The choice of the topic could not have been more appropriate than on an occasion of this nature where the role of the midwife of this democratic experiment has been chronicled into document for public presentation. Also of great significant is the audience, a critical constituent with capacity to influence the political will that may affect positive national decisions or at best participate directly in guaranteeing that previous efforts of national unity is not mismanaged. Therefore, I concurred with the organizers in the choice of the topic believing that at the end of it all my opinions will instigate the development of conscious template to address some of our national challenges.
In confronting this herculean task, I have adopted a conventional method which provides me with academic life jacket to navigate this storm with relative ease.
Unfolding developments within the nation since the inception of this democratic experiment have generated debates within political, academic and legal parlance about future of Nigerian federation. Of utmost concern is graduating regime of violent crimes, religious and ethnic tension. Consequently, economic and social activities have been in comatose in most commercial cities mostly in the Northern States, thereby justifying the basis for the debate that the state of the union is in near jeopardy. Security challenges have dominated every national discourse. The insurgency question has been so much exaggerated and mystified that phobia and mutual suspicion determines every aspect of public relationships.
The capacity of the state to contend with these challenges obviously is below citizen’s average expectations.
Analysts and Public Commentators hold varying opinions about the origin and motives of the situation. According to a renounce African Scholar, Ali Mazuiri (2001), amongst the things that trigger the Sharia advocacy in some northern states of Nigeria, was the resentment of being at the periphery of Nigerian politics and power configuration. There were points when the northern leaders held sway politically in the power configuration, but the 1999 elections, saw the balance of power shifting south without any remarkable transformation in the economics of the north. Hence, the politics of Sharia advocacy was part of a protest against regional economic in equalities existing in Nigeria.
On the contrary, others considered it from a religious perspective as an Islamic machine for islamization of Nigeria. The latter School is popular among some Christians while the former is a political theory orchestrated mostly by a segment of Southern Political elites. Either way the situation is assessed; the country is face with the dilemma of ravaging hunger, poverty, unemployment, corruption put against rising profile of insecurity. The summary of these traumatic trends explains the agitation for a National Sovereign Conference, (NSC) as option to resolving certain national questions.
However, our preoccupation here is limited to appraising democratic experiment with attendant challenges with a view to proffering solutions that may be of significance to driving the nation towards social harmony and progress. It is therefore imperative to locate the key concept within the context of our bearings.
The term democracy is derived from the Greek dēmokratiā, which was coined from dēmos (“people”) and kratos (“rule”) in the middle of the 5th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens.
According to Hobbes (Leviathan, 1651), the state of nature was one in which there were no enforceable criteria of right and wrong. Each person took for himself all that he could; human life was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” The state of nature was therefore a state of war, which could be ended only if individuals agreed (in a social contract) to give their liberty into the hands of a sovereign, who was thenceforward absolute, on the sole condition that their lives were safeguarded by sovereign power.
If a government of or by the people a “popular” government is to be established, at least some fundamental questions must be confronted at the outset and while others may arise latter if the democracy continues to exist for long.
(1) What is the appropriate association within which a democratic government should be established?
(2) Given an appropriate association, who among its members should enjoy full citizenship? In other word which persons, should constitute the dēmos? Is every member of the association entitled to participate in governing it? If it includes only a subset of the adult population, how small can the subset be before the association ceases to be a democracy and becomes something else, such as an aristocracy (government by the best, aristos) or an oligarchy (government by the few, oligos)?
(3) Assuming a proper association and proper dēmos, how are citizens to govern? What political organizations or institutions will they need? Will these institutions differ between different kinds of associations?
(4) When citizens are divided on an issue, as they often will be, whose views should prevail, and in what circumstances? Should a majority always prevail, or should minorities sometimes be empowered to block or overcome majority rule?
(5) If a majority is ordinarily to prevail, what is to constitute a proper majority? Is this a majority of all citizens or of voters?
(6) The preceding questions presuppose an adequate answer to a sixth and even more important question: Why should “the people” rule and is democracy really better than aristocracy or monarchy?
No association could maintain a democratic government for very long if a majority of the dēmos or a majority of the government believed that some other form of government were better. Thus, a minimum condition for the continued existence of a democracy is that a substantial proportion of both the dēmos and the leadership believe that popular government is better than any feasible alternative.
FEATURES OF IDEAL DEMOCRACY:
At a minimum, an ideal democracy would have the following features:
Effective participation; - Before a policy is adopted or rejected, members of the dēmos have the opportunity to make their views about the policy known to other members.
Equality in voting:-Members of the dēmos have the opportunity to vote for or against the policy, and all votes are counted as equal.
Informed electorate:-Members of the dēmos have the opportunity, within a reasonable amount of time, to learn about the policy and about possible alternative policies and their likely consequences.
Citizen control of the agenda:-The dēmos and only the dēmos, decides what matters are placed on the decision-making agenda and how they are placed there. Thus, the democratic process is “open” in the sense that the dēmos can change the policies of the association at any time.
Inclusion:-Each and every member of the dēmos is entitled to participate in the association in the ways just described.
Fundamental Rights:-Each of the necessary features of ideal democracy prescribes a right that is itself a necessary feature of ideal democracy: thus every member of the dēmos has a right to communicate with others, a right to have his voted counted equally with the votes of others, a right to gather information, a right to participate on an equal footing with other members, and a right, with other members, to exercise control of the agenda. Democracy, therefore, consists of more than just political processes; it is also necessarily a system of fundamental rights.
