CAN DEMOCRACY SAVE US?

Sonnie Ekwowusi contends that the country still have much to do to purify the system

The surest way to be ruined by democracy is to take for granted that it will yield its harvest in due time. But there is no in-built success mechanism in every democracy that always propels it to produce the desired result. All countries which have achieved success with their democracy have always worked hard to achieve the success. Therefore Nigerians have to work out their democracy if they really and truly want to derive any benefits from it. This is not a euphemism. It is a simple thing expected from us. Outsiders continue to shudder that despite Nigeria’s abundant human resources the country continues to be dragged backwards by illiterates and silly leaders. Shortly before he died Nelson Mandela looked up to Nigeria to reclaim its leadership position in Africa but that unfortunately never happened.

Therefore as 2019 approaches Nigerians should resolve anew to correct the mistakes of 2015 by voting in capable political leaders who will recover Nigeria’s lost glory. We are approaching the closing year of the Buhari government yet there is so much uncertainty and confusion troubling the Nigerian society. For example, the Fulani herdsmen have been laying siege to different Nigerian communities, maiming and killing the people (their latest killings being the ones in Plateau State a few weeks ago) and the Nigerian military has not been sent to mow them down or declare them as terrorists as they did in the case of IPOB. Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has erected a statue of South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma in Owerri besides conferring him with a chieftaincy title, naming a street in Owerri for him as well as giving him the highest Imo State merit award. This has drawn the ire of most Nigerians. For weeks now, Rochas has come under the butt of public reprimand for erecting the life statue. Nigerians cannot understand why Rochas should bring the statue of a never-do-well Zuma and erect it in Owerri. Consequently some have requested the governor to immediately remove the embarrassing statue and tender an apology to the people of Imo State. In response, Governor Rochas, known for his eccentric behaviour, has said that he owes nobody any apology for erecting the Zuma statue and that he is even planning to go and bring more statues and erect in Owerri. Maybe Rochas is planning to erect the statue of Sani Abacha or Robert Mugabe or Idi Amin in Owerri. Meanwhile some citizens of South Africa are making a mockery of Nigeria for honouring Zuma. For example, one of them wrote: “The most corrupt country in the world honours one of their own”. Another wrote: “The most corrupt President in the African continent is honoured with a bronze statue in one of Africa’s most corrupt country.”

Governor Rochas’ eccentric behaviour and his open contempt for the people have indeed thrown up once more the so many wrong assumptions about democracy and so-called democratic leaders. One of the wrong assumptions about democracy is that the political office holders have enough wisdom and virtue to pursue the end of democracy - promotion of the welfare of the people. But viewed against the backdrop of history, political leaders do not have enough wisdom and virtue to pursue the end of democracy. Democracy is challenged from within by

DEMOCRACY, SOME THINKERS SAY, BRINGS OUT THIEVES, MURDERERS, MAD MEN AND WICKED MEN FROM THEIR HIDEOUTS AND ENTRUST WITH SUCH A SACRED DUTY OF MANAGING THE AFFAIRS OF THEIR FELLOW MEN AND WOMEN

sheer ignorance and pursuit of personal interests at the expense of the common good and welfare of the people. This easily prompts the nagging question: Can Nigerian democracy save us? Historical exhibits and analysis of American democracy and other democracies point to the fact that constitutional democracy alone is not a guarantee of freedom and prosperity. Democracy, some thinkers say, brings out thieves, murderers, mad men and wicked men from their hideouts and entrust with such a sacred duty of managing the affairs of their fellow men and women. For example, if not for democracy Rochas Okorocha probably would not have been in the Government House. He probably would have been somewhere else doing the things that he truly knows how to do. But see what democracy has done for him and with him. It has brought out him from his hideout, cleaned him up, clothed him and put him in charge of the affairs of his fellowmen.

And it is not only Governor Rochas that democracy has treated in this way. Sometimes uncultured men who should have been somewhere else suddenly gain access to power and make useless the affairs of government. The BusinessDay Newspaper editorial of October 17, 2015 with the title: “An Incompetent and Corrupt Government,” said it all. According to the paper, “since ascending to the presidency, President Buhari has proved Nigerians wrong by running perhaps the most lethargic, chaotic, incompetent-and as it is now increasingly becoming obvious, a corrupt administration wrought with infighting, confusion, contest for power and authority and a shocking lack of grasps of fundamentals of governance and administration….” Evidence of corruption in the Buhari government, according to the paper, include N233 million SGF Babachir grass-cutting fraud; the $25 billion NNPC scam contract allegedly involving Baru; NIA boss $43 million loot; N3.2 billion State House Clinic which Aisha Buhari said had been expended in supplying medicals in a clinic which lacks a common syringe.

Therefore if the Nigerian democracy must save us from the ills of contemporary society; if it must lead to true human flourishing, then it must be freed from the stranglehold of men of unruly passions and creatures of appetite. Unfortunately since President Buhari came to power we have seen a new dictatorship that arrogantly depicts itself as the new arbiter of truth with disdain for the rule of law. We have seen injustice meted out against perceived enemies of government. We have seen how the Nigerian military is being used to mow down defenceless citizens partaking in a peaceful rally. We should remind ourselves once again that we are no longer under military autocracy. The Nigerian military operated a monolithic and hierarchical government that did not admit of power sharing. Only the Head of State or the Federal Military Government or the Supreme Military Council, was everything. But not so in presidential democracy. Under presidential democracy which we are supposed to be practising, the principle of separation of power with its attendant checks and balances hold sway. Therefore we must go back and work out our democracy if we really want it to save us.