Written by:
Yemi Adegbite
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
yemiadegbite@yahoo.ca
January 20, 2009

Mockery of Democracy or Mock Democracy

Nigeria is an amalgam of very strange people where strange things unfold every day. Nigeria is believed to be a democracy, the largest democracy in sub Saharan African for that matter. In the eyes of many Nigerians and several observers, Nigeria is a full fledge democracy. However, the facts on grounds suggest otherwise to trained eyes.
To a trained observer, the system and the ways our leaders conduct the business of government could be described as everything but democracy.
Experts could not agree on how to explain the contradiction between policies and policy implementations in the country. Sometimes it looks like nobody is in charge of government, while rumor mongers have a free day at spreading their own gospel, the system is slow, irresponsive and uncoordinated.
Many people have come to a conclusion that, the country still suffers from military hangover as a result of protracted military intervention in civil society.
To fully understand the fact that Nigeria is not what it seems to be, let us look at what democracy is and how democracies around the world organize and go about the governments’ business.
The features and underling principles of democracy no matter where it exists are constant.
Generally, democracy is based on open debates upon which a vibrant political culture is founded and maintained. In democracy, nobody could or should have absolute or unparalleled power as to dominate the others.

According to Robert Burns, “The strongest power is that which can forbid its own mention” definitely, democracy in irresponsible hands is anarchy. This accounts for so much confusion and anarchy that characterize our modern day Nigeria. Talk about political killings, vendetta, extra-judicial killings, high incidence of violence and robbery with violence, fratricidal wars and all the vices that are rife in our society.
We have so many politicians in Nigeria with larger than life postures running amok around the country, they have ruined the country both socially and economically, yet they still brag around and live tall in the community with no consequence whatsoever.
I can tell you without fear of contradiction that, some people in Nigerian politics are really deadly and “powerful”. I am aware of the fact that, there are no two democracies that are alike, but no doubt that the common denominators of a vibrant democratic system no matter where it exists are the same, anything less is no democracy the way it is known.
In a small poem formed by Robert Burns in honour of democracy, he said among other things: “here’s freedom to him who would speak.
Here’s freedom to him who would write.
For there is none ever feared,
that the truth should be heard,
than he whom the truth would indict.”
Nigerian leaders and politicians are sworn enemies of truth, because the truth indicts them at all times.
In a popular democracy, the people as a whole wield the political sovereignty and they retain their power to exercise their authority regularly on a perpetual basis through the ballots system to determine who holds the legal sovereignty.
In any democracy that is worth its salt, the government is the servant of the people, not the master as is the case in Nigeria. The duty of the government is to listen, respond to and deliver what the citizens have requested of them. The needs and aspirations of the people can be monitored and known through the impartial and free press and media expressed through public opinion as well as regular consultation with the constituents.
A shining example is that of the Chairman of the EFCC.
If we have a servant leader or a listening government, Ribadu will still be at the elms of affair at the EFCC building right now, and our battle against corruption would have been noticeable and visible.
The case in Nigeria is that of “heroes need not apply”. We, or let me say, our leaders prefer mediocre to run the affairs of the nation so that, every one of them can have a “fair share” of the public funds in their usual “chop I chop” manner.
In a healthy democracy, there is open, accountable and diverse mass media. The mass media are the fora for information dissemination and a channel of feed back on how the government policies are affecting the people. Free and dynamic mass media can not thrive under intimidation and harassment by the government and its agencies.
Mass media in Nigerian are being gagged regularly by law enforcement agents, some newsmen and editors have been arrested in the past and their premises sealed off and workers terrorized. It is only a little bit relaxed under civilian regimes, but the incidence of harassment is still evident.

To play politics, people need to be well fed, have access to good and basic things of live. To achieve this, democratization of economic power is vital. An enabling environment that will empower several smaller units must be created by the government; this will in turn complement the nation’s economic sovereignty and empower the whole polis.
It takes progressive and forward looking leaders to do this. The present system in Nigeria where a very few people enjoy affluence, while huge majority of people wallow in abject poverty is not a feature of democracy. Until this condition is reversed, elections can not be free and fair. As long as people are extremely poor, the vote’s buyers would always find willing sellers who will sell their sacred votes for a couple of hundred naira. Democracy doesn’t do very well where people struggle to keep body and soul together.

Equality before the law is another essential feature of democracy. There can be no rule of law without equality before the law. This is a negation of the Federal Government’s position on the administration of justice in the country. The government relegates equality before the law, but embraces and promotes the rule of law. It does not work that way, the two are inseparable twins, and one doesn’t work without the other.
In Nigeria, the ability of individual to defend him or herself is seriously impaired because of our legal system set-up. Many people have no ability to pay for their defence in the event of law suit. Many judges have history of perversion of justice while others have a compromised past.
Another problem of Nigerian democracy is the political culture of the people which is rooted in poverty. There is no effective participation before, during and after elections. Riggings are common sight in every stage of the way, from ward level to national level. When it comes to the issue of sanctity of elections, Nigeria has a very long way to go.
The system lacks the capacity to adequately inform the electorates, government agenda is not debated, and the people lack adequate information to make informed decisions.
Large number of people are illiterate and do not understand the implications of government policies and even their own action on the body politic.

What is democracy without accountability? In democracy, elected and appointed officials are expected to discharge their duties properly and according to the constitution. Governments are supposed to be constantly answerable for their policies and actions to the electorates, during elections, voters judge the officials, reward them by re-electing them or rejecting them and vote them out of office. This is possible where democracy is allowed to work. As far as my memory can take me, this has not been the case in Nigeria.
Transparency is an essential ingredient of democracy. This is necessary for accountability. People are supposed to know what the government does on their behalf. For this to happen government must be open and transparent, motives and intentions of government officials must be known, the where-about of the president is a piece of public information.
Political tolerance is vital for democracy to survive. It is the willingness of individuals, political parties, and other groups and organizations to accept, respect and if need be to actively defend the democratic right of others to hold and express opinions, even if they are unpopular. If democracy is to survive in Nigeria, we all have a joint stake in it, we have to struggle together and make it work.
The “SAVE NIGERIA PROJECT” is waxing stronger; we have to make Nigeria what we want it to be. A safe place, where everybody can attain their God given potentials. So help us God.
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