The history of democracy in Nigeria is traceable to independent from British Colonial rule in 1960. Thereafter there has been series of attempts to entrench democratic culture which suffered military interventions with adverse consequences on evolution of democracy. However, contemporary dispensation dates back to 1999 which has survived a historic civilian to civilian transition in 2007, a development which symbolizes political maturity and semblance of stability. Also of mention was the politics of the health of late President Musa Yardua, which generated constitutional controversy that was resolved by the legislative fiat known as “doctrine of necessity”. Even though it succeeded greatly in dosing tension in the polity it also introduced political animosity in the power shift arrangement referred to as zoning which characterized the 2011 general elections.
Although, it is past, the ghost of these challenges still hunts the political will power to effectively consign it to footnote of history. Bye and large, these experiences to my mind reinforces hope in Nigeria’s capacity to manage its domestic affairs within the frame of democratic tenets.
Despite all these, social stability appears remote as the nation is faced with multi-dimensional challenges ranging from corruption, unemployment, poverty, hunger, violent crimes, insurgency, leadership etc. Of course, these has generated serious concern about the future of the federation which may explain some of the agitations for true federalism, constitutional review, National sovereign Conference (NSC) or outright disintegration.
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES:
Religious and Ethnic intolerance: Christians and Muslims locked horns in human carnage claiming to be serving the will of Almighty God who created life. The rate at which these differences had contributed to social convulsion is beyond conception. The rationale behind this line of reasoning is unacceptable. The Holy Bible says “God created man in His own image and likeness” meaning that man is the image of God on earth. So if you kill another human being you are destroying the image of God. More so that the Ten Commandments say “thou shall not kill”. Here the Scriptures does not provide for justification for shedding innocent blood. So where do those who killed in the name of religion derive their authority?
Historically, there has been no war between Christianity and Islam. The two religions have complimented the efforts of each other in times of external threats as early Muslims were provided refuge by Christians. To be precise, at the formative stage of Islam, the pagan authorities in the Arabian Peninsula of Mecca resisted Islam because it was considered threat to the establishment.
In a reaction Prophet Muhammad Bin Abdullah (Peace be upon Him) asked his followers to go to Abyssinia, which is today’s Ethiopia. He said “there was a King, a Christian but a man of justice”. Of course early Muslims were provided asylum by King Negus of Abyssinia. He resisted diplomatic efforts by the Mecca authorities to extradite them because according to him, “their religion and my religion originated from the same source, because it believed in Jesus as the son of Mary”.
In a letter of appreciation written to King Negus, Prophet, Mohammed, (Peace be upon Him) stated in categorical terms that there is no jihad against the Christians neither shall any Muslim raise his hands against them or their worship places because they are men of the book.
Why have Christians and Muslims abandoned these virtues of these great spiritual leaders? Are we today more pious than them? Certainly No, except that we may be more corrupt than them. Religion in this country has been politicized into an enterprise devoid of service of God rather for the projection of self aggrandizement. God is the owner of religion, He alone chooses who to give, how and why?
SOCIAL INJUSTICE:
The exaggeration of indigene-settlers dichotomy under this dispensation has inflamed conflict dimensions in the polity with severe impact on national cohesion. This phenomena entails denial of basic citizen rights to populations which are considered non indigenous. The indigene-settler dichotomy even though unconstitutional is well engraved in the sub consciousness of the leadership of most States of the federation.
Even though some ethnic nationalities had live for over two hundred years in such communities they are yet qualify as indigenes of those States. This ugly scenario is notorious among the ethnic minorities in Northern states which has been responsible for spate of crisis. The dangerous dimension it has created is indoctrination of ethnic hatred as part of the social values in the affected areas. There is no doubt the future can better be analyzed with the social barometer of ugly history.
Therefore, the constituent parts of the country must be and indeed feel that they are being carried along in the process of national governance. Experience has shown that widespread discontent and loss of confidence in the system have ways of affecting national political stability. Invariably continuing escalation of violence and crises across the country will impinge on the survival of our democracy.
Beyond the effects of security concerns on the economic fortunes of the country, the nature of the security challenges facing the country also have implications for the country's political system. As mentioned earlier, social cohesion among various groups and interests is important in the process of national political development. (Abdulsalami Abubakar, 2005)
POVERTY, HUNGER AND UNEMPLOYMENT:
The essence of leadership in any social context is improvement of welfare of members of the society. Of utmost Significant is protection of lives and properties, creation of conducive environment to facilitate wealth creation. Over the years there has been deliberate neglect or lip service attention to these issues; consequently, it has impoverished the citizenry that exposed them to easy manipulation for violent culture.
Where the society is properly organized with citizens dutifully engaged in economic activities, then violent crimes will be minimized to zero tolerance. This will avail opportunity not only to participate in economic activities but also accord stake in the management of affairs. On the contrary, where the citizens are isolated as it is the case, then the people will be reduced to mere pawns in the power equations of the ruling elites, a situation inimical to harmonious co–existence.
Indeed, the current security challenges can be factored within this theory. People are so poor that what to eat as human beings are insurmountable hurdles. I shed tears in Jos one day when at a car wash an elderly woman with her granddaughter has nothing to survive on except to pick mangoes from a tree. The situation is so bad that people have resorted to the state of nature for survival.
