31st May, 2013
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has said that even as the fourteen years journey the country has endured on democracy has not yielded the desired results to Nigerians, there is still great expectation that democracy will eventually bear good fruits for expectant and disappointed Nigerians.
The party therefore urges all Nigerians to remain steadfast and committed to ensure that the positive dividends of democracy accrue to all Nigerians to justify the huge investments and sacrifices made to secure the present democratic space.
In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, the party said that those that are benefitting unduly from the present democratic dividends and employing it to visit various acts of impunity on Nigerians are not aware of the huge costs endured in bringing this democratic dispensation in place.
It urges all Nigerians not to give in but fight relentlessly to sanitise and improve the quality of democracy in place, even in the face of obvious disappointment.
“No Nigerian needs a soothsayer to know that the quality of democracy we have in place is a far cry from what the founding fathers of the present democratic space had in mind when they laid down their lives, went to excruciating exile, suffered great bodily harm, loss of business, friends and properties to fight for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria in 1999.
“We know that what we are getting today is a far cry from ideal democracy as espoused by credible election where the people have the ultimate say in who gets to power, delivery of the fruits of democracy which sees national wealth and resources evenly distributed to every citizen on the basis of his capacity to access such, respect for human and individual rights of the citizens, adherence to the rule of law, justice and good governance.
“We note that these noble attributes that mark out democracy from authoritarian rule have not been adhered to in the democracy Nigeria has been practicing in the last fourteen years, hence the feeling of disillusionment, apathy and alienation that best capture the attitude of Nigerians to our fourteen years democracy,” ACN said.
It also noted that “corruption, impunity, insecurity, incompetence, sham elections, etc. have been brought in to deface the democracy we have been practicing in the last fourteen years such that the people have long ceased to be willing and interested critical partners in the Nigerian democracy. The rising incidences of poverty, rising wave of insecurity, unemployment, inflation, sectarian and ethnic intolerance, shambolic elections, infrastructural decay, disrespect for rule and law, etc, speak of a dysfunctional democracy that had not met with the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians. When we note that Nigeria has been reaping from an unceasing oil boom that has not flagged since 1999, we have reasons to align ourselves with the people’s disillusionment. But we note that brilliant sparks of achievement has been seen in some few states of the federation these past fourteen years to sustain the hope for democracy. We note that some states have done so well to meet the expectations of the citizens of their states and we believe that what the country needs is a competent, well driven, honest, frugal, intelligent leadership at the centre to drive what is presently an uncoordinated bottom-up surge to meet the expectations of Nigerians from democracy.
“We therefore call for patience in the face of disappointment, hope in the face of hopelessness and hard work to ensure that Nigeria enthrones a right leadership, with vision and competence to lead its progressive march to democratic glory in 2015. We urge Nigerians to continue to sustain the hope and belief they have in democracy as the best form of government and work very hard to improve the system we have been operating in the last fourteen years. We believe that the country stands to benefit from such attitude in the long run.”