Nigeria's Democracy And Its Crisis Deliberate, Avoidable : Fraudlent election produce fraudlent leaders, fraudlent government- Uche Okeke

You cannot be the referee, linesman, striker, coach, police, defender, goal keeper and expect a fair play, it's not possible. The result is to score your opponent 100-0, the game will  also be very boring for the spectators. As a young man we were told that India was banned in football competition because of the huge number of goals they always score in every competition. The opponents always complain, that instead of eleven players, spiritually, they encounter many other unseen players. This is what we were told as young people.  Photo: Uche Okeke.

In Nigeria, the thug business destroyed elections and democracy, so the result is always : Corruption, Poor Resource Management and Political Instability. Too many wild rats, snakes and cows. We will complete this story soon. Remember, this is my own story, if you don't like it you write your own so that we can learn from each other not fighting each other.

We must not remain comfortable with the way things are. If democracy works very well somewhere it can also work better in our territory. The rules of the game and the functions still remains the same so it must be 'properly and transparently' applied for things to happen.

Elections must be free and fair to produce a 'sound government' which will lift ordinary people out of poverty and ensure peace and stability. This is what drives some of us who are working very hard to research and communicate the best practices so that people can be properly informed and make better choices. Fraudlent elections is a set back for democracy in Africa, making people to loose confidence in the system. Routine elections every four years marred by serious irregularities which often exclude popular candidates, opposition, young people, etc is not good for democracy.

Democracy is security, freedom and prosperity not discrimination, exclusion, and extreme violence and silence in the face of atrocities- "Life, Liberty, the right to Pursue Happiness".

Uche Okeke is a Social Entrepreneur and The Founder of The LEAD Project Foundation.