Under Buhari, there is no democracy, says Balarabe Musa
The Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, a Second Republic governor of Kaduna State, gave a damning verdict about democracy in Nigeria in this short interview with Saxone Akhaine in Kaduna. He said under the current Buhari administration, there is no democracy. Excerpts:
YOU were part of the first and second republic governments in Nigeria and today you are still a player. How will you assess democracy in the country today?
You see, first I don’t want to talk about democracy in Nigeria because it is a fruitless and worthless exercise. I have talked about it several times in the past. In any case, what is democratic in what is happening in Nigeria? Do we have democracy under this current regime? Really, I don’t want to waste my time, I would rather talk about the performance of government which is zero; I would always talk on the progress of the society and political parties. One thing is that we as a nation have wasted what fortune can bring to countries through democracy through poor lead- ership.
Do you have any regret that democracy is not working in the country then? Yes, I regretted that we have democracy that does not exist in Nigeria and we don’t seem to know this, including the media. We have talked about how democracy can be salvaged in Nigeria, and how we can advance society but all these have fallen on deaf ears. Nothing is being done and nothing has been done. Even during the colonial history, there was nothing like democracy. Democracy first appeared when elections started and were conducted in Nigeria. Right from the first, second republics and even now elections are being regarded as do or die affair and that is why our democracy has not advanced unlike in the developed societies of the world.