A cross section of stakeholders, who spoke about the journey of Nigeria’s democracy right from the the first republic till now lamented the level corruption and bad leadership that characterised the practice.
While some appreciate the little progress made so far , some argued that we are still far behind and needing a pragmatic efforts to move forward.
Retired Maj. Gen. Clement Olubunmi, from Kogi West, said that Nigeria was destined to be great but the problem we are presently facing is “corruption” which deserves God’s intervention.
Olubunmi said, “Although Nigeria has made some progress as a democratic nation, her progress is very slow due to the corruption in the system.”
“We are all conversant with the news on what is happening everywhere in this country especially in all the sectors as it relates to corruption.
“It’s unfortunate there are few individuals that are holding this country to ransom with their corrupt tendencies in our democratic system and what we actually need is divine intervention for Nigeria to free itself from this clique of individuals,
The general gave an example with the recent renovation of the Aso Clinic, which he said gulped $26 billion, which, when compared with similar cost of renovations in places like USA and Canada, it would half of that amount.
He noted that Petroleum Subsidy has been another stumbling block in our democratic journey and, has done this nation much harm than good in terms of growth and development.
According to him, democratic system of government was expected to open up the rural areas to industrial revolution and infrastructural development but to no avail.
“If you go to the rural areas, you will see that most of social amenities desirous of the government magnanimity to the masses are near absent in spite of the over 26 years of democracy.
“Could you believe that during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the then Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, who attempted not to pay Subsidy money, was fought by the cabal to a stand still.
“First they kidnapped her mother and did all they could to force her to resign as the minister of finance but it took the grace of God for her to survive it. Because when the kidnapped her mother She could no longer concentrate on her work,” he said.
The Kogi born general commended President Bola Ahmed-Tinubu for his bold step at removing and ending the subsidy regime, which he said had been a clog in the wheel of the nation’s democratic journey.
He said that Nigeria has a lot of potentials, yet things are not just working, requiring a strong and capable hand that could stand and whither the storm.
But Prof Alewo Johnson-Akubo, Vice Chancellor, Salem University Lokoja, in his assessment of how democracy in Nigeria has faired, said, “there is no progress rather we are retrogression.”
Akubo, who is a Sociologist and seasoned administrator, said, “It’s unfortunate that Nigeria’s democracy is not moving forward nor have anything to show as benefits.
“Could you imagine that a bicycle that used to cost N8,000 is now N45, 000, while a bag of Rice is now being sold for N45, 000 such that a a worker’s minimum wage can’t buy it for his/her household.
“With this kind of hardship, can you say we are progressing? Look around our roads, most of which are death traps. I don’t know how many people have sworn against the government because of the deplorable nature of the roads killing and naming innocent people..
“I am not convinced that what we are practicing is democracy, This is because you can’t say you are practicing democracy and on election day, people who go out to vote are threatened.
“They will say, if you are not voting for XYZ don’t come near the polling unit. Is that what we call democracy? Do you know how many thousands of petitions are with INEC now as we speak?
“Do you know how many souls or lives were wasted during elections? Do you know how many millions of Nigerians who say their vote did not count in the just concluded general elections in spite of the assurances from the INEC?
“How do you, as an umpire, tell people that you were going to upload results at the point of voting and at the end almost 80% if not 90% of the result were not uploaded?
“Again, how do you announce result in the night and call it democracy. If you look at our democracy in the 1st and 2nd republic and what we have today, you will know that we are retrogressing and not progressing as a nation.
“We are not stagnant but we are not moving forward, rather we are moving backward in our democratic system by discouraging the electorate, ” he said.
The VC said that recently a serving senator,who was a guest in a Television program admitted that the 9th Assembly in which he was part of “is a rubber stamp to the executive.”
He said the senator expressed the hope that the legislators that have been assembled In the last election will chart a new course different from the 9th Assembly.
“That for me is not a forward movement. Look at all the policy plans upon which the out gone government officials at the federal, State and Local Government levels campaigned upon. Which of them can you point to that it was executed as promised?
“Is it security? Is it education? Is it unemployment? Or the health sector. The hospital we have now are more or less transitional camps, where people are taken to as waiting rooms between life and death,” he said.
The University administrator noted that in changing the narratives, for us to move forward as a democratic nation, requires all the stakeholders telling themselves the truth.
According to him, It was the problem of the elites and not just the problems of the leaders and the people.
He noted that Nigerians need to come to terms with a popular saying that “followers get the leadership they deserved”.
“Here in Nigeria, people move about and force their candidates on the people. And again situation where you don’t belong to a ruling political party you don’t dire go out and campaign.
“Again during electioneering campaign politicians do come out and start sharing N3000, N5,000 or N10,000 to their followers so that they do their biddings. The question is can n3,000, N5,000 or N10,000 last for four or eight years?
“Of course the answer is No.
“The truth is that the very day the people can realise that power belongs to them and decide to use it, only then, we can begin to have a change in this country and experience a progressive democracy, ” he said.
To Dr Ibrahim Mohamed-Nasir, a Political Scientist and Lecturer in the Political Science Department of Prince Abubakar Audu University (PAAU), Ayingba, Kogi, Nigeria has made tremendous achievements since her independence from the British Colonial Masters in 1960.
Mohamed-Nasir believes that for us to keep ourselves together as a democratic entity in sprite of all the political, religious and socio-cultural challenges, it is a great achievement and progress.
The University Don said, ” in terms of political development, especially the fourth republic from 1999 to date, even if we are crawling, for the mere fact that we have been able to hold ourselves together in spite of challenges it’s indeed an achievement.”
“Some may say our political culture is not yet strong but they can’t say either that it’s weak. This is because our political institutions have been strengthened over time.
“We are everyday learning from our mistakes, which is why our electoral process is improving year by year. What it was in 1999 was not what it was in 2003 or 2007 or 2011 to the extent that an opposition political party unseated a sitting government in 2015.
“As it’s now, we have introduced new technologies in the 2023 general elections, and you can agree with me that we are making little progress in our democratic process.
“In terms of infrastructural development, a lot have been achieved. We are now having a lot of social amenities and infrastructure that have been developed post independence such as the roads, bridges, educational institutionn, Health facilities, industries both public and private, financial institutions, huge entertainment industry, sports and technological wise to mention but a few
“We had our first Niger bridge and now we have the second Niger bridge besides our brothers and sisters, who are outside the country creating impact, politically, medically and technological wise,” he stated.
On whether have fared well, the don said, yes but that “we still have a lot to be done as a nation to ensure that our togetherness is being strengthened so that those who still doubt believe because of may be our educational, socio-economic and political challenges, should believe that there’s a project called “Nigerian Project.”.(emeralnews)
