DEMOCRACY DAY: THE ASSESSMENT OF 18 YEARS REIGN.

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