The consequences of leadership immorality has generated unwholesome consequences to human development, as a result all variants of violent behaviors have dominated social relationships. Minor gestures can provoke explosive reaction due to excruciating pains inflicted by poverty, hunger or unemployment.
Therefore, it is imperative that in seeking solutions to contemporary challenges, genuine efforts must be tailored towards combating poverty, hunger and unemployment. Unfortunately, these negative tendencies are re-enforced by unfocused leadership driven by parochial sentiments for sectional nationalism. Nigeria will be better for it only if patriotic and selfless leadership based on vision of founding fathers is the compass.
YOUTH RESTIVENESS:
In Nigeria there is no generally accepted definition of youth. The concept is conveniently manipulated in favour of prevailing social dynamics. The age of 18 is recognized by statutes as the age of criminal liability and qualification for holding public responsibilities. The only attempt to define youth is contained in the National Youth Policy which conceives youth as any person within the ages of 18 and 35. Even this provision is observed more in breached because majority of the officers in the National Youth Council of Nigeria are in their late fifties and early sixties.
Little wonder the National Youth leader of the ruling party is said to be over 60 years of age, a scenario that defeats the hope for the upcoming generation. The graduation with the definition of the concept youth from the older generation to the graves without consideration for future has been contended as a major factor responsible for distrust which contributed to current social instability. Unless efforts are mobilize by the advanced generation to regularize these negative trends mutual suspicion will continue to grief the society.
The saying that the youth are leaders of tomorrow must be guaranteed practically. Concrete policies for realizing this ideologue must be demonstrated to create avenues for re-orientation of the youths in preparation for higher responsibilities. Therefore, there is need to ensure that the National Youth Development Policy is implemented with sincere commitments to regenerate confidence of youths as therapy to restiveness.
Arguing in favour of this, Robert Kennedy (1960) has this to say, “this world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease”
The poor management of the security situation may have been provoked by unanticipated panic of leadership. The reduction of the concept of national security to mobilization of force to embark on rampage by destruction of lives and properties of innocent citizen defeats the essence.
The imperative of effective security measures must crystallized into intelligence networking consolidated within the good will of citizenry which in turn define the scope of engagements. There must be collaboration between the security system and the community as basis of confronting any security challenge; anything below this margin will tilt the balance in favour of insurgency.
The excesses of security agencies in handling challenges leaves much to be desired whether war has been declared on the country by its own security service. Nauseating reports of extra judicial massacre by those engaged to restore normalcy has completely destroyed the confidence of Nigerians. This despicable scenario had generated trauma of been under siege in the flash point zones. It is necessary the Federal Government re-appraise the impact of engagements of the military in internal security operations otherwise the consequences on national cohesion will be great.
Exploiting the benefits of fore sight Abdulsalami (2005) suggested thus, accordingly, there is the challenge to rethink and improve on policy and institutional means of dealing with security concerns arising in the country. At the political level, the federal, state and local governments should evolve programmes of cultural and political education and orientation that seek to enthrone the fundamentals of democracy so that the political contestants as well as the generality of the citizens imbibe principles and practices essential for sustainable democracy. Such programmes must also address specific tendencies that create security breach and concerns in the country.
CORRUPTION:
The institutionalization of corrupt culture in all sphere of public activities is the major challenge to survival of democracy. The systematic re-construction of leadership from trust to reflection of personal interest of repository of state power is corruption by all definitions. Consequently, resources meant for developments are redirected to service unjustifiable security budgets of the self styled first families. Apart from these wastage, the conduct of leadership in managing scare resources has been responsible for national instability. Corruption has dominated our national psyche so much so that it looks unusual to stand against it.
According to Loimeier,(2003), Corrupt and power hungry politicians, who hijacked votes and self imposed leaders, declare billions of fictitious amounts of naira as assets only to be recouped as investments through falsification and over pricing of contracts awards, in spite of the existence of framework of due process and diligence in contract awards and procurements.
Looting of public treasury has inflicted colossal damage to collective psyche of unity. In every segments of the National political community, statistics indicated the domestication of poverty, hunger and youth unemployment through discredited Poverty Eradication or Empowerment Programs which are mere conduits for siphoning national wealth. The rate of citizens surviving beyond poverty margin is quite outrageous but government continues giving lips service to this social menace.
In this circumstance, instability determines the context of social relationships which to my mind explains succinctly the current security challenges confronting the nation.
Addressing these conflict situations requires radical social surgery of leadership with the determination to lay solid base for peace and harmony. Leadership is a burden which must not be sacrifice for political convenience even when it is clear that the figure under consideration may lack the capacity to pilot state affairs. Severe sanctions including death penalty is hereby recommended as alternative to combating corrupt practices.
FREE, FAIR AND CREDIBLE DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS
While the current democratic enterprise has produce a self-style imposed and deceptive leaders, who lead by deception and create Islamic revivalism to mobilise and capture cheap support by claiming to be introducing Islamic legal principles amidst massive collapse of services, poverty, failed governance, absence of social justice and a fair electoral process which produced consensus candidates that lack legitimacy, (Lubeck, 2003)
Former Lagos state Governor, Bola Tinubu (2009) contended that Holding free, fair and credible elections is the greatest challenge or perhaps threat, if I must be blunt, to the Fourth Republic. “Periodic elections do not make a democratic nation,” once thundered Prof. Adebayo Williams in “Democracy and its Discontent,” an article he wrote for African Today magazine in October 2007. “That is sheer electoralism”. And so, it has been with our country. On the fidelity of the vote, the core foundation of democracy, therefore, our country is faring very badly at each passing election. This is a very disturbing trend as, in this particular case; nobody can talk of “consolidating democracy” as nothing can be built on air. This is the greatest single threat to our democratic survival. That is why sweeping electoral reforms are not only imperative but also inevitable.
