Changing “Democracy Day” from May 29 to June 12 is of little significance if Nigerians are unsafe, taunted by government agents and by criminals.
As Nigeria marks its twenty-one years of unbroken democracy, a closer look at specifics has become altogether unavoidable. In the light of Nigeria’s penchant for wild claims and increasing proclivity for self-congratulation even for doing nothing except maintain status quo, it has become imperative that the country’s democratic experiment over these long years is weighed against the core mandate and minutest basics of democratic governance and deliverables.
The major duty of an elected government is the protection of lives and properties of citizens. This responsibility in democratic governance is both the foundation of every modern state and the hallmark of a functional democracy. Quite justly, the safety of lives and properties of citizens are the twin inseparable quintessence of democratic governance. For indeed, one has to be alive and well, with his right to property fully guaranteed and respected to be able to make other progress. This is the foundation of democratic dividends; everything else is shaped by a democracy’s ability to protect the lives and properties of all citizens. Going forward, the elementary question for Nigeria is, has the country priced and protected the lives and properties of her citizens? Or put differently, has Nigeria achieved the twin non-negotiable mandate of democratization in twenty-one years?
The second-generation Niger Delta Agitations championed by Ken Saro-Wiwa was brought to an abrupt end after his murder alongside his compatriots
Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999 was greeted with high expectations especially because of many years of military rule which has been serially blamed for the country’s malaise. As a despotic and tyrannical system, military government is often characterized by absence of human rights, essentially because there is no law to which everybody is subjected, much less rule of law. Invariably, for the military which has ruled by degrees, it’s in their administrative nature to be highhanded and to loathe dissent. Objection or any form of opposition against the government is seen as a crime against the state. Leaving citizens gripped by fear of uncertainty and for their lives and property under a system where government can literally do anything purely based on power. The second-generation Niger Delta Agitations championed by Ken Saro-Wiwa was brought to an abrupt end after his murder alongside his compatriots, despite internal and external opposition to the decision by the Abacha led military dictatorship who, against all entreaties, refused to pardon and release them. They were murdered and there was nothing anyone could do about it. That was the reality of the military era.
To appreciate the enormity of people’s jubilation upon return to civilian rule in 1999, one must only realize that for having as much as the courage to write in opposition to military government or lead any protest; he could pay the ultimate price for it. But twenty-one years on as a democracy, apparently, many of these expectations must be reassessed, against what has been transpired in Nigeria over those years.
Security concerns and agitation in the Niger Delta entered a third wave after the swearing-in of President Obasanjo in 1999. In the same year, Odi, a town in Bayelsa state, following security breaches, received a dispatch of police officers to maintain the peace. These officers were killed. Then they received a dispatch of Nigerian Army who leveled the community and razed it totally to the ground with their fire power, leaving only “a bank, a health centre and an Anglican Church”, according to Karl Maier, African-based British veteran journalist.
President Obasanjo was a military man and former despotic leader. At best, he is a democrat by circumstance or by convert.
The Nigerian Red Cross reported that several thousands fled the town of Odi. Upon his visit to Odi, the former Senate President Chuba Okadigbo said; “The facts speak for themselves. There is no need for speech because there is nobody to talk with”. The message was clear after all; “might is right” and perhaps, the Niger Delta got the message because what followed was wild spread violence and militancy that nearly crippled oil production in the region during the peak of Obasanjo’s presidency. Although months later, President Obasanjo used the same violent approach on Zaki Biam, a town in Benue state North Central Nigeria. Zaki Biam was reduced to rubbles in a show of force and state violence against her citizens following skirmishes between security officers and the villagers which led to the death of some officers. These are deliberate, calculated state sponsored violence against its own citizens in fragrant desecration of democratic ethos. President Obasanjo was a military man and former despotic leader. At best, he is a democrat by circumstance or by convert. But one can hardly harmonize these actions with democracy in practice. Then, again, the actions laid a militarized foundation for Nigeria’s new democracy, from inception.
President Yar adua, Obsanjo’s successor in his short stint, offered amnesty to Niger Delta militants after they relied on their acquired fire power to cause so much disruption to Nigeria’s economic mainstay: crude oil. The agitations of Niger Delta remained unaddressed and even with President Jonathan –himself a Niger Delta Ijaw man from Bayelsa state, no serious attention was paid to addressing the concerns of Niger Delta people: the continuous exploration of the oil in their land, destruction of their farmland, and fishing made worse by degradation and pollution, and then expropriating money from oil sales to other places with no attempt to improve the lives of those that suffer the most from oil exploration. These are just and fair agitations that ought to receive considerable attention in a democracy, instead, it received the severest highhandedness in the form of a military retaliation.
