AN ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, RT. HON EMEKA IHEDIOHA, CON, KSC, FORMER DEPUTY SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, TO MARK THIS YEAR'S DEMOCRACY DAY, 29TH MAY, 2018.

Today our nation commemorates another Democracy Day.  This landmark event is symbolic in many respects. First, it provides us, yet an opportunity to review our democratic project, with a view to evolving critical measures, towards fortifying it for enhanced results. Second, is for us to reappraise the extent to which our democracy has provided a veritable defining moment in Nigeria’s march to greatness and nationhood. Thirdly, has democracy met or attempted to meet the expectations of Ndi Imo and Nigerians at large?

Fascinatingly enough, 19 years thereafter, our democracy is still on course, towering higher and further. This realization is instructive of the significance of today’s event. It is on this pedestal, that I join other well-meaning Nigerians, particularly democrats on this auspicious Day, towards expressing deep appreciation to our country men and women who have labored to ensuring the sustenance and enriching our democratic practice.

Notably, democracy is a product of sovereignty, which naturally resides with the people. This explains why former United States President, Abraham Lincoln’s definition of democracy as “government of the people for the people and by the people” is ageless and generally accepted.
As a result, democratically elected office holders are therefore custodians of the people’s mandate and trust – Social Contract.

While the Nigerian Constitution states unambiguously that, “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”, sadly, we have witnessed the contrary, particularly in our dear state, Imo, where deliberate abuse of the sacredness of Social Contract seems a policy thrust.

As we celebrate this remarkable day, may I urge deep reflections on the tearful state of affairs, thus; decay of health and educational sectors, non-payment of salaries and pensions; absence of due process; collapse of
Local Government system; misappropriation; conversion of state resources and citizens’ properties to personal use; reckless demolition of ancestral markets without any alternative, etc.

My dear brothers and sisters, I am of the firm conviction that, deliberate election of well prepared helmsmen at the state and other levels of government, will achieve the much desired liberation and rebuilding of our state. If we fail to arrest this anomaly in next year’s general elections, then we are finished. But God forbid.

May I humbly remind us that, it has become important, more than ever, that we must endeavor to review our voting behavior by ensuring that only credible, trusted and competent democrats who are manifestly determined and unyielding in protecting the interests of the masses are preferred to preside our affairs at all levels. This makes it imperative for us to ensure that we take maximum advantage of the on-going registration of voters exercise and obtain our Permanent Voters’ Card, PVC to be able to install the government of our dream.

May I enjoin Imolites and Nigerians at large, to endeavor to get involved in our quest to entrench true democratic practice for improved dividends and nationhood.

Long live Imo State.
Long live Nigeria.