Commentary: Nineteen Years Of Uninterrupted Democracy In Nigeria

^{WRITTEN BY EMEKA ARINZE}
Today marks the nineteenth year of uninterrupted democratic government in Nigeria. It is called democracy day, held annually on May 29.

It is a work-free day to commemorate the restoration of democracy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, when a newly elected civilian president took office on May 29, 1999, ending multiple decades of military rule that began in 1966 and had been interrupted only by a brief period of democracy from 1979 to 1983.
It would be recalled that before the advent of sustainable democratic rule in Nigeria, the country was governed by military leaders that usually came in through coups. Draconian laws and obnoxious decrees were put in place by the armed forces to replace the constitution. Democratic institutions at all levels were dismantled, while public opinions were muzzled by the military in their bid to ensure civil obedience to ideas that would suit their whims and caprices.
Although some members of the political class attempted to ventilate their displeasure and rejection of leadership by soldiers and other members of the armed forces through the media and other forms of agitations, the scenario remained worrisome as most of them were either arrested and  flung into detention or visited with reprisals or even killed. Some of the politicians who managed to escape from the country formed anti-military coalitions abroad to challenge the over-bearing excesses of the military leaders.
General Yakubu Gowon’s administration ruled the country from 1966 to 1975, which gave birth to thirty months civil war in the country, giving way to the revolutionary but ephemeral regime of General Murtala Mohammed from 1975 to 1976. General Olusegun Obasanjo came first as Military leader from 1976 to 1979, while General Mohammadu Buhari/Idiagbon regime was on hand from 1983 to 1985. General Ibrahim Babangida ruled the country from 1985 to 1993, when General Sani Abacha overthrew him and ruled from 1994 until he died mysteriously in office in 1998. General Abdulsalami Abubakar took over in 1998 and successfully midwived the nation’s return to civil rule in 1999.
The current democratic dispensation, the fourth republic, began with Chief Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo returning as civilian President from May 29, 1999 to 2007. Umaru Musa Yar’dua was sworn-in as President of Nigeria on May 29, 2007. However, he died in office on May 5, 2010, while his former Vice, Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, took over as President till May 29, 2015. The incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, was sworn-in on May 29, 2015.
While we thank the founding fathers of democratic rule in Nigeria, let us use the platform of this year’s Democracy day celebration to reflect on our political journey so far and ask ourselves whether we have arrived democratically. The simple truth is that a cursory look at the nation’s democracy balance sheet shows that we are still far from being there.
A democracy bedeviled by massive corruption, hunger, starvation, money laundering, favouritism, bad leadership, impunity, unemployment, infrastructural decay, insecurity and bastardization of democratic principles cannot be said to be a democracy in the real sense of it. It is a fact that, in our country today, many are perpetrating fraud and violating laws with reckless abandon.
Surely, our democracy will remain a hoax and “Opium of the masses” when innocent Nigerians are unduly witch hunted, killed or made to commit suicide and jump into lagoons as a result of social frustration and deprivation.
Therefore, as the next general election is fast approaching, political leaders should allow the wishes of the masses to prevail. Election should not be a do or die affair. No political office can be equated with the head of any Nigerian. This is a way of sustaining democracy. Similarly, there is the need to restructure the country as the greater number of people have championed. There is every need for a true People’s constitution. The current 1999 constitution, as amended, is the making of the military juntas. Military cannot be dictating what will be happening in a democratic set up. There is need for a National Conference backed by the law. Equally, the current Presidential system of government should be reviewed to skew towards the wishes of the masses. That is democracy. There is also the need to review the revenue sharing formula.
On the other hand, time has come for all Nigerians, both the leaders and the led, to close ranks and give our democracy a human face. We must shun all tendencies that can truncate or ridicule the democratic principles as democracy still remains the best form of government. This is the way we can stand up proudly and boldly among the comity of democratic nations.