Boko Haram became a major instrument for campaign against President Jonathan and his bid for second term in office in 2015, which he lost.
Notwithstanding that he did not do much to improve the living conditions of Niger Delta people, President Jonathan faced a different challenge that borders on security of lives and property. Presidents Obasanjo and Yar adua were faced with the challenge of managing agitations and opposition, but President Jonathan was faced with containing insurgency, that quickly rose from a ragtag group of dissidents, to a terrifying terror group. Boko Haram became a major instrument for campaign against President Jonathan and his bid for second term in office in 2015, which he lost.
The Chibok girls’ saga is still fresh in the mind. Yet, in 2018, several schoolgirls including Leah Sharibu were abducted in Dapchi. Leah and others are still in Boko Haram custody, worst still, there is little hope that they will ever return and be united to their families. Boko Haram is responsible for killing thousands of civilians and destroying several billion worth of private and public property across the northern parts of Nigeria, with the government looking helpless as hapless citizens are killed in dozens on daily basis by heartless terrorists. As a result, over two million people are in different Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in their own country. Formerly independent able-bodied men and women living their dreams now confined within the walls of refugee camps, where they depend on handouts to survive with no clear assurance of getting their lives back. This is in addition to thousands of school kids not being able to return to school because their lives have been altered by insecurity.
Since 2015, President Buhari has been faced with the tripartite security challenge of Boko Haram insurgency, Islamic State West Africa and Fulani herdsmen militants. The government visibly is unable to solve the Boko Haram insecurity which he had pleaded to resolve if elected. Five years on, there is no solution in sight. Instead, there is increasing escalation of violence and displacement of citizens on account of insecurity. Farmers across the country are under constant threat by herdsmen invasion of their farms and destruction of their crops, and oftentimes with violent attacks if their illegal actions are resisted by the farmers; and no government response coming to their aid.
As of today, it is as if armed groups are competing amongst themselves for claim to who’s more brutal at dishing out extreme violence on innocent citizens. All along, Nigeria appears increasing weak or unsure how to decisively address these security concerns. This dreadful situation has been described by the Norwegian Refugee Council as one of the ten world’s most neglected displacement crisis for year 2020. Yet, a few days ago, scores of people were killed, and houses burnt in Katsina state, the president Mohammadu Buhari’s home state.
Still, not even COVID-19 could stop the wanton killings of Nigerians. During the COVID-19 national lockdown, Aljazeera reported that about eighteen Nigerians were killed by security agents for disobeying lockdown orders. The figure is by far more than the number of people killed by COVID-19 during the same period. This was also reported by BBC and Reuters, for the whole world to see just how much we value the lives of citizes.
More recently, Imo state governor Hope Uzodimma is holding citizen Ambrose Nwaogwugwo for calling him “the supreme court Abuja-made governor”.
In Kaduna state, Steven Kefas, a citizen of Kaduna state, was arbitrarily arrested for having dissenting political opinion and disagreeing with the government on principle. Other instances of violation of human rights of Nigerians include the whereabouts of citizen Dadiyata of Kaduna state, known for his opposition to the government of Kaduna state, remain unknown. In Cross River state, until recently, Governor Ben Ayede held citizen Agba Jalingo, a critique of the government, in violation of his human rights and against good conscience amidst several campaigns for his release. More recently, Imo state governor Hope Uzodimma is holding citizen Ambrose Nwaogwugwo for calling him “the supreme court Abuja-made governor”.
From all sides, the safety of Nigerians is not guaranteed as citizens could be murdered by state actors just as much as they are murdered by terrorists in a democratic Nigeria. This is Nigeria after twenty-one years of democratic experiment. For us in the comfort of our homes, we may never understand the rippling effects of these security situation, how it displaces people or what it feels like to live in a make-shift camp because of failed security.
Changing “Democracy Day” from May 29 to June 12 is of little significance if Nigerians are unsafe, taunted by government agents and by criminals. What is important however, is that as Nigeria marks a milestone twenty-one years of uninterrupted democracy, the country leaders should purse and reflect on how Nigeria has failed democracy and dashed the hopes of her citizens by failing to protect their lives and properties, after these years.
♦ Writer and trained political scientist, Ebuka Onyekwelu is a writer and columnist with the WAP
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