NO CAUSE TO CELEBRATE DEMOCRACY DAY - NIGERIANS! ‎

The issue to look at is the failure of our democracy. So far, it has not served the interest of the Nigerian people. I’ve repeatedly defined Nigeria’s current democracy as a government of politicians, by politicians, for politicians. The interest of Nigerian people is nowhere in the agenda of Nigerian politicians. They should stop lying. They lie to Nigerians. The political process is for their personal interest to be advanced. That kind of democratic structure is not sustainable. Democracy is better than other forms of government because for every regime to survive, whether totalitarian, Marxist, theocratic, it needs legitimacy. If you don’t have acceptance, power erosion would lead to the collapse of the regime. When you are a king, say in the days of old, you get your legitimacy through a divine right of kings. So, in a theocracy, you have to respect the king, if you fear God. But people later began to question the character of the people who were ruling them in the name of God. They said this God cannot be a just God and they began to revolt against these kings. Then people agreed that power belongs to the people. Therefore, the essence of democracy is to choose a leviathan, who can take away some of our natural freedom in exchange for ensuring security of lives and property, so that we can pursue happiness. In a democracy, we look for that agent of our collective interest. The objective is for him to act in the interest of the whole society. But here, democracy has been an excuse for a few to take what belongs to all. And the Nigerians people have realised it, they might not have revolted officially. The Afrobarometer, which is a measure of how Nigerians feel about their democracy, showed that Nigerians were very enthusiastic about the country’s democracy in 1999, but today, the Afrobarometer readings are down. Nigerians are wondering whether this democracy is worth it. When you get to that point you begin to see an erosion of the legitimacy of that regime. When a regime’s legitimacy is eroded, you begin to see the kind of things we are seeing in Nigeria, whether it is Boko Haram, Niger Delta militancy e.t.c, and unfortunately the society begins to move towards anarchy. What would stop us from slipping into anarchy is a return of the legitimacy of government, a state where government represents the interest of the people.

Fredrick Fasehun, Founder, Unity Party of Nigeria

May 29 is not Democracy Day

Nigerians can celebrate Democracy Day on May 29. We, the Unity Party of Nigeria, are a democratic people and we will not deny our fellow citizens their right. But we do not think May 29 is Democracy Day. June 12 is Democracy Day in this country. We (UPN) will not stop others from celebrating because we are democratic but no one should attempt to persuade us to give up our recognition for June 12 as the true, honest and principled Democracy Day.

Prof. Itse Sagay

Our democracy in danger

Yes, Democracy Day is worth celebrating. It is the day in which civilian rule was returned by the military to civilians. Probably, Democracy Day may be an exaggeration because we have not really enjoyed democracy since 1999. If we are to be called a democracy, I will call it an illiberal democracy, meaning that it is a democracy without the real democratic culture but just (our democracy is) limping along the road. But it is worth celebrating because it is a step ahead of military rule. So, I look at it as an opportunity to continue to practise, perfect and build a culture of true democracy in which the virtues of transparency, rule of law, accountability and respect for the ordinary citizen will be established.

There should be no fanfare but sober reflection on our road so far. What happened to the schoolgirls abducted in Chibok is part of the imperfection of our democracy because to allow a group of terrorists to grow and overwhelm a whole country endangers that democracy. In fact, our democracy is in danger. We should reflect on that and think of ways of resolving the problem of truncated democracy so that we can recover and continue to grow.

Dan Ekere, UNILAG lecturer

No need to be sober

May 29 is very significant because it is the day we transited from military to civilian rule though we call it democracy. The fact that we have challenges does not mean we should not celebrate. We are not celebrating the achievements of government but the fact that we have been able to have three civilian governments, the longest so far. We should celebrate without sober reflection because it is not sober reflection that brings about change but critical analysis. How long do we want to be sober for? We cannot be mourning all the time. Democratic structures take many years to build.

Moshood Erubami, activist and coordinator, Voters’ Assembly

We don’t celebrate May 29, we celebrate June 12. As far as I’m concerned we don’t have democracy yet. Look at the level of insecurity which has overwhelmed all sectors of the economy. There is no democracy because there is no respect for human rights; the law does not rule. There is a breakdown of law and order. Today our President has demonstrated incompetence and lack of ability to rule the country. That is why he sent for foreign assistance. If you look at how our country has fared in the last 15 years, you’ll see that there is nothing to celebrate. We transited from military rule to civil rule and not democracy. The military that gave us this transition never promised us democracy. They said we were transiting from military rule to civilian rule. That is what we have been managing ever since and we are yet to attain democracy in Nigeria. It is evident in the fact that there is no respect for human rights and Nigerians don’t have equal rights.

Ibuchukwu Ezike, activist and Executive Director, Civil Liberties Organisation

There is nothing to celebrate. There is insecurity everywhere, loss of hope. This is not the democracy we fought for from 1993 to 1999. People are still going to bed hungry despite the huge resources God has spread across the land. The education system has collapsed; the polytechnics and colleges of education are still on strike. There is mass unemployment, children are angry, women are angry, everybody is angry in Nigeria. There is abuse of the rule of law and abuse of human rights. Our courts have become the most corrupt in Africa, if not the whole world. Many innocent Nigerians are languishing in prisons, what are we celebrating? Except that human right activists are no longer languishing in detention unjustly, otherwise there is nothing to celebrate.

Yinka Odumakin, activist and Afenifere spokesperson

For politicians whose lives have been transformed by the resources of the land there is every cause to celebrate, but for ordinary Nigerians, there is absolutely nothing to celebrate on May 29. It’s nothing more than the handover date. We don’t have institutions of democracy, the people have not benefitted for the so-called democracy. Except for the fact that we are no longer under the jackboot today, we are not really in a democracy.

Poverty in 1999 was not as bad as what it is now. Today the poverty rate has risen to 76 per cent. Quality of life has dropped considerably for most Nigerians. I believe May 29 is just a ritual that politicians observe. It’s nothing more than a celebration of the day politicians got the opportunity to make a kill out of the Nigerian system. The only difference between what we have now and the military era is that people are no longer detained because of their opinions. There is some level of press freedom unlike during the military when journalists were detained for doing their job. We have not developed that democratic culture that would make our people beat their chest and say we are under a democracy. We are in civil rule but we need that transit to democracy.