Imperative of democracy and good governance in Nigeria

 

If you ask an average Nigerian what he or she wants, you’re likely going to hear a near unanimous response of better life, social amenities, security, employment opportunities and more money to take care of needs. All these are attainable and envisaged in two broad concepts of democracy and good governance. Many Nigerians do not want military coups because of the draconian way soldiers govern. Under a military junta, rule of law is absent. There is no constitutionalism or supremacy of the law, neither is there strict observance of fundamental human rights. Equality before the law is also a hoax under military regimes.

Conversely, strong pillars of democracy include rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances. In a true democracy, there is a regular conduct of elections, vibrant media, independent Judiciary and pro-people legislative assembly. In a democracy, the three arms of government are separate, though inter-dependent. They also act as checks on one another. The executive implements the law made by the legislature, the judiciary interprets the law and adjudicates disputes among the three arms. In an election, there is universal adult suffrage. Once you’re 18 years and above, you can register to vote at elections. Every registered voter, be you master or serf, moneybags or powerful individuals, everyone gets a chance to vote only once. The constitution has also guaranteed the freedom of press and power to hold the government to account.

These features and ingredients of democracy made it preferable to autocracy or dictatorial rule. Imagine that an individual who felt aggrieved can sue the government or any of its agencies and get favourable judgment. Democracy however is not an end in itself. It is a mere means to an end. The ultimate goal of democracy is the enhancement of good governance and development. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution says the primary purpose of government is security and welfare of citizens. It is only a democratic state that holds the constitution as sacred and inviolable.

Moving from the above theoretical framework to the practical plane, Nigeria, this year, is celebrating a centenary of electoral democracy. Recall that the first set of elections took place in 1923 after the coming into force of the Sir Hugh Clifford Constitution of 1922. What have these 100 years of elections delivered to Nigerians? Nothing special! It’s been more of misery, poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment, high cost of living rather than high standard of living. This is the prime reason for few electorate at elections. Voters ask what their previous exercise of their franchise has brought to them. They are disillusioned. The fact that election, as a democratic tenet, hasn’t delivered dividends of democracy made voters vote with their feet rather than with their fingers.

It is Nigeria’s Fourth Republic since independence in 1960. During the First Republic, we experimented with the parliamentary system of government of our colonial masters, the British. Barely six years into that voyage, our national ship capsized as the military forcefully seized the reins of government on January 15, 1960, citing rigged 1964 /65 national elections, corruption and bad governance, among others. After 13 years, there was a return to civil rule in 1979. This time, we decided to jettison the parliamentary system for the presidential system of government. This was modelled after the governance system of the United States. That is the system we have been toying with since 1979. Yet, it hasn’t delivered the much touted good governance! Remember, the military struck again on December 31, 1983 for much the same set of reasons as it advanced in 1966.

After a culminating 29 years of military adventurism in Nigeria’s politics and governance, we are very much stuck in bad governance with attendant features such as abuse of office, corruption, poverty, unemployment, infrastructural deficit, and insecurity.  While we have succeeded in routinizing elections as we have been conducting our polls as at when it falls due, we have not been able to overcome our developmental challenges. All development indices are pointing south, (negative) for Nigeria. Take for instance, the country has the highest number of out-of-school children globally. Also, the World Poverty Clock reported that there are 71 million extremely poor Nigerians, according to 2023 data. The National Bureau of Statistics classifies 133 million people as multidimensionally poor.

In April 2023, a global audit and tax advisory firm, KPMG, projected that Nigeria’s unemployment rate is expected to rise to 40.6 per cent as compared to 2022’s 37.7 per cent. KPMG detailed this forecast in its International Global Economic Outlook report – H1 2023 on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 where it stated that “unemployment is expected to continue to be a major challenge in 2023 due to the limited investment by the private sector, low industrialisation, and slower than required economic growth and consequently the inability of the economy to absorb the 4-5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year.”

Nigeria ranked 8th among the top 10 countries with the highest level of terrorism in the world. This is according to the Global Terrorism Index 2023. This was the outcome of assessment of terrorism impact in 163 countries. With a score of 8.065, Nigeria has a terrorism impact that is “very high.”  The SUNDAY PUNCH of March 10, 2023 reported that Nigeria’s misery index has soared by 11.9 percentage points to 73.05. The misery index is a measure of economic distress felt by everyday people, due to the risk of (or actual) joblessness combined with an increasing cost of living. The misery index is calculated by adding the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to the inflation rate.

According to a UNDP 2021 rating, Nigeria is ranked 163rd in the United Nations Human Development Index for the second consecutive year, a new report by the UNDP shows. In terms of the HDI score, Nigeria remained unchanged with 0.535. That’s Nigeria’s scorecard in a century of electoral democracy. Very heart-rending and disheartening! Any wonder Nigerians are embracing irregular migration to supposedly saner and better climes?

Nigerians have once again for the seventh time since return to civil rule in 1999 voted for a new set of leaders to pilot the affairs of this country for another four years. 11,082 political offices made up of a president, 36 governors, 774 local government and area council chairmen, 8,809 councillors, 993 state Houses of Assembly members, 360 House of Representatives members and 109 senators have all taken their positions across the country. The ensuing challenge is to govern well and deliver the dividends of democracy to the citizenry.

The president last Monday, October 16, 2023, had a full complement of his cabinet after swearing in additional three ministers to the already inaugurated 45. With 48 ministers which is the highest ever, plus the President, Vice President, Secretary to the Federal Government, Chief of Staff, Head of Service and National Security Adviser; this brings the cabinet to 54. To me, it is bloated and unwieldy! However, I do hope these ministers and other government appointees will roll up their sleeves and positively contribute to the eight point ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of President Bola Tinubu. At the sub-national levels viz states and local government areas, the expectation of good governance is high and I do hope the three arms and the three tiers of government will be able to positively impact our lives and deliver the much expected development. Nigerians earnestly yearn for good governance!