S.O.S ALIEME

Is Nigeria a democratic republic? What is a democratic republic? A country where individuals are richer than the republic; could this be regarded as a democratic republic. A country where success is not based on effort, success is not based on what you put in, success is not based on competence, success is not based on integrity, success is not based on production, could that be called a democratic republic.  What are they based on, what is success based on. 

In a country where leadership positions are not assumed or acquired or retained based on vision, based on the leadership’s ideological clarity, based on the leadership’s manifestoes, will you call that a democratic republic. A country where successive governments will continue to point accusing fingers to the past government but starts its own regime with a cup in hand and goes to the developed world to borrow trillions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars, and does not account for how it has used the amount of money. Yet, again goes to borrow another lump sum of billions of dollars.  A country that increases taxes with impunity when 75% of the population is unemployed, could that be regarded as a democratic republic.  A country that involves or leaders involve in electoral fraud with no consequence and you say it is a democratic republic. A country where the rule of law is not respected.  A country where the judiciary is seen as the baby pet of the government.  These are rhetorical questions being asked by many Nigerians who are caught in the web of uncertainty about the true republican nature of Nigeria. Can Nigeria be regarded as a republic when even the military that are saddled with the security of the country are also being attacked and killed by the super and fearless Boko Haram insurgents armed with superior fighting war weapons? If soldiers are not safe, who is then safe? May be those at Aso Rock are very safe.

The majority of the so-called political class in Nigeria can be aptly described as ‘anti-democracy republicans who like the proverbial dog will chase every bone no matter how humiliatingly presented’. Many are simply interested in the acquisition of power by any means. Rather than facilitate democracy, members of this class do no more than ‘dam the waters of democratic and social reform’. For most of the members of the Nigerian political class, democracy means no more than transition from one government to another, with the politicians in charge of the national purse.

There are no credible theoreticians or political philosophers among this class however they have many self-appointed tacticians and strategists whose main preoccupation is to design winning coalitions through ingenious schemes such as zoning and electoral rigging.

We should look forward to a government in which all political parties will participate and all political tendencies will be accommodated. Civilian rule is not necessarily the same thing as democracy. Consequently, any struggle for democracy that does not recognize the need for the people to take part in all structures of decision-making and decision-implementation will be fruitless. There has not been marked difference between the civilian and military rule as both have been characterized by dictatorship and abuse of human rights.

Democracy, for the oppressed and suffering Nigerians and as projected by the struggles of the pro-democracy and other popularly based groups, is about survival and coping under intense deprivations caused by economic crisis and the mismanagement of state affairs. People want to improve their living conditions, they want to get rid of governments perceived to be a threat to their lives. Thus, as one activist noted, ‘they look up to democracy for a better deal’, for ‘economic development, social equality, political participation; end to poverty and corruption’.

The implication of the unfolding events in the democratization process in Nigeria is that those genuinely concerned with aiding the process ought to take into account the emergent popular conceptions of democracy which are increasingly being articulated and projected in the daily struggles of the prodemocracy movement, professional groups and other popular organizations of the civil society. The success of any attempt at democratization cannot be hinged on the restrictive and discredited notions still being pushed by the political class.

A better future for Nigeria may well depend on the nurturing of ‘people-driven’ concepts of democracy and the institutionalization of a genuine democratization process. There has to be a fundamental shift from the prevailing situation in the dynamic of democratic struggles in Nigeria. To bring about this, Nigeria’s democratic forces, both credible persons and groups, would have to channel their energies in the construction of what can be termed as a Broad Coalition for Democracy (BCD). This should be a formation comprising all genuinely committed democrats united by a common, even if minimum, agenda of ending politics with bitterness and laying the concrete foundation for a good, accountable, responsive and responsible democratic mode of governance.

Nigerians are expecting better educational institutions that can withstand that of the developed world.  Nigerians are expecting better medical services for all and sundry; expecting a proactive security cautious government where lives and properties are safe; expecting a peaceful environment that is devoid of acrimony and killings; expecting a rejuvenated economy where the value of the Naira will appreciate considerably against the developed world currencies. Finally, Nigerians are expecting a God fearing leadership who could commit every action into the hands of God.

God Bless Nigeria!!!