A former Minister of Education and chieftain of the Social Democratic Party, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, has said that Nigeria’s democratic journey since 1999 has been retrogressive.
Adeniran said that since the country returned to democratic rule 21 years ago, it had been taking a step forward and three steps backward.
The former minister told our correspondent that what had been happening in Nigeria in the past 21 years was not democracy but civil rule, stressing that all elements of democracy had been lacking.
He said elections over the years had been characterised by rigging and violence, tendencies which he said were far from democratic norms.
Adeniran said, “As we progress in our journey to democracy, we need to work harder and be more serious on the issue of democracy in our land.
“We need to be on track. Democracy goes beyond holding elections. It should be a consolidation of the process of people determining who governs them and people must not just be part of the process.
“We must also build institutions of democracy and strengthen them. We should not leave democracy in the hands of the people who want power at all costs, but those who allow the freewill of the people. We must determine who rules the people through the rule of law, rather than the use of arms or through violence. Democracy should be defined by the people.
“Courts should be allowed to play their assigned role and carry out their responsibilities without force or coercion. Matters should be determined, based on the rule of law and courts should be allowed to concentrate and dispense justice.”
He futher said that the monetisation of the political process should be stopped, adding that this was the reason many credible people could not come to contest elections in the country.
Adeniran said,”We need to stop the monetisation of the electoral process. To contest elections in the country, you need to spend millions, if not billions, depending on the position you are vying for. We need to stop this . We need to give room for credible people to come into governance.
“We must also stop the use of violence in elections. Violence is another sad commentary in our electoral process. We need to do more. That is why I said earlier that we must build institutions of democracy and not individuals. When this is done, our democracy will have tap root and we will be better for it as a nation.”
He, however, added, “We must still congratulate ourselves that, for the past 21 years, we have been having democratic rule. Despite its limitations, I think we are still better than under the military.”
He urged citizens to cooperate with the government and said Nigerian youths should not allow themselves to be used to cause violence during and after the elections.
