NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY IS A SCAM

BY: Olokooba Abdulwasiu

As a system of government, 'Democracy' is viewed as a means of administration whereby the will of the people is always given priority to. It is a means of governance which the rules are ruling for the benefit of the ruled. Meanwhile, as a precedence, Abraham Lincoln opined that 'Democracy' is a government of the people by the people and for the people.

By effect, it can be rightly concluded from the above discuss, more especially from that of Lincoln's defination, that a democratic governance is only meant to serve, rule and protect the best interests of the people.

But, the reverse is the case. The Nigerian version of 'Democracy' is a scam. It is actually a deal which 'the guardian' are using to scam both the 'auxiliaries' and 'artisans' in Nigeria. It is an act of ruling which is making Nigerians, I mean the citizenry, wealthless and poorer everyday; whereas the leaders are swimming in opulence.

Yes. Metaphorically, our democracy is like an adopted son whom we bequest all our estate to, at the prejudice of the living of our legitimate and biological children. I mean it is an alien system that we embraced dogmatically from a foreign land. The system is too foreign to us to reflect our ways of doing things. We should either abandoned it or restructure it to maintain the track record of our 'dos and don'ts'.

Even indeed and in truth, everyone knows. This system is too cost for a rich but poor country like Nigeria. I am still wondering the benefits of having bicameralism when the both are like an act of tautology in grammer work. They are both serving same purposes.

Well, you may say, it is a way of bringing government more closer to people or as an avenue where people will be well represented in the government. This is a fallacy. Instead of representing the wills of the people, it is a system where those who hold the levers of governance not only arrogate to themselves humongous salaries, allowances and severance packages, they also engage in serial looting of the public till.

The Nigerian democracy is also a system that is absolutely being controlled by the corrupts and the indisciplines without giving regards to the rights and the life of the citizens. It is in our democracy that the human rights and the fundamental freedoms of the people are not under tutelage of the law. In fact, the law enforcements do see themselves as mould of forces of state against the people, not forces that protect the citizens against the abuse of their rights.

As a patriotic Nigerian, I used to be with teary eyes, whenever I realise that it is only our political contests that are always being characterised by violence, thuggery, assassinations, election rigging and the exploitation of political office for primitive acquisition to the detriment of the people and the nation. And if democracy is all about the interest of the people in a state, I suggest that all these attitudes need to change.

May Nigeria grow, but not with visionless leaders and citizens. God bless my father land.