August 10, 2001
Democracy is back in Nigeria but the journey to this point has not been smooth nor easy, infact, the fight for democracy wrecked havoc of unimaginable proportions on the nation of Nigeria and her citizenry. Many people like Chris Anyanwu lost their freedom, Gani Fawehinmi was tormented beyond belief and many like Dele Giwa, Kudirat Abiola and others, paid with their lives! We must therefore rise as one nation and with one voice pay tribute to these champions of democracy in Nigeria both living and deceased, known and unknown, vocal or quiet, for this time around democracy has come to stay.
So what does this pleasant turn of events mean for Nigeria as a nation? As Americans would say, NOW WHAT? It simply means that Nigerians have once again become the architects of their destiny! The hackneyed expression "As you make your bed, so must you lie on it" has become even more relevant in the Nigerian political context. To sustain our nascent democracy, we must nurture it, treat it like a new bride, handle it like a basket of eggs and we must play by the rules envisioned by the forerunners of this noble ideology. If we fumble and blow this God-given opportunity once again, we may never get another chance and we would not even have the army chaps to blame again because, they would be out of the equation for good.
Many years ago, I listened to an epoch-making sermon at the St Mary’s Cathedral Nnewi. It was delivered by the resident Pastor at the height of Shehu Shagari’s administration. This sermon continues to echo in my mind to this day, not just because of its prophetic significance, but also because of the passion with which the Reverend delivered it to a very attentive audience. He was lamenting the state of affairs in the country; he talked about the vices that had enveloped Nigeria at the time and wondered why our democracy seemed more like a counterfeit rather than a true one? He said that democracy yields dividends only when practiced as should and he added that rather than practice true democracy, Nigerians had become "DEMON-CRAZY." With melodramatic prose, he described the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra and asked all to pray so as to avoid consequences akin to what Sodom suffered. He was right! At this time, corruption, favoritism, bribery, ineptitude, mediocrity, etc had taken center stage in the country. Our law-men that were paid to make laws for the nation, practically derelicted their duties turning their living quarters at the infamous "1004 building" in Lagos into a haven where (at their invitation) young girls could be seen at odd hours of the day gallivanting from corner to corner. Not long after the Reverend's prophetic sermon, Muhammadu Buhari and his never-smiling Deputy, Tunde Idiagbon struck!
The intervention of the military brought a catastrophic end to a democracy that was still struggling to take hold in the face of civilian mismanagement and corruption. Coincidentally, Buhari cited the state of affairs in Nigeria as the primary reason for their intervention! For the next 15 years or so, the army boys took turns at plundering the nation's coffers, spewing forth their destructive influence as far afoot as they could reach.
The "khaki boys" capitalized on the state of affairs in the country and struck. They felt that we were incapable of ruling our selves. Generals Idiagbon and Buhari instituted the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) program where Koboko-wielding soldiers flogged people mercilessly for dropping thrash on the streets, for jumping queues in post offices, banks and petrol stations. This assumed a sadistic twist because the soldiers enjoyed the power this conveyed on them; it was absolute power and absolute power corrupted them absolutely. They flogged and bullied people into submission and suddenly, places like Lagos began to turn into clean cities; if you dropped thrash on the street, people would nearly lynch you and if you jumped a queue, people would almost burn you alive. Even the police stopped asking for bribe brazen-facedly instead, they did it more discretely. A friend of mine, who came into the country at the time oblivious of the WAI program, was flabbergasted at his encounter with customs officials at Murtala Muhammed airport. He was expecting the usual "oga wetin you carry?" which is the prelude to asking for bribe. That did not happen, instead, the customs official simply asked him cordially to open his bag and dutifully searched his baggage after which the officer closed his bag and said, "welcome to Nigeria sir." A lot of people liked the results of the WAI program, but loathed the modus operandi of the military boys.
Since the demise of the WAI program, some nagging questions have continued in my mind: if Nigerians are capable of decency, why did they need the unsmiling duo of Buhari and Idiagbon to treat them like animals before they displayed their goodness? Why did they allow the army to flog them like horses before realizing that they should not throw thrash on the streets? Why did we need to be reminded to wait for our turns in queues?
