We must reject the idea that politcs is for the few or you must be a politician to effect change, nor you must be on the ground as some of my good friends constantly remind me. This rhetoric must be rejected, anyone can effect change from anywhere as long as you are passionate about social change and opportunity for all. Today's liberation technology has helped to make this possible.
According to Andrew Marr: "The biggest problem with democracy has always been the electorate". It's up to us to choose the future we want. I love these words : "...we're stuck in this age-old dilemma..., do we keep in with the boss classes, keep talking to them, and keep getting the stories; or do we burn our bridges and retire from the fray?"- Andrew Marr, Head Of State, A Political Entertainment; Fourth Estate, London, 2014
About the few, Professor Sir Paul Collier,said; "They like things the way they are , and so it pays to keep their citizens uneducated and ill-informed"- The Bottom Billion; Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What can be Done About It, Oxford University Press, 2008
The approach has been: "Don't bother to think at all. Decide first, think later"- Professors Anthony king and Ivor Crewe; The Blunders Of Our Government, Oneworld publications, London, 2014'
"Clearly everybody knows that military rule is an aberration, and if it has done anything in our continent here in Africa is that it has created very dangerous legacies"- Professor Attahiru Jegga.; Nigeria's democracy not delivering dividends Vanguard, February 9 2018.
"We are one Nigeria are we compatible?- Professor Ben Nwabueze; Why Nigeria is now qualified as a failed state, Vanguard , February 3 2018.
"If democracy were properly and transparently applied democracy would truly be as Winston Churchil claimed, the least bad of all systems"- Professor A.C. Grayling, Democracy And It's Crisis, London 2017.
According to wikipedia Al-Rodhans, identified eight minimum criteria for good government, these include:
Participation, equity, inclusiveness, rule of law, seperation of powers, free independent and responsible media, government legitimacy, accountability, transparency and limiting the distorting effects of money in politics. (wikipedia)
Good government must be democratic and inclusive for ordinary people to enjoy democracy dividends., the interest of all the citizens must be represented, participatory, everyone is free to get involved, Accountable; transparent and penalty if breached as a deterrant including dismisal (impeachment). Rights- people's freedoms must be protected.
This doesn't seem to be the case in Nigeria's democracy. This criteria is not met. The power holders only need the people during elections, and the elections are not even free and fair, it's very expensive and risky for ordinary people to participate to be voted for especially if you don't have a god father, so how can we help to raise awareness, so that ordinary people can get involved and learn to hold elected leaders to account. This is what inspired us to embark on this search. Ordinary people must be empowered to ask important questions.
Elections is one major way to elect leaders to form government. Naturally if elections are manipulated as it's always the case in Nigeria, it will not produce good leaders and good government that are accountable to the people. It will produce leaders who are on a mission to do the bidding of the cabals who control the polity and their own selfish interests.
The current political structure in Nigeria has made it possible for this hidden cabal to continue to hold the country to ransome, and for elected representatives not accountable to their constituents. I have remained a bit silent about the legislators because this is a conspiracy, i know where the problem is, also the local government areas are not safe, it's always a struggle, the politicians have never allowed the local governments to function, we all know the story. We will also look at the judiciary, we are all witnessing what is happening there, abduction of judges, selective justice, court orders not obeyed, etc.
One way this can stop is by restructuring the current political structure, so that there will be greater opportunity for everyone to be involved , elect leaders of their choice to form a transparent government that is accountable , representing all backgrounds and interests of the citizens, but if elections are manipulated, this will not happen.
We are concerned that this trend is continuing. These criteria is lacking in the current dispensation, characterised by extreme violence, division, discrimination, disregard for constituional checks and balances, insecurity, killing, corruption, weak economy, repression, etc. It's difficult to describe this gvernment as effective and efficient as it has not done enough to improve the security and welfare of the citizens. Infact it has not demonstrated good leadesrhip. Again they have not met the criteria for good leadership, we intend to discuss this more, probably using charts.
A lot of concerns have been raised about the next election in 2019, this requires citizens to be vigilant to ensure that their votes count. Government control of election institutions and security may not produce free and fair elections, These bodies are supposed to be independent, it can only be addressed by proper reforms in this case restructuring of the current political system is very essential. Furthermore, the current level of insecurity, killings, terrorism, may prevent credible elections, and there is no strong leadership in this regard.
Nigeria's current deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremmadu recognised this fact in a recent address to the British House of Summon in London. In his words: "Equally worrisome is the penchant of African leaders to manipulate the electoral process and key institutions to further their disrespect for term limits". He concluded that "we must ensure that the electoral process is sufficiently transparent and unarguably so such that losers will see and be convinced that they lost fairly. By doing so election tribunals will be eliminated"; [Ekweremmadu's Summon at The British House of Commons. Thisday February 14, 2018].
The work of these world's great philosophers and political thinkers really inspired us to take up this challenge of seeking what can be done to help drive change- a new inclusive democracy in Nigeria. . We believe that this generation has the potentials to make change happen. This is why we want ordinary people to think different.
It's our desire to put the result of the search into a little book to enable those without internet access benefit from our findings . Ordinary people need to be properly informed to make better choices for the future. Guy Kawasaki says "there are two types of people on social media : people who want more followers and liars", so thinking needs to change. Today they have taken the manipulations online, where they endorse themselves and building mobs to attack those who disagree with fraudlent and barbaric government policies. Most big name media companies are owned by the powerful and their agents to manipulate individuals and communities to endorse unpopular government policies.
Those who benefit from the way things are will do everything to prevent change including smear campaign. The late Nelson Mandela described them as those who murder with their lips. We can change the way things are when we are ready, but we must resist the 'bribes and the guns', and listen to each other.
Change comes only when we are ready!. We have argued that urgent restructuring of the current political structure and leadership change is very imperative to ensure that credible, educated and experienced leadership leveraging international support to drive growth and stability is in place. We have also argued that Autocracy has brought more hardship and brutality than hope and opportunity, so Autocracy should be rejected as civilians are more civil and better in the art of management.
I wrote this blog post in February last year when i realised that the government was taking a wrong direction. How anti-democratic elements who achieve power democratically destroy the very democracy that empowered them. I think i'm now vindicated. Click on this link to read: http://www.zurumnewsdigest.com/2017/02/buhariology-significant-lesson-in.html
Uche Okeke is a Social Entrepreneur, he is the Founder of The LEAD Project Foundation.
Read More: We'll keep updating this, so visit often. It's an ongoing work.
I have argued that the real hope for a way out is geniune restructuring of the current political structure and leadership change, reject autocracy. Seek for educated and credible leadership, now we have the chance to do it- Uche Okeke
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