition of Democracy is the most popular one, expediently described democracy as “government of the people by the people and for the people”. But it is also about respect for the rule of law, the due process, protection of all human rights and basic liberty of the people and the advancement of the general welfare of the citizens. So democracy is about good governance and better welfare package of the people secured through the due process of the land in which the people are the prime consideration in the formulation of policy formulation and implementation, people interest outweighed individual primordial interest, Democracy is a system of government that give room to human freedom of expression and sense of belonging to the political system.
The model of democracy that is popular in this age of globalization is liberal democracy, democracy is a descriptive term that is synonymous with majority rule, it associated with democratic consolidation and good governance. However, in Nigeria, effort to attained the high level of democratic consolidation and good governance have been made but not yet to be crowned with much success. It can be argued that, democracy is a system of government where the opportunity to participate in an authoritative decision making is opened to all who are willing and interested to share. However, it is a system of government that recognized individual rights, a system of representation and electoral system based on the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. But Nigeria form of democracy is otherwise, late Umar Musa Yaradua confess that the election that made him the President of the country in 2007 was rigged in favour of People Democratic Party. So is Nigeria a democratic state?.
Democracy ought to refer to government of the people, by the people and for the people. By this simple definition, a layman can easily comprehend the meaning of the meaning of this. A system of government whereby people or citizens of a country elect a government by themselves to protect and assist them in realizing their life dreams and expectations. But can we say we are practising this in Nigeria?, this is a country that the interest of the citizens are not protected, this is a country whereby people opinion doesn’t count, this is a country whereby corruption and electoral manipulation is the order of the day.
Democracy in Nigeria has since changed to the government of the politicians, by the politicians and for the politicians only. Just look around you and see. There is no manifestation of democracy on the faces of the masses, the have-nots, the down trodden, the masses despite the noises about democracy and its invincible dividends, they are still wallowing in abject poverty, squalor, hunger, disease, underemployment, and other nefarious man-made problems. How else can one explain the bloated salaries allotted to the high ranking public officers and the servants are being owed many months of pay despite the meagre amount?
Even the fortunate ones that are educated among the masses, graduates of various fields of ten to twenty years in service aren’t even enjoying the dividend of the so called democracy. This is because the salaries of the so called educated man are struggling to meet up with the demands of the society. Majority of government facilities enjoyed by the masses such as portable drinking water, electricity, good health care system, free education etc. are all a story of the past. The common man has even become his own government, providing power, security, water and so on by himself.
Therefore, as far as am concerned and I believe it’s also the way ordinary Nigerians perceive it, democracy is not for the majority, but for the politicians and their cronies. The masses are yet reap any dividend if ever there is any, of their democracy. What the masses are expecting to see is genuine, real and concrete improvement in their standard of living, and not fleet of foreign flash luxury cars, mansions and paraphernalia. We are tired of empty promises, rhetoric propaganda and long grammar. We need to see action, real action and not deception. Let the masses see the dividend of democracy on ground; we want to see it with our naked eyes, not on paper or on TV screen before election, Nigeria politicians preferred to promise heaven then give hell fire in return.
It is high time we stop living in a world of illusion, deception, hypocrisy or hide and seek game. We should face reality and stop deceiving ourselves. The world is changing very fast, some smaller counties, less endowed than Nigeria have gone far in terms of human development. Some countries are going nuclear, while we are still backsliding, the political class have divided us with ethnicity and religions. We’ve misplaced our priorities just to satisfy the interest of the political elites that are ready to sell our future, we keep hoping on daily basis without taking necessary action against the bourgeoisie class. They keep on saying we the Youths are leaders of tomorrow whereas they’ve been in power since 60s. I pity my generation because If we are not careful we will be subject of our forefathers that have been in power since yesteryears.
In aggregate, we are still very deep in the woods of dictatorship. The government is meant for few individuals, they control all agencies that make up the political system, Nigeria judiciary system is in mess because it lacks independence, the chief judges are appointed by the executive, so what kind of court verdict will be made by stooge judges. The establishment of police is to protect the interest of the ruling class against the masses. That’s the reason why Karl max opined that the state is committee of the ruling class.
What I expect Nigerians to do today is to wish the political elites Happy Democracy Day not the defenceless masses that are living in abject poverty.
Comrade Murtala Omotola Giwa Moore
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