The general feeling among Nigerians is that democracy has failed us. Such feeling is irresistible among people who had undergone many years of military torture. At the dawn of democracy, Nigerians expected more than democracy can deliver. The appetite for turnaround was indescribable and the expectation was so high. Many thought that with the era of democracy, we had arrived. Unfortunately, 15 years have been spent and the salvation is still farther than the hour we had first believed. This is a great failure on the part of government but also a proof of collective indecision to take Nigeria higher. As 2015 polls approach, some are wishing that the military should take over again if that will stem the tide of insecurity and stop the rascality of People’s Democratic Party.
While not many Nigerians will readily agree, the worst democratic government is better than the best military government. Granted that irregularities have held our democracy stagnant, it does not mean that returning to military era should be an option to be least considered. At every stage in the development of advanced democracies, they witnessed one challenge or the other. There is no advanced democracy that hadn’t a hurdle to jump over. There is no democracy that has even become perfect or even near perfection. Democracy is an opportunity to make mistakes and correct them. This is what we have to bear in mind as we align left and right ahead of 2015 political battle.
If democracy were a destination, America and Britain would have won wars against electoral fraud. But electoral corruption still persists in those countries though at minimal levels. Corruption, at whatever level, is a worldwide cancer. The former Israeli Prime Minister was recently convicted of corruption during his stay in office, an evidence that angels do eat beans. What has marked out respected democracies of the West from African developing democracies is that there are stronger organs to checkmate excesses in advanced democracies. With well structured democratic institutions, many negative attitudes are discouraged and this gives them democratic stamina. Yet, from time to time excesses still surface.
Holding regular elections is the hallmark of democracy. During these elections, people have opportunity to discard leaders who have not performed well. In advanced democracies, every election is always a defining moment when individuals with better promises of doing things are given a chance to test their manifestoes. It is always a moment where those who have done badly before and realized their mistakes come up with alternative ways of enthroning good governance. They appeal to be given opportunities to take another slot.
At elections, lines stretch around schools and churches, people wait for hours because they believe that their voices will make the difference. Patiently, people queue up to elect their leaders because they understand the enormity of the tasks ahead since at every moment in nation building there is always a task to be tackled.
After many years of democratic experience, America is still not there. At his first election victory as the president of America, Barrack Obama remarked: “the road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America…I promise you- we as people will get there. There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who wouldn’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know government can’t solve every problem. But I will be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you to join in the work of making this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.”
It is wrong to think that democracy is a destination; democracy is a learning process where challenges at each stage are studied and integrated to build a formidable future. Democracy risks stunted growth if it fails to learn from her mistakes. Such obstinacy mars democratic stamina, breeds revolts and presents opportunity for the military to set laws aside, strangle democratic activities and bring government down on its knees.
When people criticize Nigerian democracy, it is always in comparison to the Western democracies. It is not to say that the so called democracies have surmounted their challenges. The greatest challenge confronting Nigerian democracy is that people’s votes have not started counting. Electoral robbery is largely the issue. Politics of imposition has not allowed the masses the opportunity to choose leaders whom they belief will make a difference. It has not allowed them to recall non-performing elected officials who still go back for countless tenure after their abysmal performance.
Like Obama pointed out in the address above, the road before every democratic regime is always tasking because there are challenges to be surmounted. Besides, the electoral fraud is possible where democratic institutions are weak and lack stamina to enforce democratic virtues. For the past 15 years, the situation has persisted despite each successive government ‘s effort to arrest the situation. The slow pace is understandable because those saddled with the responsibility of upturning the status quo are the largest beneficiaries of the disorder. The inability to strengthen these institutions has resulted to economic suicide and thrown up social issues like uproar in the north which is evidence of ideologists exploiting vulnerable people to realize their agenda.
As 2015 draws near, average Nigerians are angry because our democracy in general opinion has failed. However, a cursory look cautions us to remain grateful for the grounds already gained in Nigerian democracy. The greatest heritage of Nigerian democracy is freedom, more so, Freedom of Information Act. The latitude of freedom available in the country has seen us demonstrate, protest, speak and write freely. Since our nascent democracy, the press has enjoyed a fairer season. We are glad for the structure that allows us call our leaders ‘thieves’ without incurring their maximum wrath like gift of letter bombs. The press no longer wages war from external enemies but from within. The burden of the press is now to resist the temptation of accepting money to change facts in favour of he who pays the piper. Government is getting nearer to the people.
We have not reached where we ought to be because democracy is an inclusive national experience where everybody has a role to play. While government has not done well, people tend to blame government for the deficiency even in their own personal lives. What we need is collective vigilance from the grass root. There is no doubt that our problem is more porous at the state level. There is more accountability, more tolerance, greater democracy at the national level.
As 2015 draws near, Nigerians need to come to embrace one another and chart ways to push our democracy forward. With a tradition of healthy debate, there is no doubt that our political pluralism will rub off on the country. At this critical moment of waging war against evil ideology of terrorism, Nigerians have to resist the temptation of falling back on the same spirit of partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. We must summon the spirit of patriotism, service and responsibility where each resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after, not only ourselves, but one an other.
The spirit of 2015 should be one in which the prejudices of the past are put behind us, where our adversity is our strength and where we put up a fierce war in defense of our common values.
