Politics have a duty to the society and in changing times this demand is more important now than ever. The true essence of democracy is the protection of human security and freedom; liberty and the pursuit of happiness, so if there is a failure to achieve this objective, people start asking important questions about what has gone wrong and what can be done about it.
This requires stock-taking looking at our brief history and where we are today. What's happening to our democracy? Is it serving the purpose? Is it adding value to individuals and the society? What do we do in the future or about the future?
In the 21st century the things we did in the past is no longer working, it has created a lot of problems leading to a 'massive breakdown' of trust in the system: business, political leaders, politicians, the media, etc. In the words of Stephen Green; "And if trust has been broken in this way, where do we go from here? Questions arise about the system. How to fix it? Should we/can we turn the clock back? What are the alternatives? Questions also arise for us as individuals. What part did we play in what went wrong? What do we do in the future? And , beneath it all, what have we learned about ourselves as human beings? About what constitutes good business and good life? About what our values are? About what the common good is? [Good Value; Choosing A Better Life In Business- Stephen Green]
We have argued that military intervention in domestic politics destroyed democracy in Nigeria leaving horrific tales of 'corruption, poor resource management, political instability', horrific human rights abuse, etc. The election of President Muhammadu Buhari , a long time democratic sceptic has finally buried the last hope for democracy in this Africa's most populous country, this should be a huge concern to everybody including the international community.
The era of totalitarian rule is over and must be rejected given it's horrific characteristics; exclusion, exploitation, discrimination, repression, risks to safety and security, etc. The President has demonstrated lack of knowledge of democratic governance, and incapability to lead a great country like Nigeria. We have seen various reports from reputable international organisations on corruption, inequality, infrastructure, killings, horrific human rights abuse, lack of respect for law and order, constitutional checks and balances, payment of ransome to boko-haram terrorists, etc. This is not a good fit for democracy.
According to Mr. Peter Obi, a former Governor of Anambara State; "If you cannot deliver what you promised, then you have no business wanting to continue in office..., the discussion now should not be who is contesting or occupying any office, but how Nigeria moved from thirty-five percent under-employment and unemployment to fourty-percent. He concluded that the country needs people with competence and capacity at all levels of governance.
In his words: "Nigerians should stop being docile but to ask questions about the system and to actively engage in the debate about the present and future of the country so as to make Nigeria a better place".[Nigeria Needs Wealth Creators in Government Not Wealth Sharers; The Nation, February 24, 2018]
We have argued that the system is not broken, it's designed that way and needs immediate restructuring of the current political structure to enable democracy fulfil it's mission in Nigeria- lifting ordinary people out of poverty. In the words of Professor, Sir, Paul Collier, this requires a 'shared value and shared identity. This is lacking and cannot be achieved given the status-quo. "Politically and Economically , this is a huge probelm". [Understanding Economic Development; Oxford University, UK]
The current system is full of wastes in patronage politics and 'white-elephant projects', etc. Instead of development it's motive is to maintain security by curbing ethnic/regional influence and President Buhari is playing the script to the gallery. People are now alarmed to the dangers so there is urgent need for a concensus for a better future.
The government simply rely on propaganda, using their media centre to attack demonize/smear people critical of the president. According to Professor Farouq Kperogi, "they are mandated to react to all media contents critical of the president, and attack/demonise/smear people critical of the president. They work behind the scenes and use pen names in extended articles, and pseudonyms on social media".[ Propagandocracy and the Buhari Media Centre; Farooq. A. Kperogi PhD]. Link: http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2017/03/propagandocracy-and-buhari-media-center.html
We must say no to this exploitative system using crude belief system of nationalism to continue their impunity. We talked about the use of conquering techniques. Click on this link to read more: http://www.zurumnewsdigest.com/2017/03/a-new-nigeria-on-shared-struggle-and.html
.Finally in the words of Nerendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India; "In a world that is full of fault lines and rifts, we need to build a shared future". According to him, the challenges we face today are as numerous as they are daunting, this is a threat to the survival of human civilization'. [7 things that happened on the first day of Davos 2018- WEF]. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/7-things-that-happened-on-day-one-of-davos-2018/
The truth is that we cannot escape it, we need to take time to face this unavoidable challenge, no matter how we pretend to think on the contrary. The status-quo is the reason for what Stephen Green described as 'immeasurable suffering and waste of human potential', in Nigeria. This must not continue.
Uche Okeke is a Social Entrepreneur. Read More as we continue to explore why democracy has failed in Nigeria and what can be done to put it right.
No comments:
Post a Comment