Now that we have another democracy, we have another chance to correct the mistakes we made in the past. We have the chance to don our cloaks of decency and demonstrate to the army and the whole world, that we are capable of doing good voluntarily. We must show the khaki boys that we have the collective ability and intellect to rule ourselves, to do what is right and that we can do without their hypocritical, "holier than thou" wickedness, disguised as governance. We must show them that we would no longer play into their hands because we know that they are like hungry vultures ready to pounce at the slightest whiff of the smell of death! We must look at some of the things that made a mockery of our democracy in the past and work to stamp them out altogether.
As we speak out against the excesses of our current and past leaders, as we condemn the un-forgivable atrocities perpetrated on us by the army boys from Doddan Barracks and Aso rock, we must remain cognizant of the fact that in a democratic dispensation, the citizenry has obligations too; obligation to conform to the rule of law and do what is right.
Take the issue of bribery for instance: a democracy that condones (albeit unwittingly) the bribing of law enforcement agents, is founded on quick sand because that democracy will not only be shaky, but law enforcement agents cannot be relied on. Granted, we have a police force so corrupt that some of its members rely on bribe for existence but it seems to me that we the citizenry, aid and abet this abhorrent practice. The idea of bribing the police force has become entrenched in our national psyche so much so that people set aside money for bribing police even when they have done nothing wrong! I was recently told by a contemporary that if you do not offer bribe to the police when they stop you on the road, they will intentionally delay you, hoping that very soon, you would crack and "put hand for pocket for them" We should not be encouraging this practice because the police plays a pivotal role in the furtherance of the ethos of democracy; they enforce the laws, fight crime and the mere presence of the police can act as a deterrent to crime. If the police continue to get the tacit support of the citizenry with respect to bribery, it would never stop and we would never be able to trust them to discharge their duties with probity. Recall the story of some police people colluding with robbers and in some cases, supplying them with arms to harass, main or even kill the citizens they are supposed to protect.
We must work together to discourage bribery in all forms whether to the police or any other persons. Bribery is a culprit in the appointment of unqualified people to government positions culminating in mediocrity, it is a culprit in the award of road construction contracts to incompetent contractors resulting in construction of bad roads, it is yet a culprit in examination malpractices leading to graduation of functional illiterates from some schools and it is a culprit in the importation and distribution of fake and expired drugs to unsuspecting citizens, the list goes on and on.
The judiciary is the third arm of government in a true democracy. This institution plays a very important role in all facets of national existence. If an election process goes awry, the judiciary is relied upon to sort things out, if couples can no longer coexist, they turn to the courts to settle things, if someone’s rights are violated, it is once again the courts that they turn to. The military came close to bastardizing the judicial process in Nigeria with their kangaroo courts and tribunals, but thanks to the unrelenting efforts of some courageous Nigerians, they can be said to have failed. As a first step towards sanitizing the judicial system, the President must ensure that all those evil and draconian decrees they promulgated during the military era, must all be repealed. The courts must be independent and court officials must watch their public statements and avoid being embroiled in politics otherwise, they would lose their moral authority to dispense justice. Backlogged cases must be cleared up in courts to make way for new ones.
One of the greatest fruits of democracy is the protection of the rights of the citizen to free speech, freedom of association, peaceful existence, etc. While human rights record of Nigeria has improved during Obasanjo’s regime, it must be emphasized that human rights abuses come in very many forms. When a common man’s rights are trampled upon by the rich and powerful, it is abuse; when leaders take advantage of their positions and deny people of things that are due them, it is a form of abuse. This is one of the reasons why the courts must maintain their integrity in the eyes of people so the downtrodden would have enough faith in them to seek redress if and when oppressed.
