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From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
A former governorship aspirant and women leader, Princess Grace Iye Adejoh, has said it is a thing of shame for Nigeria to be celebrating Democracy Day while its citizens are being murdered daily by bandits, with the masses living in fear and anguish with no respite in sight.
Princess Adejoh, while reacting to the recent Democracy Day celebration in a press statement made available to newsmen in Lokoja, said: “How can Nigerians celebrate democracy when fear has become a way of life?”
The vocal women’s leader called on President Bola Tinubu to sit up and save the nation from the killing of innocent people, stressing that the same people who are being haunted by economic hardship are also being hunted daily by bandits who kill and displace them from their ancestral lands.
The statement reads in part:
“As Nigeria marks another Democracy Day, the drums of celebration echo across the land. The political class sings songs of democratic success and invites citizens to join the chorus.
“But how can we sing?
How can we celebrate democracy in a nation where fear has become a way of life?
“Our democracy has been hijacked by looters and power merchants who see public office not as a trust, but as a prize. In their quest for power, they opened the floodgates of violence and left ordinary Nigerians to pay the price.
“Today, the masses have become hostages in their own country.
“Our children are kidnapped. Our women are violated. Our men are slaughtered. Communities are displaced. Farmers abandon their lands. Even our soldiers and commanders fall while the bloodshed continues.
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“Yet we are told to celebrate.
How can we sing the democracy song in a land where bandits roam freely, corruption flourishes and too many leaders seem more concerned with power than with human lives?
“The dead seem to whisper to us: ‘Do not cry for us. Cry for those who remain. Cry for those who leave home unsure they will return. Cry for parents who cannot protect their children. Cry for a nation blessed beyond measure, yet wounded by greed, violence and failed leadership’.
“This is not the democracy our heroes fought for.
Democracy is not a holiday. It is not a speech. It is not a slogan.
Democracy is security.
Democracy is justice.
Democracy is accountability.
“When citizens live in fear, democracy is in danger. When leaders prosper while the people suffer, democracy is in danger. When power becomes more valuable than human life, democracy is in danger.
“Nigeria does not need another performance. Nigeria needs leadership, courage and truth.
“If our democracy is to survive, we must reclaim it. Not tomorrow. But now.
“History is watching. Future generations will ask whether we remained silent while our nation bled.
“The Giant of Africa has stumbled, but it has not fallen beyond redemption. The question before us is whether we will find the courage to lift it again.
“The time to answer that question is now,” Princess Grace Iye Adejoh added.