Contributing to this Alex Ekwueme (2005) stated that it was federal parliamentary elections of December 1964 and the farcical Western Region parliamentary elections of October 1965. One of the reasons proffered by the military for take-over of government on December 31 1983 was the much criticized (by "opposition” parties) elections of August 1983. In all these cases it was suggested that the incumbency element was a contributory factor to the flaw in the electoral process. The same criticism has visited the April 19 (4.19) elections of 2003. Accordingly, in order to cure the mischief of possible abuse of the electoral process taking advantage of the incumbency factor, it was provided that the President and Governors should have a 5 year term without self succession.
Sunday Ochoche noted that electoral fraud poses a major challenge to democracy in Nigeria and by implication, poses threat to the security of the nation. Electoral fraud desecrates the sanctity of democracy and weakens its capacity as an instrument for the mobilization of national, human and material resources for the development of the people and the state. And in an environment where development is security and security is development, the consequences of such acts catch up very quickly with the system.
One area in which electoral fraud in Nigeria manifests in an alarming manner is the area of voter registration. Voters are the ammunition of elections and contestants win by amassing as many as possible. In a game where fraud is systemic, the strength and competence of the "referee" questionable, the dubious accumulation of the essential arms of the war is only natural.
Closely related to the conflict paradigm is the theory of collapse of political institutions which naturally safeguards democratic culture for evolution of leadership. The inability of our electoral system to guarantee credible elections is at the centre of generating vote of no confidence in this democratic dispensation. At any general elections, the process become glaringly manipulated by either by ballot stuffing, violence, alteration of figures, declaration of losers or sometimes outright rigging backed by state apparatus. In the final analysis dissatisfaction is provoked by shameless ballot stealing which from the immediate experience received the anger of the people. Therefore, discredited electoral process is also a form of conflict within our political context.
It is my opinion that election criminals including official collaborators within the system deserve the same consequences like corruption. There should be special courts created constitutionally to handle such cases to enhance speedy trials, while such verdicts should be executed within the soonest possible time after expiration of right of appeal. This wills deterrence prospective ballot criminals.
CONCLUSION:
The Nigerian federation I agreed is due for restructuring. The imbalance in the revenue sharing formula is another factor for underdevelopment. The center is strong and lucrative which breeds unhealthy competition. The revenue formula concedes enormous resources to the federation which has little relevance to welfare of citizens. The jumbo wages of Ministers, Special Advisers, and Members of the National Assembly in a year is sufficient to provide free education at all levels.
The derivative principle has been a subject of abuse as such funds are looted with fanfare and impunity by public officials instead of developments, consequently it requires review. For a viable federation the revenue formula should be restructured in this order, Federal Government- 25%, States-27%, Local Governments-30%, Derivation 13% and 5% Ecology and Disaster Management. It is my submission that the federation be restructured into a loose federation with more powers given to the federating units to enhance peace, unity, security, social harmony and development.
Also, I am calling for abolishing of Joint Account Allocation Committee of the States and all statutory allocations of the Local Governments should flow directly to the Councils. All relics of control of States on Local Governments in the constitution should be removed.
All elections into every office in Nigeria should be conducted by Independent National Electoral Commission; therefore, States Independent Electoral Commissions should be abolished. To guarantee credible electoral system, Constitutional powers of appointing the Chairman and all Commissioners of Independent National Electoral Commission be removed from the Office of the President and vest in the National Assembly through direct nominations by the people base on the South African model.
The appointment and control of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission should be removed from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation. The National Judicial Council should be saddled with the powers of nominating the officials subject to confirmation by the National Assembly for effective performance instead of been seen as machine for victimization of perceived political opponents.
Peace in not a good neighbor of injustice, therefore, in all public dealings there must be justice and fairness to all manner of people without fear or favor, only then can peace, unity and harmony flow like rivers Niger and Benue.
The clamor for National Sovereign Conference under Constitutional arrangements is an open invitation to political suicide. It will work if defector beneficiaries of power relinquished same for the emergence of another sovereign to preside over the liquidation of Nigeria. May we live not to see such in our time, Amen?
References:
1. MAZRUI, Ali A., (2001) “Shariacracy and Federal Models in the Era of Globalization: Nigeria in Comparative Perspective” -www.gamji.com. Accessed March 2001.
2. “Social contract." Encyclopedia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012.
3. Robert Kennedy, “Day of Affirmation”, University of Cape Town, South Africa, June 6, 1966.
4. LOIMEIER, R 2003, Patterns and Peculiarities of Islamic Reform in Africa, Journal of Religion in Africa,(On-Line).
5. Vol.33, fasc.3, Islamic Thoughts in 20thhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1581849 Accessed: 25/02/2009 - 10:05.
6. LUBECK, P, Lipschutz, R and Weeks, E, 2003, QEH Working Paper Series – QEHWPS106, The Globality of Islam: Sharia as a Nigerian Determination, London, April 2003.
7. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Bola Tinubu, (2009) “Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects”,http://www.burningpot.com/ Assessed 29/6/2012-20:10.
In confronting this herculean task, I have adopted a conventional method which provides me with academic life jacket to navigate this storm with relative ease.
Unfolding developments within the nation since the inception of this democratic experiment have generated debates within political, academic and legal parlance about future of Nigerian federation. Of utmost concern is graduating regime of violent crimes, religious and ethnic tension. Consequently, economic and social activities have been in comatose in most commercial cities mostly in the Northern States, thereby justifying the basis for the debate that the state of the union is in near jeopardy. Security challenges have dominated every national discourse. The insurgency question has been so much exaggerated and mystified that phobia and mutual suspicion determines every aspect of public relationships.
The capacity of the state to contend with these challenges obviously is below citizen’s average expectations.
Analysts and Public Commentators hold varying opinions about the origin and motives of the situation. According to a renounce African Scholar, Ali Mazuiri (2001), amongst the things that trigger the Sharia advocacy in some northern states of Nigeria, was the resentment of being at the periphery of Nigerian politics and power configuration. There were points when the northern leaders held sway politically in the power configuration, but the 1999 elections, saw the balance of power shifting south without any remarkable transformation in the economics of the north. Hence, the politics of Sharia advocacy was part of a protest against regional economic in equalities existing in Nigeria.
On the contrary, others considered it from a religious perspective as an Islamic machine for islamization of Nigeria. The latter School is popular among some Christians while the former is a political theory orchestrated mostly by a segment of Southern Political elites. Either way the situation is assessed; the country is face with the dilemma of ravaging hunger, poverty, unemployment, corruption put against rising profile of insecurity. The summary of these traumatic trends explains the agitation for a National Sovereign Conference, (NSC) as option to resolving certain national questions.
However, our preoccupation here is limited to appraising democratic experiment with attendant challenges with a view to proffering solutions that may be of significance to driving the nation towards social harmony and progress. It is therefore imperative to locate the key concept within the context of our bearings.
The term democracy is derived from the Greek dēmokratiā, which was coined from dēmos (“people”) and kratos (“rule”) in the middle of the 5th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens.
According to Hobbes (Leviathan, 1651), the state of nature was one in which there were no enforceable criteria of right and wrong. Each person took for himself all that he could; human life was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” The state of nature was therefore a state of war, which could be ended only if individuals agreed (in a social contract) to give their liberty into the hands of a sovereign, who was thenceforward absolute, on the sole condition that their lives were safeguarded by sovereign power.
If a government of or by the people a “popular” government is to be established, at least some fundamental questions must be confronted at the outset and while others may arise latter if the democracy continues to exist for long.
(1) What is the appropriate association within which a democratic government should be established?
(2) Given an appropriate association, who among its members should enjoy full citizenship? In other word which persons, should constitute the dēmos? Is every member of the association entitled to participate in governing it? If it includes only a subset of the adult population, how small can the subset be before the association ceases to be a democracy and becomes something else, such as an aristocracy (government by the best, aristos) or an oligarchy (government by the few, oligos)?
(3) Assuming a proper association and proper dēmos, how are citizens to govern? What political organizations or institutions will they need? Will these institutions differ between different kinds of associations?
(4) When citizens are divided on an issue, as they often will be, whose views should prevail, and in what circumstances? Should a majority always prevail, or should minorities sometimes be empowered to block or overcome majority rule?
(5) If a majority is ordinarily to prevail, what is to constitute a proper majority? Is this a majority of all citizens or of voters?
(6) The preceding questions presuppose an adequate answer to a sixth and even more important question: Why should “the people” rule and is democracy really better than aristocracy or monarchy?
No association could maintain a democratic government for very long if a majority of the dēmos or a majority of the government believed that some other form of government were better. Thus, a minimum condition for the continued existence of a democracy is that a substantial proportion of both the dēmos and the leadership believe that popular government is better than any feasible alternative.
FEATURES OF IDEAL DEMOCRACY:
At a minimum, an ideal democracy would have the following features:
Effective participation; - Before a policy is adopted or rejected, members of the dēmos have the opportunity to make their views about the policy known to other members.
Equality in voting:-Members of the dēmos have the opportunity to vote for or against the policy, and all votes are counted as equal.
Informed electorate:-Members of the dēmos have the opportunity, within a reasonable amount of time, to learn about the policy and about possible alternative policies and their likely consequences.
Citizen control of the agenda:-The dēmos and only the dēmos, decides what matters are placed on the decision-making agenda and how they are placed there. Thus, the democratic process is “open” in the sense that the dēmos can change the policies of the association at any time.
Inclusion:-Each and every member of the dēmos is entitled to participate in the association in the ways just described.
Fundamental Rights:-Each of the necessary features of ideal democracy prescribes a right that is itself a necessary feature of ideal democracy: thus every member of the dēmos has a right to communicate with others, a right to have his voted counted equally with the votes of others, a right to gather information, a right to participate on an equal footing with other members, and a right, with other members, to exercise control of the agenda. Democracy, therefore, consists of more than just political processes; it is also necessarily a system of fundamental rights.
