Democracy Day: Any Reason For Celebrations?

It was to the delight of all when the nation returned to civil rule in 1999.  Ever since, the country has enjoyed a smooth 19 years of democratic administrations. Of the 19 years, there had been rulers from the North, South and West. During the same number of years, power has shifted from PDP which government spanned 16 unbroken years, as well the APC, the new party in the bloc which has been in the saddle for 3 years and still counting.

Democracy as system of government is premised on the people and seeking the greatest good for the greater number of persons remains one of the dividends that come with it. But can this be said of our democracy?  Hasn’t the greater good eluded the greater persons? The answers to these questions stare us in the face.

The cases of looted funds roll out on daily basis have not helped matters. It has showed the height of irresponsibility on the people we entrust our trust in. It’s either our farms, our sources of income had been razed by the reprobate grazing masters in search of green fresh grassland for their esteemed Moos or our daughters are held captive for so long.

To be frank with ourselves, the number of souls lost due to insecurity in the 19 years of our unfiltered democracy has been more as compared to the era of civil war and may I state here that we are not far from the Rwanda genocide, an occurrence no one would wish for his enemy.

Aside insecurity, under our democracy, unemployment has gotten to the boiling point it has never attained before in the history of our country. Even those who are employed are not earning well. Not even those working for the government (civil servants). Virtually all states in the country owe their workers backlog of salaries. This should lead one to probe what then is working in Nigeria? Is this the price we are to pay for craving for democracy?

Of course, the buck of the woes should not be passed on to this current administration, it would be a no brainer to do such, but the fact remains that this administration cannot be totally absolveds of the blames too. Coming into power on the promise of “change”, it could be said that it has not lived up to the expectations of many Nigeria judging by the electioneering promises the APC made.

All these call for sober reflection as our democracy grows.

• Busari Adedayo, Osogbo, State of Osun.