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As part of Nigeria’s silver jubilee celebration of democracy, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, raised a pertinent question during an interview with Arise TV on June 12, 2024. “Are we truly democratic?” The former governor of Anambra State asked and went further to interrogate the features of Nigeria’s democracy.
“After 25 years of experimenting and trying to be a democratic country, it is now time to ask questions are we truly democratic?,’’Obi quizzed.
“Democracy is supposed to be government of the people, by the people, and for the people. So the fundamental question: ‘is this government of the people, by the people, and for the people?’”
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“Beneath this is supposed to be a benefit for the people which is not there today. Absence of which have led to leadership failure over the years, and have brought massive corruption, hunger, suffering, and all sorts of pain.”Peter Obi’s concerns are not far from the reality in Nigeria and cannot be dismissed as political talk. In the last year, the harsh and uncertain economic reality of Nigeria has meant that multinational companies such as GSK, Microsoft, Equinor, and more, which have operated in the country for decades, have had to pull out. The challenge of insecurity has worsened as cases of kidnapping and banditry have remained unsolved. Corruption is still bedevilling the country, as is the misappropriation of funds for projects such as awarding and executing an over 20 billion naira project of the Vice President’s residence and awarding a Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project worth trillions of naira at a time when a lot of federal roads are in bad shape and need repair rather than constructing a new one. While discussing ways to prove that the government is on the people’s side, Peter Obi insisted on cutting the cost of governance and called out the present administration to become people-conscious. Obi lamented institutional failure in Nigeria by calling out agencies like the EFCC for focusing on “minor” issues such as arresting crossdressers and socialite Cubana Chief Priest for abusing the Naira and urging them to tackle more critical issues such as “budget padding.” Rather than celebrating democracy, Obi insisted that
“what we should actually be celebrating is some sort of state capture where those who have captured it have cornered all the benefits that are meant for the people.”
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While Nigerians struggle to meet their daily bread, it is pertinent for the political class to channel their reforms towards the masses, as Obi advised. It is hard to understand that the necessities of life are hardly attainable for Nigerians. The leadership has failed to fully live up to its basic responsibility and must channel its path right as the country’s democratic sojourn continues.
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