Lamentation greets 22 years of democracy

By Wilfred Eya, Vincent Kalu, Sunday Ani, Oluseye ojo Chukwudi Nweje, and Lukman olabiyi

Two decades and two years of uninterrupted democracy since 1999 have been largely disappointing for most Nigerians, hardly leaving any cause for celebrations.

That is the position of a number of prominent Nigerians and groups as the nation’s Fourth Republic clocks 22 years today.  The predominant verdict is that despite pockets of achievements, there is nothing much to cheer about Nigeria’s democracy.

For elder statesman and leader of Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the democratic journey is certainly not a blessing to all those who fought for the nation’s independence in 1960.

He blamed the military for imposing a unitary government on Nigeria, which has a multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-national background.

Chief Adebanjo said that Nigeria would never move forward or be in peace until the constitution is changed to accommodate the wishes of the people.

He cautioned that the nation is currently on a precipice and insisted that the constitution by the military remained the worst plague haunting the country.

The President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Pogu Bitrus declared that the journey had been a mixture of blessing and curse.

He said: “We have mixed feelings on the issue of democracy. As a way of government, it is a good thing but we have mismanaged our democracy to the extent that we are becoming more autocratic because we are not running things the way they should be run. And that is what has tainted our democracy”.

He noted that when democracy returned in 1999, Nigerians had high expectations but regretted that not much has been achieved so far.

“When the country returned to civil rule in 1999, we thought it was going to usher in all the goodies. Of course, during the Obasanjo period, there was real growth and Nigerians were happy. There was peace. The kind of nepotism we see today was not there visibly. There was balancing; every part of the country was getting its share to some extent. But today, things have changed. The insecurity in the land has worsened to the extent that people don’t feel a sense of belonging. So, the democracy which we have been running has had negative effects on our lives; our psyche and on the way we do things.”

He said however that there have also been glorious days along the journey. “It is unfortunate that 22 years after democracy, we are still not out of the woods simply because things are not being done well. But, I can confidently say that it has brought in development in some periods, while in some other periods, we have experienced unnecessary hardships.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Mr. Alex Ogbonna, said the journey cannot be described as a curse because of the good times that have existed at one period or the other within the entire stretch of 22 years

He said: “It cannot be a curse; it is an evolutionary process and we want to believe that future trials in democracy will be far better than the previous ones.”

He hailed the early days of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, saying it was a time when democracy flourished, though with pockets of military dictatorship.

He said: “Obasanjo was equitable and fair to all sections of the country to a great extent. But it was still a militarized society, going by the number of impeachments in the Senate, House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly. It was a militarized society and polity,” he said. He described late Umaru Yar’Adua as a calm president, whose gentle mien calmed down militancy in the Niger Delta. He stated that even with Yar’Adua’s democratic disposition, there was still a silhouette of the military during his time.

He lamented that even President Muhammadu Buhari who emerged as a president at a time when Nigerians felt disenchanted with former President Goodluck Jonathan is still not living up to the democratic expectation.

He argued that in the last 22 years of the country’s democracy, what is visible is what one could aptly call democratic dictatorship as a result of the military influence in the polity.  Prof Anthony Kila, Director at Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS) and Publicity Secretary of Yoruba Global Alliance (YGA), a forum of Yoruba professionals said the last 22 years of democracy has been a manifestation of the good, the bad and the ugly. He charged Nigerians to learn to distinguish between democracy and governance and avoid lumping the two together.

But for an elder statesman from the North, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, the mere fact that Nigeria has sustained 22 years of uninterrupted democratic rule calls for celebration. He berated the media for painting the nation’s democracy in a bad light and criticized them for exaggerating events in Nigeria.

Publicity Secretary of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Emmanuel Yaweh, said the democratic journey has been rough, but also a worthwhile experience.

“It hasn’t gone as smoothly as we expected; hopes were raised. It’s as if democracy was the magic wand to everything we wanted – good life, freedom, plenty of food, and improved economy, etc. We had a lot of dreams of what democracy was bringing because most of the years since independence we were under military rule and we never really experienced democracy continuously for ten years.

“This is the first time we are having that experience. So we raised our hopes to the extent that by the time it came, it was as if it was all we were asking for. We were somehow let down, hopes dashed by the conduct of our so-called elected leaders. Some of them didn’t conduct themselves in a better way than the military dictators; some even looted the treasury or wanted to loot the treasury.

“Corruption is still there; the tendency of elected leaders to behave as if they were dictators is still there. Somehow, we are disappointed, some even tried to perpetuate themselves in office; we had experience of struggle against Third Term,” Yaweh said.

President of Southern Kaduna People’s’ Union, Hon Jonathan Asake, described the 22 years of unbroken democracy as ‘good’. He said: “The fact that we have been able to sustain it and it has not be truncated by military or otherwise is a very big victory for the Nigerian people. However, the way I expected it to have developed, isn’t what it is been. Unfortunately, that is my pain and the disappointment that I have.

“We are supposed to have gone beyond this level, especially our national institutions, like INEC, the police, judiciary and other national institutions that are supposed to be strong and give us viral democracy, where leaders will emerge on merit and where votes count.

“We have found ourselves today where votes don’t count, where we have leaders that just emerge, they ignore the people and continue in rascality, believing that they win elections without the people’s votes. That is where we are actually lacking.

“We need to strengthen our national institutions either by restructuring or convoking  a constitutional conference, where we would abolish this constitution, which was fraudulently introduced to the people of Nigeria by the military. It has caused some serious, unfair and unjust, inequitable treatments of other citizens; where we have master- servant relationship in the affairs of the country.”

National Secretary, Agbekoya Farmers Society, Adegbenro Ogunlana said Nigeria would have been better than this if not for the poor leadership and the constitution on ground which he described as a military constitution

Executive director, Rule of law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma regretted that the expectations of Nigerians for progress and development has been cut short by lack of good governance under successive governments.

Rights activist and legal practitioner, Kabir Akingbolu said democracy had not fared well in the country because Nigeria runs an extremely expensive kind of democracy where over seventy per cent of the budget goes for recurrent expenditures which has made growth and development impossible.

Former Publicity Secretary, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch, Emeka Nwadioke said: “While progress has been made in some sectors, the results have at best been woeful in others. The security situation is especially worrisome. A state of emergency should be declared in that sector. The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) and the apex self-determination group in Yorubaland, Ilana Omo Oodua (IOO) have also said there is nothing to celebrate in May 29 2021, which marks the 22nd year of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria and six years of President Muhammadu Buhari in office. Secretary-General of YCE, Dr. Kunle Olajide, and spokesperson for IOO, Mr. Maxwell Adeleye, made the assertion in separate interviews with Saturday Sun. They said the day should be one of introspection rather than celebration.