DEMOCRACY DAY: THE
ASSESSMENT OF 18 YEARS REIGN
BY:
MUDASSIR ALIYU YUNUSA
NTA ZARIA
mudassiray@gmail.com
Democracy is a political
system of government where people are rule base on any form of leadership style
they choose to establish through popular support, suffrage or referendum,
collaboration, unity in direction as well as public interests. in modern democracy
documented rules guiding the conduct of the society are drafted to serve as a
Constitution, likewise the general
public must have confidence, trust,
satisfaction and also checkmates
the activities of government through public opinion either in form of support
or constructive opposition, likewise government should be fully representative
and responsible particularly in the provision of welfare, security, law and
order to the entire citizens without any
discrimination and inequality.
Democracy as the most popular system of governance with global
recognition particularly from the US and its allies including the United Nation
(UN), comprises so many features such as
the Fundamental Human Rights i.e freedom of speech and expression, the press
freedom, right to life and acquire economic resources, the rule of law, the
periodic elections and provision of welfare and security as the dividends of
democracy.
However the current
democratic era is the most successful
uninterrupted reign of civilian administration compared to the previous
time, the political scene marked 18 years without Military intervention as
against previous reign of civilian administration of first, second and
attempted third republics that were overthrown in less than 6 years of their
inceptions. However, It is interesting
to note that only within this period (1999 - 2017) Nigerian democracy
ever witnessed remarkable transition that allowed the successful handing over
power from elected civilian to another elected civilian in 2007( Obasanjo to
Yar'adua) and also from one political
party to another (PDP to APC) in 2015, with this we can say there is great
improvement with regard to the sustainability and consolidation of democracy in
the country.
Today (29th May 2017), elected politician and political office
holders in Nigeria are celebrating the return of civilian rule. It is exactly
18 years with the shipment of political power from long reign of military rule
to democratically elected government on 29th May, 1999 when Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo was elected as the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed
Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria, subsequently in 2007 Mallam Umaru Musa
'Yar'adua (of blessed memory) was elected to be the First civilian President to
receive the mantle of leadership from another civilian alike. In 2010 the
demise of 'Yar'adua on the throne of leadership gave Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who was Vice President
the constitutional right to became the first not contested and not elected
civilian President of Nigeria, he later contested and won 2011 election and
clinch the apex seat in the country for 4 years. More importantly however, the
transitional period of 2015 set a remarkable record in the history of Nigerian
democracy as it was the first time when opposition party defeated the ruling
party and dislodged the incumbent President in the most acceptable and credible
election conducted in March 2015 which saw General Muhammadu Buhari as the 16th
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The scenario of 18 years democracy is full of political and social atrocities with little
improvements per say in terms of both social and economic development, and on
the other way round it could be considered unsuccessful when it comes to the
realization of common goals, aspirations and yearnings of Nigerians. The reason why I said this is
because our people are really suffering from unnecessary hardship created by
avoidable poverty, insecurity and hunger in a country that is blessed with abundance
treasures and unquantifiable wealth, yet the standard of living is always
deteriorating right from the inception of this democracy in 1999. Quite rightly
there are certain improvements registered within these 18 years but the basic
needs of the citizens and the real dividend of democracy are still under
problem.
The dividends of
democracy are nothing but attainment of satisfaction with regards to the
provision of societal basic welfare, fair political participation, fundamental
human right, free, fair and credible elections, accountability and integrity of
ruling class as well as sustaining the needs and yearnings of the citizens
attached to government such as good roads, hospitals, sound education, constant
electricity supply and potable drinking water, enhanced security of lives and
properties etc. Still in Nigeria the above are yet to be ascertained in almost 2 decades of democracy which in essence compounded the serious
hardship the citizens are facing now.
This is no doubt a shame for a country like Nigeria endowed with
vast nature of wealth endowments in relation to both human and material
resources that should be properly and honestly harnessed for the benefit of its
citizen.
Therefore, for proper assessment of 18 years democracy in Nigeria
one has to consider the socio-economic and political direction of the polity more importantly the
growth and sustainable development in different spheres of human interactions,
eventhough each regime came up with it's plan and agenda but their collective
achievements are not something worthy of showing and indeed it is really
discouraging. For instance, Obasanjo achieved a lot in enhancing communication
system and he equally worked to maintain
the political division of the country, but unable to boost energy and
industrial sector of the country. Yar'adua achieved in stabilizing the economic
trend by equalizing the pump price of PMS, AGO and DPK for the benefit of the
general public, he also brought amnesty programs for the peace to reign in
Niger Delta but his ailment became a great challenge to his administration.
Jonathan also maintained economic growth rate and relative welfare of the
citizens despite facing serious insecurity and insurgency of Boko haram and
other ethnic and tribal rivalries. Buhari administration so far achieved excellently
in fighting against insurgency and the evil of corruption but the economy is
completely in great disorder and ruin. The high rate of inflation,
unemployment, the high exchange rate volatility, high pump price of Petrol and
low income distribution are the negative factors that presently hold the
country to ransom. In fact people especially the masses who are in the majority
are really suffering.
In conclusion, to be frank the development of Nigeria under
current democratic epoch with 4 civilian heads is really below expectation
considering the level of standard of living, the welfare, the life expectancy
indices of Nigerian citizens as well as the level of infrastructures available
to compliment and provide easy and low cost of living to the teaming population.
Therefore, it is left for the general
public to assess and evaluate the performance as well as the quality of the
current democracy and make reasonable judgement whether to celebrate 18th
anniversary today tagged ‘The Democracy Day' or not.
MUDASSIR write from NTA Zaria
