Is Nigeria truly a democratic society? -By Halim Ishaq Shehu

I was very young during the military regime, and during the transition from the military regime to democracy. I can’t fathom how military operated but my parents gave me the anecdote of the epoch. They made me understand that lawlessness, intolerance, harshness and disregard for humans dignity were prevalent during the military regime in Nigeria. They, said if I had known what transpired then, I would swear never to witness such convulsive period again. They said that 1999 transition to democracy was a happy moment for the country but, my own opinion is that how have we been able to make our democracy transition a success to justify our utopia of sending the military back to the barrack?

Democracy is the most practiced system of government all over the world. Democracy as conceptualized by its doyen called Aristotle is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. It simply implies that, majority rule but for the interest of the people as a whole. Then, the concept of democracy expound the encompassing of rule of law, free and fair elections, rule of the majority in the interest of all, periodic elections et all.

However, our society and the rulers of our society have acted in aberration to the concept.

Before one can call Nigeria a truly democratic society there are salient questions one needs to ask.

How can you call Nigeria a democratic society when the elites who superintend the affairs of the country live in opulence through heisting of the country’s collective wealth while their principals live in squalor, and the elites continue to make policies not to extricate them from their plight but to exacerbate it to make them subservient to them while they continue their exploits unhindered?

How can you call Nigeria a democratic society when there has never been a time when a free and fair election was conducted and elections have always been marred by rigging and violence?.

How can you call Nigeria a democratic society when inequalities prevail, the rich continues to be rich while the poor continues to be poor?

How can you call Nigeria a democratic society when there is law for rich and for the poor? When the poor is capitally punished for a diminutive offense while the rich is set free when he commits a grave offense?

How can you call Nigeria a democratic society when it does not act in conformity to the tenets of democracy?

This question cannot easily be answered, as such another name should be used as euphemism to describe the Nigeria’s system of government not democracy.