WHY NIGERIA SHOULD GO FOR A REFERENDUM IN 2019 INSTEAD OF ELECTION
By Amanda UZOR.
For Family Writers Press.
I have heard people say “Nigeria is the biggest democracy in Africa” and it sucks. Countless times I have heard about elections in Nigeria even when I wasn't of age to vote and each one of Nigeria's election has some sort of scandal of fraud. So, when people say “the biggest democracy' I try to find out if they mean the biggest election in Africa. Last time I checked democracy is defined as a government of the people by the people for the people. If I will define democracy in my own term I will say that democracy is a government that obeys the constitution of the country as a social contract bearing in mind that a breach of contract has consequences by law. A government that respects the citizens and allow citizen's role in influencing decisions that affects them on daily bases and not just when they vote.
A government that gives the vulnerable a voice, a stake and works with the communities for a better condition. A government that understands that constitutional amendment is the right of the people until it stands to represent the people and not a political class.
Before writing this piece I asked my friends to define democracy in their own terms and here is what they say; Democracy is non-violence, democracy is equality and democracy is inclusiveness and possibilities. For an extrovert passerby who just joined the group uninvited “Democracy is having a voice and using it” That was funny, but that makes sense.
This means that democracy is not something that is stocked in a piece of paper and makes people sing it, but a practice. It's only in Nigeria that democracy means election. In this article, I mean to say that election makes no sense for Nigerians and they should stop voting. Here is why, If you have done one thing for more than sixty(60) years with the same result, doesn't it make sense to try another way of doing it or even pause and check why you are not moving forward instead going backwards?
However, what is not clear in Nigeria's so called democracy is that, you can't distinguish from political democracy, social democracy and economic democracy and if the Nigeria's type of democracy is one seize fits all, let's assume Nigeria runs a political democracy. This entails power shared equally by citizens in which case the citizens have the actual power to legislate and demand accountability. Well, good governance is political, social and economic democracy. It is often considered to compare ineffective economies or political bodies with viable economies and political bodies. The concept centers on the responsibility of governments and governing bodies to meet the needs of the masses as opposed to select groups in society. Its standards often measure other state institutions against these states.
Now, it's obvious that Nigeria is running a dictatorship democracy that suffocates the citizen, it is the duty of the good citizens of Nigeria to rise up in unity irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliations to stop this dictatorship called democracy. There is nothing as ugly as people who don't grow up, people who can't find a sort of meaning in their lives that sustains them through difficult times. So, the people simply succumb to resentment, complaints, agitation, and violence, bitterness and fighting each other without a vision of how they can turn their lives around. Both the government and the citizens are of no use to anyone and no use to themselves and there's no structure put in place as a way out. No reasonable person will accept to be stocked in this kind of situation. What Buhari has is not power but a dominant, destructive corruption mind set and fear of the light over darkness.
If Nigeria is serious about one Nigeria, which means making the East , west, North and South to be in one big relationship with each other as one people, then the dominating power is not a solution for a long term relationship. Nigerians should first and foremost demand a revisit of the so called constitution of Nigeria and ensure EACH principle is documented in this constitution and make sure that the constitution represents a federating unit that eliminates tribe or religion where all others who are not from this tribe or followers of this religion can fit-in freely. Meanwhile, let's take a look at Plato's reference to slavery in Republic, VIII.569a-c where plato says that in the most degenerate stage of political decay, that under the tyrant, all citizens are reduced to a state of slavery. Nigeria has hit its lowest with the Buhari-APC administration, 98% of Nigerian citizens are caged, even those who do the killings and those who gave them arms are caged. Therefore, I suggest Nigerians stick to a REFERENDUM to define a vision, mission and objective of a federating unit and why they want to be a federation.
By Amanda UZOR.
For Family Writers Press.
I have heard people say “Nigeria is the biggest democracy in Africa” and it sucks. Countless times I have heard about elections in Nigeria even when I wasn't of age to vote and each one of Nigeria's election has some sort of scandal of fraud. So, when people say “the biggest democracy' I try to find out if they mean the biggest election in Africa. Last time I checked democracy is defined as a government of the people by the people for the people. If I will define democracy in my own term I will say that democracy is a government that obeys the constitution of the country as a social contract bearing in mind that a breach of contract has consequences by law. A government that respects the citizens and allow citizen's role in influencing decisions that affects them on daily bases and not just when they vote.
A government that gives the vulnerable a voice, a stake and works with the communities for a better condition. A government that understands that constitutional amendment is the right of the people until it stands to represent the people and not a political class.
Before writing this piece I asked my friends to define democracy in their own terms and here is what they say; Democracy is non-violence, democracy is equality and democracy is inclusiveness and possibilities. For an extrovert passerby who just joined the group uninvited “Democracy is having a voice and using it” That was funny, but that makes sense.
This means that democracy is not something that is stocked in a piece of paper and makes people sing it, but a practice. It's only in Nigeria that democracy means election. In this article, I mean to say that election makes no sense for Nigerians and they should stop voting. Here is why, If you have done one thing for more than sixty(60) years with the same result, doesn't it make sense to try another way of doing it or even pause and check why you are not moving forward instead going backwards?
However, what is not clear in Nigeria's so called democracy is that, you can't distinguish from political democracy, social democracy and economic democracy and if the Nigeria's type of democracy is one seize fits all, let's assume Nigeria runs a political democracy. This entails power shared equally by citizens in which case the citizens have the actual power to legislate and demand accountability. Well, good governance is political, social and economic democracy. It is often considered to compare ineffective economies or political bodies with viable economies and political bodies. The concept centers on the responsibility of governments and governing bodies to meet the needs of the masses as opposed to select groups in society. Its standards often measure other state institutions against these states.
Now, it's obvious that Nigeria is running a dictatorship democracy that suffocates the citizen, it is the duty of the good citizens of Nigeria to rise up in unity irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliations to stop this dictatorship called democracy. There is nothing as ugly as people who don't grow up, people who can't find a sort of meaning in their lives that sustains them through difficult times. So, the people simply succumb to resentment, complaints, agitation, and violence, bitterness and fighting each other without a vision of how they can turn their lives around. Both the government and the citizens are of no use to anyone and no use to themselves and there's no structure put in place as a way out. No reasonable person will accept to be stocked in this kind of situation. What Buhari has is not power but a dominant, destructive corruption mind set and fear of the light over darkness.
If Nigeria is serious about one Nigeria, which means making the East , west, North and South to be in one big relationship with each other as one people, then the dominating power is not a solution for a long term relationship. Nigerians should first and foremost demand a revisit of the so called constitution of Nigeria and ensure EACH principle is documented in this constitution and make sure that the constitution represents a federating unit that eliminates tribe or religion where all others who are not from this tribe or followers of this religion can fit-in freely. Meanwhile, let's take a look at Plato's reference to slavery in Republic, VIII.569a-c where plato says that in the most degenerate stage of political decay, that under the tyrant, all citizens are reduced to a state of slavery. Nigeria has hit its lowest with the Buhari-APC administration, 98% of Nigerian citizens are caged, even those who do the killings and those who gave them arms are caged. Therefore, I suggest Nigerians stick to a REFERENDUM to define a vision, mission and objective of a federating unit and why they want to be a federation.
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