By Omoniyi Salaudeen

This year’s Democracy Day in Nigeria has come and gone. But the echoes of failed promises and unfulfilled aspirations still resonate among the stakeholders. Notwithstanding the ups and downs experienced in the tortuous journey, celebrating 26 years of unbroken civil rule is no mean feat.

With all the imperfections in the system, the June 12 celebration highlights the importance of participatory governance, where citizens have a say in the decision-making process and can hold their leaders accountable.

As the nation celebrates the milestone, leaders of thought are concerned about the challenges and how to address them, especially strengthening democratic institutions, promoting transparency, and ensuring public accountability. Reflecting on the past, prominent pro-democracy activists and political players, who spoke with Sunday Sun, lamented the weak institutions like the judiciary and legislature, noting that they lacked the necessary resources and independence to function effectively.

They also identified other socio-economic challenges that needed to be tackled head on to effectively deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.

These include insecurity, corruption, electoral malpractices, lack of ideology and discipline, disillusionment and hopelessness.

At all levels of government, corruption has become so endemic that funds meant for development projects are being siphoned, leading to infrastructure decay, lack of public services, and widening inequality.

Yet, anti-corruption agencies have been ineffective in addressing the issue.

Elections are often riddled with irregularities, resulting in a general lack of public confidence in the electoral system and widespread voter apathy.

As evident in the current wave of defection, political parties also lack ideology and discipline, functioning merely as platforms for elite bargains and transactional personal gains.

As such, many Nigerians are disillusioned and hopeless, with a growing sense that democracy has failed to deliver on its promises. Over the past two decades and a half, Nigeria’s democracy has been characterized by a disconnect between the government and the people, with leaders prioritizing personal interests over public welfare. There is, therefore, a need for reforms that promote accountability, transparency, and good governance.

A renowned constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Dr Tunji Abayomi, reflecting on the past journey, decried the failure of leadership to prioritise the needs of the people, but rather preoccupied with the pursuit of personal comfort.

In a telephone discussion with Sunday Sun, he said:  “The process of liberal democracy is achieved, but the objective of democracy is defeated. The objective of democracy is development and the happiness of the people. The more disturbing aspect of it is that the leaders who are supposed to be representatives of the people are very far from the people in terms of the benefits of state resources. Our leaders are far too comfortable, while the people are far too wretched and poor.

“And it appears as if it doesn’t concern them. If you look at the simple situation of security, they use the apparatus of the state to secure themselves and their families. But the people are left as victims of criminals and marauders. I just lost a cousin who was a retired major in the military. How do you explain a situation where kidnappers would come to a house, force the door open, kidnap a person, keep him for two weeks, demand ransom, accept it, and kill the person.

“Yet, the government is unable to do anything. At the very least, you should be able to track the perpetrators. Criminals now feel emboldened because of the inefficiency and incapability of the government. We must tell ourselves the truth, the objective of democracy which is the happiness of the people is considerably defeated.”

Abayomi also blamed the people for being complicit in the perpetuation of corruption by political leaders, sharing in the proceeds of their ill-gotten wealth.

“The people themselves are not serious. We have a situation where leaders embezzle their money and use it to tantalize them. They are often anxious to get money. If you are anxious to get money, you can’t think properly. If you are a potential good leader, if you are not ready to give them money, they will go to the pit of hell to get the money. In Western democracies, leaders are preoccupied with service to the people. In our nation, the leaders are preoccupied with service to themselves.

“Corruption in the nation is unbelievable, it’s unparalleled. Corruption in Nigeria is like a wasting disease. At the early stage, it is difficult to detect, but easy to cure. We are now at a very late stage, easy to detect, but difficult to cure. So, the benefit of democracy which is the development and happiness of the people is a mirage.

“Corrupt political culture has become a norm and accepted by the people themselves. And because the people have accepted their desperation, the leaders are emboldened to take public funds and share it with them. They even make jest of the people. They mock the people by the way they live. The state of the nation is serious. We need to establish a new order. The present order is useless. There is poverty, there is fear, and there is depression. I am sure even the president is unhappy.

“However, the process of democracy, though imperfect, is on course. We have a corrupted electoral process, but it is still an election. The only problem is that we have a corrupt political culture,” he posited.

A chieftain of Afenifere, Chief Supo Sonibare, didn’t mince words either while expressing disappointment at the practice of democracy in Nigeria.

He noted with dismay the practice of politicians and government officials using their positions to benefit themselves, their supporters, and their ethnic or regional groups.

He bemoaned the system characterized by the appropriation of state resources for personal gain, corruption, and the use of patronage networks.

“I was an active member of three pro-democracy groups, including the National Democratic Coalition,  (NADECO), Movement for Unity and Progress (MUP) led by Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Ambassador Jolly Tanko Yusuf and United Action for Democracy ( UAD) initially led by Mr Olisa Agbakogba (SAN), and subsequently by Mrs Ayo Obe.

“Many of us who risked our lives in challenging the military dictatorship in the various pro-democracy groups are most disappointed about the lack of democratic culture being ingrained in our polity since 1988. The system seems to be descending from bad to worse. We now have a culture of state capture and unbridled practice of prebendalism without any apology. Everyone seems to be falling over themselves to have a share in our collective wealth,” he lamented.

A prominent member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Senator Gbenga Kaka, in his submission, identified insincerity as the root cause of the myriads of problems the country has had to grapple with over the past 26 years of practice of democracy.

Going down memory lane, he recounted: “I join others in congratulating ourselves for sustaining our democracy in a rebirth form since 1999. As you know, we had democracy in the First Republic which was terminated by the military interregnum. With this Fourth Republic, we are still struggling to sustain our democracy. We are not right with the democracy we are practicing. We tried the parliamentary system of government during the First Republic and it was generally acknowledged to be transparent, participatory, and accountable. But following the military incursion, we returned to democracy with a presidential system of government without taking into consideration the humongous overhead cost of it. Also, the sincerity of purpose was absent which is why we have been struggling to sustain the current democratic dispensation. It’s due to a lack of sincerity of purpose that democracy has not taken a firm root in our midst.  That is also the reason we have issues of election rigging and the cry of marginalization.

“I think we have had enough funfair. It’s now time for us to ensure that our democracy takes a firm root. We must begin to do things in the way it should be done. We must ensure that justice is served at all levels of government so that everybody can be happy with the outcome of our activities.

“When elections are conducted and we need to go to the judiciary, we must allow a level playing ground so that justice administered will be acceptable to all concerned parties. It is by so doing that winners and losers can both embrace one another.

“The issues of insecurity that have now enveloped the country were not there in the 60s. It later crept into our system and continued to fester while we lost our focus. Corruption has become so endemic that people now go into plea bargaining, submitting part of the money embezzled ,and then go home to enjoy the remaining.  The resultant effect is that nobody wants to work any longer in this country. They are looking for easy money. We must build a culture of giving dignity to labour.“

Going forward, Senator Kaka charged the leaders to charge a new way forward by ensuring a level playing field for all players. 

“It is never too late. We have made a lot of sacrifices over the years. Those at the helms of affairs must ensure that there is a level playing field for all and sundry,” he admonished.