The history of democracy in Nigeria is traceable to independent from British Colonial rule in 1960. Thereafter there has been series of attempts to entrench democratic culture which suffered military interventions with adverse consequences on evolution of democracy. However, contemporary dispensation dates back to 1999 which has survived a historic civilian to civilian transition in 2007, a development which symbolizes political maturity and semblance of stability. Also of mention was the politics of the health of late President Musa Yardua, which generated constitutional controversy that was resolved by the legislative fiat known as “doctrine of necessity”. Even though it succeeded greatly in dosing tension in the polity it also introduced political animosity in the power shift arrangement referred to as zoning which characterized the 2011 general elections.
Although, it is past, the ghost of these challenges still hunts the political will power to effectively consign it to footnote of history. Bye and large, these experiences to my mind reinforces hope in Nigeria’s capacity to manage its domestic affairs within the frame of democratic tenets.
Despite all these, social stability appears remote as the nation is faced with multi-dimensional challenges ranging from corruption, unemployment, poverty, hunger, violent crimes, insurgency, leadership etc. Of course, these has generated serious concern about the future of the federation which may explain some of the agitations for true federalism, constitutional review, National sovereign Conference (NSC) or outright disintegration.
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES:
Religious and Ethnic intolerance: Christians and Muslims locked horns in human carnage claiming to be serving the will of Almighty God who created life. The rate at which these differences had contributed to social convulsion is beyond conception. The rationale behind this line of reasoning is unacceptable. The Holy Bible says “God created man in His own image and likeness” meaning that man is the image of God on earth. So if you kill another human being you are destroying the image of God. More so that the Ten Commandments say “thou shall not kill”. Here the Scriptures does not provide for justification for shedding innocent blood. So where do those who killed in the name of religion derive their authority?
Historically, there has been no war between Christianity and Islam. The two religions have complimented the efforts of each other in times of external threats as early Muslims were provided refuge by Christians. To be precise, at the formative stage of Islam, the pagan authorities in the Arabian Peninsula of Mecca resisted Islam because it was considered threat to the establishment.
In a reaction Prophet Muhammad Bin Abdullah (Peace be upon Him) asked his followers to go to Abyssinia, which is today’s Ethiopia. He said “there was a King, a Christian but a man of justice”. Of course early Muslims were provided asylum by King Negus of Abyssinia. He resisted diplomatic efforts by the Mecca authorities to extradite them because according to him, “their religion and my religion originated from the same source, because it believed in Jesus as the son of Mary”.
In a letter of appreciation written to King Negus, Prophet, Mohammed, (Peace be upon Him) stated in categorical terms that there is no jihad against the Christians neither shall any Muslim raise his hands against them or their worship places because they are men of the book.
Why have Christians and Muslims abandoned these virtues of these great spiritual leaders? Are we today more pious than them? Certainly No, except that we may be more corrupt than them. Religion in this country has been politicized into an enterprise devoid of service of God rather for the projection of self aggrandizement. God is the owner of religion, He alone chooses who to give, how and why?
SOCIAL INJUSTICE:
The exaggeration of indigene-settlers dichotomy under this dispensation has inflamed conflict dimensions in the polity with severe impact on national cohesion. This phenomena entails denial of basic citizen rights to populations which are considered non indigenous. The indigene-settler dichotomy even though unconstitutional is well engraved in the sub consciousness of the leadership of most States of the federation.
Even though some ethnic nationalities had live for over two hundred years in such communities they are yet qualify as indigenes of those States. This ugly scenario is notorious among the ethnic minorities in Northern states which has been responsible for spate of crisis. The dangerous dimension it has created is indoctrination of ethnic hatred as part of the social values in the affected areas. There is no doubt the future can better be analyzed with the social barometer of ugly history.
Therefore, the constituent parts of the country must be and indeed feel that they are being carried along in the process of national governance. Experience has shown that widespread discontent and loss of confidence in the system have ways of affecting national political stability. Invariably continuing escalation of violence and crises across the country will impinge on the survival of our democracy.
Beyond the effects of security concerns on the economic fortunes of the country, the nature of the security challenges facing the country also have implications for the country's political system. As mentioned earlier, social cohesion among various groups and interests is important in the process of national political development. (Abdulsalami Abubakar, 2005)
POVERTY, HUNGER AND UNEMPLOYMENT:
The essence of leadership in any social context is improvement of welfare of members of the society. Of utmost Significant is protection of lives and properties, creation of conducive environment to facilitate wealth creation. Over the years there has been deliberate neglect or lip service attention to these issues; consequently, it has impoverished the citizenry that exposed them to easy manipulation for violent culture.
Where the society is properly organized with citizens dutifully engaged in economic activities, then violent crimes will be minimized to zero tolerance. This will avail opportunity not only to participate in economic activities but also accord stake in the management of affairs. On the contrary, where the citizens are isolated as it is the case, then the people will be reduced to mere pawns in the power equations of the ruling elites, a situation inimical to harmonious co–existence.
Indeed, the current security challenges can be factored within this theory. People are so poor that what to eat as human beings are insurmountable hurdles. I shed tears in Jos one day when at a car wash an elderly woman with her granddaughter has nothing to survive on except to pick mangoes from a tree. The situation is so bad that people have resorted to the state of nature for survival.
The consequences of leadership immorality has generated unwholesome consequences to human development, as a result all variants of violent behaviors have dominated social relationships. Minor gestures can provoke explosive reaction due to excruciating pains inflicted by poverty, hunger or unemployment.
