BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE, FRANCIS KADIRI, TIMOTHY AGBOR
Nigeria is still largely in the woods after 22 years of democracy. This was the harsh verdict of some leading voices in the country, who felt the end had not justified the means, considering the worsening situation in the land.
In their opinion, looking back at the tortuous journey during the military interregnum and the struggles and sacrifices made, the current situation of insecurity, economic woes, ethnic bigotry, kidnapping, banditry and terrorism being witnessed in the country are all offshoots of bad leadership and lack of willpower to pull the country away from the brinks of abyss.
President, Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Waba, while giving an assessment of the progress made within the 22 years of democracy, said, “The fact is that for the past 22 years, we said we are practising democracy. But in terms of giving dividends to the Nigerian people, there are deficits in all sectors of the Nigerian economy, and we still have a long way to go. We have not been able to fix the economy. When you compare Nigeria with other climes that do not have the resources that we have, they are doing much better than Nigeria.
“The problem of economic security is even worse. Today, the exchange rate is about N500 to a Dollar. This spells doom for a nation that is an import dependent economy. Nigeria imports almost everything that is used in the country. This means that people are getting poorer by the day.”
On corruption, he said, “Only the political elite in Nigeria are thriving because they have free access to our resources and because the anti-corruption war has not yet succeeded, people are still stealing. The TSA, which we thought would help to curb corruption, has not changed the story. People stealing from government coffers have devised new ways of undermining the TSA. This is where we are. However, I would say that we are still together as a country and I think that is some progress.
“You cannot say that we have not made progress, but when you compare the resources that accrued to this country for the past 22 years to where we are, you will see that the progress is insignificant. If 50 per cent of the resources was used to cater for the people through provision of infrastructure, you will be certain that we would not have been where we are today.
“ActionAid made public a report it carried out to evaluate the impact of factory closure in Nigeria. The report revealed that in Kano alone, more than 500 factories were closed down. This means huge number of job losses. So, for the NLC which represents workers, we have been at the receiving end. I don’t see new industries springing up under the current situation of the country. So, how would our people get jobs to take care of their families? I can tell you that after 22 years of democracy in Nigeria, there is a long way to go. In terms of benefit to ordinary Nigerians, the deficit is enormous.”
Describing youth unemployment as a time bomb, Waba lamented that the country was still grappling with the problem.
“We have two classes of youth challenges in Nigeria. The first group is those who passed through the four corners of our educational institution, and have remained unemployed. The second group is the untrained unemployed youths, sometimes referred to as areas boys in Lagos,” he said.
Scoring government low on security, he said that poor welfare for citizens showed that the country was going from bad to worse. He added that a nation with an army of unemployed youths could not boast of progress.
In the opinion of former Nigerian Ambassador to Philippine, Yemi Farounbi, Buhari’s administration is a great threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
Farounbi said the sectional interest of the current government constituted a threat to the nation’s democracy “just as it contributes to its inability to guarantee security and welfare for the citizens.”
“When it appears that the government elected by the people has sectional interest, it would be a threat to democracy,” he noted.
As a way forward, he advised the government to be fair and just to all sections of the country, stressing that “Government should not interfere with the right of the people to access information. So long as we wish to perpetuate inequality, the people won’t have confidence in the government. They want a new constitution; find a way of doing it, not just dismissing them that they cannot have a new constitution.”
“They have elected Buhari to solve their problems; we have not elected government at various levels and at various arms so that those they have elected will treat them with contempt and disdain. Government must disembark from its high horse and arrogance in dealing with the people,” he added.
President, Women Arise and Centre for Change, Joe Okei-Odumakin, in a statement, titled, “June 12 is here again”, lamented that huge investment had been committed to democracy with just a little result to show.
The Chairman, Civil Society Coalition in Osun State, Waheed Lawal, described the failure of government to secure the citizens as a grave danger for the nation’s democracy. To this end, he said the civil societies would not relent in their protest against bad governance and insecurity.
“The Constitution says President Buhari must provide security for Nigerians and their properties and cater for the welfare of the citizens. These two cogent needs we are lacking in Nigeria,” Lawal said.
“The threat to democracy is insecurity. We must tell ourselves the plain truth, banditry, killings, cultism, attacks here and there are threats to democracy and I hold the President responsible for these threats. Government must rise to this challenge and it is the duty of Mr President as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces,” he noted.