The tax burden in any democracy falls on all citizens and is usually graduated so that people pay in accordance with what they make. This is part of the money the government depends on for societal upkeep. In Nigeria today, the burden is still lopsidedly distributed so much so that mainly civil servants (whose salaries can not be hidden by them) and big companies (whose accounts are audited) pay the bulk sum. Some very wealthy individuals still pay very little because of favoritism or bribery. It is said here in the USA that in life, only two things are certain- death and tax. The United States Government pays a lot of attention to tax collection because it provides the bulk of the money that oils the wheel of government. In the USA, wealthy and powerful individuals have been jailed for tax evasion; remember Leona Hemsley? Wealthy Nigerians should start giving the nation as much as they are getting out of the nation. If they want good roads and electricity, if they want the menace of robbers to be curtailed by buying police better weaponry, they must pay their fair share. Bottom line is that the tax system in Nigeria needs to be overhauled to ensure that people pay their fair share.
Recently, the Minister of Information - Jerry Gana, while commenting on the policy of 100% inspection of goods at the ports was quoted as saying "Nigerian importers are conniving with foreigners to defraud the country". He accused the businessmen of collaborating with unscrupulous Lebanese and Indian businessmen to ruin the nation’s economy by making false declaration of the content of their containers to evade taxation. Haba Nigeria, where is the spirit of patriotism? How can we be encouraging strangers to come and ruin our nation? There is an Ibo adage that goes like this: it is the rat at home that tells the rat in the bush that there is fish in the basket at home. Simply put, the Lebanese and Indians could probably not pull off the fraud without the collaboration of our people. We must change this type of unpatriotic attitude because it would not help our democracy; it would only ruin it.
Discipline and civility, are proverbial oils that lubricate the wheel of democracy and make it run smoothly. The habit of jumping queues in banks, post offices, petrol stations and even in traffic do not augur well for the nation. Excessive speeding, drunk driving, driving on shoulders and other irresponsible behavior in traffic, which contribute to road accidents, must be changed. As I said earlier, let us show the army boys that we are inherently good and decent. We must not give the impression that we would only become decent and civil when we are flogged and dehumanized by the likes of Idiagbon and Buhari.
I support Governor Tinubu's call at the NYSC Annual Management Conference, for special orientation of Corpers aimed at "inculcating in them patriotism, national pride, democratic principles and code of conduct which abhor corruption, self centeredness and divisiveness." As simple as this proposal sounds, it could help us nurture democracy in those who are upcoming leaders of Nigeria.
Advance fee fraud activities (419), drug peddling, importation of expired or fake medications, petrol bunkering, etc are all things that give Nigeria a very bad name in international circles. We must change all these for we have our destiny in our hands as a result of our democracy, and to sustain it, we must not undermine the progress of the nation.
Press freedom is very important in any democracy. Again, Obasanjo’s administration seems to have a passing mark for not encroaching on this. Our press has the responsibility to avoid irresponsible reporting or jaundiced journalism. Reporting must come from exhaustive investigative journalism and once the truth is unearthed, it must be reported without fear or favor. The press must keep the masses abreast of issues and remember that their reports are capable of building or tearing down our democracy.
The rate at which the cost of foodstuff is rising in Nigeria is alarming, but as citizens, we must depend less on the government and start helping ourselves. In the past, families may be poor, but they never lacked food to eat and that was because each family engaged in small-scale farming (subsistence). They planted cassava for making garri, planted yam, maize, cocoa-yam, some reared goats, chickens, etc. These provided them with sufficient food all year round and cases of hunger were either non-existent or just occasionally heard of. These days, everyone seems to have abandoned farming in search of non-existent "golden fleece" The result is that those that are wise enough to continue farming and rearing live stock, sell their products at cut throat prices because too few goods are being chased by a lot of money -economics 101. We always seem to do things to the extreme in Nigeria; today several fertile former farmlands have been cleared and replaced with real estate and if we do not proceed with caution, we would even run out of fertile land for family subsistence farming.
The consequences of hunger cannot be overemphasized though. It is said that a hungry man is an angry man and for all I know, it seems as though in Nigeria today, everyone is angry. With that type of widespread anger, democracy cannot take hold. I was however happy to read that the Federal Government has approved a six billion naira special food program to facilitate the development of rural communities and reduce poverty among farmers. This is part of effort to boost food production in the country. It is indeed a welcome development because people would become resistant to democratic principles, if they were hungry.
Finally, I do not profess to have covered everything, but it is important that a healthy discourse ensue on how the current government and the citizenry could work hand in hand for the advancement of Nigeria' nascent democracy.
Guides
