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During my days in the secondary school, we were taught that democracy “is the government of the people for the people and by the people”’ I have lived with this definition as a growing youth all these while; but now that I am a full grown youth and have started participating in youths and governmental activities, I have come to realize that the definition of democracy we were taught in school is a verbal statement in the case of my country, Nigeria. Democracy in my country is “The government of the rich for the rich and by the rich.
There seems to be a great confusion about what the word ‘DEMOCRACY’ means in terms of Nigeria’s way of practicing it. From the first definition of the word, it means that all the people should be able to have their say in one way and in everything that affects their lives. It is a fact that our rights can be exercised directly by every member of a community having the possibility to enter personally without mediators, his position on a particular issue into the decision making process or through representatives which is referred to as Representative Democracy. Representative Democracy would be fine if the representatives would really make all their decisions only after consulting their respective constituency. And after having a clear idea about the views of their constituencies on a particular issue, and trying to accommodate these views as best as possible.
Unfortunately, the case is different when talking about Nigeria. Most of the elected representatives are just elected dictators. As soon as they are voted, you will not get to see them again till the next four years when they will start campaigning for another election. And they will do anything possible to make sure they are re-elected even if the people refuse to vote them. But it will be shocking news to hear on the media, that the same man that was not accepted by his own constituency won the election. In Nigerian context, you already know who is going to win before the Election Day. And the rich decide not even the vote of the masses.
Another aspect of Democracy that is really wrong is the minority and majority issue. Majority rule is not really democracy. And if it were, democracy would be a bad thing, so it is good thing it’s not. We need true democracy. When talking about rule by the people, democracy does not need to be majority rule. In fact, I do not think it can be majority rule because some percentage of people get left out, even on decisions that are really only about what makes them happy. Eventually, everyone gets left out, except the people in the government who execute the voted laws. Because you are always going to be the one who got shafted with the minority on some vote. Another case that affects democracy badly in Nigeria is multi-party system. It is really wrong, because when you are not a member of a particular party, you are regarded as an enemy of that party. That situation has caused a lot of violence in the country. In my suggestion, I will advise that Nigeria should not have so many Political Parties, and that after the election, all political parties should be dissolved in order for everybody to see one another as one and not to see one another as different people due to difference in party membership. A country that hopes to make giant strides in development, rooting out corruption and pursue the principles of transparency as a functional bases for governance and above all garner the goodwill and respect of other nations cannot afford to tolerate the participations of criminals in the highest echelon of government as is present in the case of Nigeria’s representatives.
Since Nigeria became independent of Great Britain in 1960, it has not experienced any form of true democracy till date. Democracy to me means rule by the people where any representative elected does not neglect his people; where everybody has the right to contribute in the decision making, where everybody is regarded as one. But what we are experiencing is called ‘Democratic Dictatorship’. A system where the majority enjoy democracy and the minority who shares other beliefs are forced to take part in democratic projects they are not too fond of. The only way democracy can really survive in Nigeria in the future is educating and creating awareness among the younger youths on the effect of democracy, since they are the leaders of tomorrow. As a member of a youth body in my community, one of our aims is to make sure we build up future youths in the right way, educating and enlightening them about the things they will soon be confronting in life and possible ways to over some of them. I am taking this pain to make sure am among the people that will bring the birth of a liberal democracy in my community because of the love I have for my community and the country at large, and due to my understanding about the word ‘Democracy’.
My vision about democracy in my society is that in the future, Nigeria will experience true democracy, if all non-governmental organization and youth bodies look towards actualizing true democracy. It is obvious that many youth bodies in Nigeria are formed by politicians to use them as an avenue in rigging and winning elections. It is true that the non-governmental organizations and youth bodies are helping in educating youths about the disadvantages in their participation in refusing democracy in our communities. But the fact they really forget is that venues in which the prgrams are being held is not the right place. The people that need these education and awareness campaigns about democracy are those living in the rural areas, people that do not have enough access to information and good education. But when they organize program like such, they only do it in the big cities neglecting the poor.
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Marvin
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