Therefore, it is imperative that in seeking solutions to contemporary challenges, genuine efforts must be tailored towards combating poverty, hunger and unemployment. Unfortunately, these negative tendencies are re-enforced by unfocused leadership driven by parochial sentiments for sectional nationalism. Nigeria will be better for it only if patriotic and selfless leadership based on vision of founding fathers is the compass.
YOUTH RESTIVENESS:
In Nigeria there is no generally accepted definition of youth. The concept is conveniently manipulated in favour of prevailing social dynamics. The age of 18 is recognized by statutes as the age of criminal liability and qualification for holding public responsibilities. The only attempt to define youth is contained in the National Youth Policy which conceives youth as any person within the ages of 18 and 35. Even this provision is observed more in breached because majority of the officers in the National Youth Council of Nigeria are in their late fifties and early sixties.
Little wonder the National Youth leader of the ruling party is said to be over 60 years of age, a scenario that defeats the hope for the upcoming generation. The graduation with the definition of the concept youth from the older generation to the graves without consideration for future has been contended as a major factor responsible for distrust which contributed to current social instability. Unless efforts are mobilize by the advanced generation to regularize these negative trends mutual suspicion will continue to grief the society.
The saying that the youth are leaders of tomorrow must be guaranteed practically. Concrete policies for realizing this ideologue must be demonstrated to create avenues for re-orientation of the youths in preparation for higher responsibilities. Therefore, there is need to ensure that the National Youth Development Policy is implemented with sincere commitments to regenerate confidence of youths as therapy to restiveness.
Arguing in favour of this, Robert Kennedy (1960) has this to say, “this world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease”
The poor management of the security situation may have been provoked by unanticipated panic of leadership. The reduction of the concept of national security to mobilization of force to embark on rampage by destruction of lives and properties of innocent citizen defeats the essence.
The imperative of effective security measures must crystallized into intelligence networking consolidated within the good will of citizenry which in turn define the scope of engagements. There must be collaboration between the security system and the community as basis of confronting any security challenge; anything below this margin will tilt the balance in favour of insurgency.
The excesses of security agencies in handling challenges leaves much to be desired whether war has been declared on the country by its own security service. Nauseating reports of extra judicial massacre by those engaged to restore normalcy has completely destroyed the confidence of Nigerians. This despicable scenario had generated trauma of been under siege in the flash point zones. It is necessary the Federal Government re-appraise the impact of engagements of the military in internal security operations otherwise the consequences on national cohesion will be great.
Exploiting the benefits of fore sight Abdulsalami (2005) suggested thus, accordingly, there is the challenge to rethink and improve on policy and institutional means of dealing with security concerns arising in the country. At the political level, the federal, state and local governments should evolve programmes of cultural and political education and orientation that seek to enthrone the fundamentals of democracy so that the political contestants as well as the generality of the citizens imbibe principles and practices essential for sustainable democracy. Such programmes must also address specific tendencies that create security breach and concerns in the country.
CORRUPTION:
The institutionalization of corrupt culture in all sphere of public activities is the major challenge to survival of democracy. The systematic re-construction of leadership from trust to reflection of personal interest of repository of state power is corruption by all definitions. Consequently, resources meant for developments are redirected to service unjustifiable security budgets of the self styled first families. Apart from these wastage, the conduct of leadership in managing scare resources has been responsible for national instability. Corruption has dominated our national psyche so much so that it looks unusual to stand against it.
According to Loimeier,(2003), Corrupt and power hungry politicians, who hijacked votes and self imposed leaders, declare billions of fictitious amounts of naira as assets only to be recouped as investments through falsification and over pricing of contracts awards, in spite of the existence of framework of due process and diligence in contract awards and procurements.
Looting of public treasury has inflicted colossal damage to collective psyche of unity. In every segments of the National political community, statistics indicated the domestication of poverty, hunger and youth unemployment through discredited Poverty Eradication or Empowerment Programs which are mere conduits for siphoning national wealth. The rate of citizens surviving beyond poverty margin is quite outrageous but government continues giving lips service to this social menace.
In this circumstance, instability determines the context of social relationships which to my mind explains succinctly the current security challenges confronting the nation.
Addressing these conflict situations requires radical social surgery of leadership with the determination to lay solid base for peace and harmony. Leadership is a burden which must not be sacrifice for political convenience even when it is clear that the figure under consideration may lack the capacity to pilot state affairs. Severe sanctions including death penalty is hereby recommended as alternative to combating corrupt practices.
FREE, FAIR AND CREDIBLE DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS
While the current democratic enterprise has produce a self-style imposed and deceptive leaders, who lead by deception and create Islamic revivalism to mobilise and capture cheap support by claiming to be introducing Islamic legal principles amidst massive collapse of services, poverty, failed governance, absence of social justice and a fair electoral process which produced consensus candidates that lack legitimacy, (Lubeck, 2003)
Former Lagos state Governor, Bola Tinubu (2009) contended that Holding free, fair and credible elections is the greatest challenge or perhaps threat, if I must be blunt, to the Fourth Republic. “Periodic elections do not make a democratic nation,” once thundered Prof. Adebayo Williams in “Democracy and its Discontent,” an article he wrote for African Today magazine in October 2007. “That is sheer electoralism”. And so, it has been with our country. On the fidelity of the vote, the core foundation of democracy, therefore, our country is faring very badly at each passing election. This is a very disturbing trend as, in this particular case; nobody can talk of “consolidating democracy” as nothing can be built on air. This is the greatest single threat to our democratic survival. That is why sweeping electoral reforms are not only imperative but also inevitable.
Contributing to this Alex Ekwueme (2005) stated that it was federal parliamentary elections of December 1964 and the farcical Western Region parliamentary elections of October 1965. One of the reasons proffered by the military for take-over of government on December 31 1983 was the much criticized (by "opposition” parties) elections of August 1983. In all these cases it was suggested that the incumbency element was a contributory factor to the flaw in the electoral process. The same criticism has visited the April 19 (4.19) elections of 2003. Accordingly, in order to cure the mischief of possible abuse of the electoral process taking advantage of the incumbency factor, it was provided that the President and Governors should have a 5 year term without self succession.
Sunday Ochoche noted that electoral fraud poses a major challenge to democracy in Nigeria and by implication, poses threat to the security of the nation. Electoral fraud desecrates the sanctity of democracy and weakens its capacity as an instrument for the mobilization of national, human and material resources for the development of the people and the state. And in an environment where development is security and security is development, the consequences of such acts catch up very quickly with the system.
One area in which electoral fraud in Nigeria manifests in an alarming manner is the area of voter registration. Voters are the ammunition of elections and contestants win by amassing as many as possible. In a game where fraud is systemic, the strength and competence of the "referee" questionable, the dubious accumulation of the essential arms of the war is only natural.
Closely related to the conflict paradigm is the theory of collapse of political institutions which naturally safeguards democratic culture for evolution of leadership. The inability of our electoral system to guarantee credible elections is at the centre of generating vote of no confidence in this democratic dispensation. At any general elections, the process become glaringly manipulated by either by ballot stuffing, violence, alteration of figures, declaration of losers or sometimes outright rigging backed by state apparatus. In the final analysis dissatisfaction is provoked by shameless ballot stealing which from the immediate experience received the anger of the people. Therefore, discredited electoral process is also a form of conflict within our political context.
It is my opinion that election criminals including official collaborators within the system deserve the same consequences like corruption. There should be special courts created constitutionally to handle such cases to enhance speedy trials, while such verdicts should be executed within the soonest possible time after expiration of right of appeal. This wills deterrence prospective ballot criminals.
CONCLUSION:
The Nigerian federation I agreed is due for restructuring. The imbalance in the revenue sharing formula is another factor for underdevelopment. The center is strong and lucrative which breeds unhealthy competition. The revenue formula concedes enormous resources to the federation which has little relevance to welfare of citizens. The jumbo wages of Ministers, Special Advisers, and Members of the National Assembly in a year is sufficient to provide free education at all levels.
The derivative principle has been a subject of abuse as such funds are looted with fanfare and impunity by public officials instead of developments, consequently it requires review. For a viable federation the revenue formula should be restructured in this order, Federal Government- 25%, States-27%, Local Governments-30%, Derivation 13% and 5% Ecology and Disaster Management. It is my submission that the federation be restructured into a loose federation with more powers given to the federating units to enhance peace, unity, security, social harmony and development.
Also, I am calling for abolishing of Joint Account Allocation Committee of the States and all statutory allocations of the Local Governments should flow directly to the Councils. All relics of control of States on Local Governments in the constitution should be removed.
All elections into every office in Nigeria should be conducted by Independent National Electoral Commission; therefore, States Independent Electoral Commissions should be abolished. To guarantee credible electoral system, Constitutional powers of appointing the Chairman and all Commissioners of Independent National Electoral Commission be removed from the Office of the President and vest in the National Assembly through direct nominations by the people base on the South African model.
The appointment and control of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission should be removed from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation. The National Judicial Council should be saddled with the powers of nominating the officials subject to confirmation by the National Assembly for effective performance instead of been seen as machine for victimization of perceived political opponents.
Peace in not a good neighbor of injustice, therefore, in all public dealings there must be justice and fairness to all manner of people without fear or favor, only then can peace, unity and harmony flow like rivers Niger and Benue.
The clamor for National Sovereign Conference under Constitutional arrangements is an open invitation to political suicide. It will work if defector beneficiaries of power relinquished same for the emergence of another sovereign to preside over the liquidation of Nigeria. May we live not to see such in our time, Amen?
References:
1. MAZRUI, Ali A., (2001) “Shariacracy and Federal Models in the Era of Globalization: Nigeria in Comparative Perspective” -www.gamji.com. Accessed March 2001.
2. “Social contract." Encyclopedia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012.
3. Robert Kennedy, “Day of Affirmation”, University of Cape Town, South Africa, June 6, 1966.
4. LOIMEIER, R 2003, Patterns and Peculiarities of Islamic Reform in Africa, Journal of Religion in Africa,(On-Line).
5. Vol.33, fasc.3, Islamic Thoughts in 20thhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1581849 Accessed: 25/02/2009 - 10:05.
6. LUBECK, P, Lipschutz, R and Weeks, E, 2003, QEH Working Paper Series – QEHWPS106, The Globality of Islam: Sharia as a Nigerian Determination, London, April 2003.
7. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Bola Tinubu, (2009) “Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects”,http://www.burningpot.com/ Assessed 29/6/2012-20:10.
