NIGERIA’S INDEPENDENCE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF DEMOCRACY: THE JOURNEY SO FOR BY CHIEF DR. ISAAC ZEB-OBIPI

NIGERIA’S INDEPENDENCE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF DEMOCRACY: THE JOURNEY SO FOR BY   CHIEF DR. ISAAC ZEB-OBIPI


Being paper presented at the 56th Nigeria’s Independence Celebration at the Multi-purpose Hall of the Okrika Local Government Council on 1st October, 2016

1. INTRODUCTION
I wish to thank the Okrika Local Government Council (WALGA) for organizing this programme and giving me the opportunity to give this lecture. I have had several opportunities in the past to be Guest Lecturer at some Council events. This has a special place in my heart because of the uniqueness of most of the audience- students drawn from schools in the area, our future leaders. For this reason, I have forgiven the organizers for the lateness of the invitation to come and give this lecture.

The topic I was given to speak on has been slightly modified; though still covering the key areas suggested by the original topic. These areas are: (a) Nigeria’s Independence, (b) Importance of Democracy, and (c) Journey so Far. The approach I have chosen is three-fold namely:

a) Brief discussion of Nigeria’s Independence
b) Statement of the importance of democracy
c) Evaluation of Nigeria’s Democracy since Independence.

2. NIGERIA’S INDEPENDENCE
The people of Nigeria lived in city states before they were colonized by Britain. The colonist did a number of amalgamations that culminated in 1914 when the city states that were earlier merged into protectorates became further merged and the result of the merger called Nigeria, a name given to the area in 1898.

By virtue of the colonial system of government, Nigeria was a country of Britain and as such was under the jurisdiction of the Monarch of Britain. The monarch ruled Nigeria through Governors-General, the first Governor-General being Sir Frederick Lugard whose wife gave the Country its name. Successive Governors-General administered Nigeria using Indirect Rule System and Regional Governments (Northern, Western, and Eastern Regions; the Mid-Western Region these in 1963). There were eight British Governors-General, the last being Sir James Wilson Robertson.

Through a combination of factors, the colonial government was forced to make several constitutional changes leading to the attainment of independence in 1960 with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as the indigenous Governor-General. Even at independence, Nigeria was still under the headship of the Queen of England until it became a Republic in 1963 with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as first President and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister having being so elected since 1957.

3. IMPORTANCE OF DEMOCRACY
Democracy is a system of government in which the position and behavior of persons in leadership depend on (are functions of) a people’s choice. It has been popularly referred to as a government of the people, by the people and for the people. These two definitions suggest the centrality of people in a democracy, this perhaps explains why the PDP would prefer “Power to the people” to just “Change” except letting the people change a change that is far from being posture.

Analytically, the definitions imply a framework of leadership elements thus:

a) Leader: Found in all arms and levels of government, the politicians, either elected or appointed.

b) Follower: The essence of leadership, the people who voted politicians; and by their votes caused the appointment of the others.

c) Power: Ability to exact influence on the followers towards a desired direction.

d) Worthwhileness: Value offered by the leader to the followers and which involves the deliberate allocation of satisfaction to them.

e) Succession: Non-permanence of the occupancy of a leadership position with the imperatives of focusing on posterity and governance continuity.

Democracy is important because it affords people the opportunity to:

a) Elect their leaders
b) Hold their leaders accountable
c) Make their voices heard
d) Appropriately reward/punish their leaders
e) Ultimately determine their destiny.

4. THE JOURNEY SO FAR
Since Independence, Nigeria has experienced disrupted democracy resulting in it recording several “Republics”
a) 1960 – 1966 (January): First Republic
b) 1966 – 1979 (October): Disrupted Democracy
c) 1979 – 1983 (December): Second Republic
d) 1983 – 1993 (August): Disrupted Democracy
e) 1993 – 1993 (November): Third Republic
f) 1993 – 1999 (May): Disrupted Democracy
g) 1999 – Date: Fourth Republic

Even the period associated with democracy, the extent to which the elements of democracy were observed has been very limited, and this has accounted for democracy in Nigeria still being referred to as being “nascent”. A number of factors have been said to be responsible for democracy in Nigeria being “multi-republican nascent”; in other words why it hasn’t taken root as much as expected. These factors include:

a) Religion and ethnicity
b) Greed and corruption
c) Illiteracy and Ignorance
d) Sycophancy and god-fatherism (Power cult)
e) Incompetency and deception/pretence

There are several consequences of these:
a) Violet, rigged and inconclusive elections
b) Lack of continuity in governance and abandoned projects
c) Reversion of gains made sometimes and stagnation in development
d) Agitations for secession and resource control with the associated insurgency and militancy; calling to question the extent of our federation
e) Abuse of power and infraction of people’s rights

5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The city states of Nigerian were merged by the British colonialists into a country through successive amalgamations that culminated into our having one country in 1914, independent country in 1960, and a Republic in 1963.

Democracy is an admirable and desirable system of government for Nigeria. The practice of democracy in Nigeria since Independence has not met the expectations of democracy across the world. The factors responsible for the “multi-republican nascent” democracy in Nigeria have led to disastrous effects.

To deepen democracy following independence, it is recommended that:

a) The incursion of religion and ethnicity into politics and governance is checked sufficiently to inspire patriotism in every citizen.

b) Preventive measures against greed and corruption should be put in place and only be complimented (not substituted) by punitive measures; and technology is key here.

c) Efforts should be made to ensure that every citizen acquire education that allows for sufficient literacy and civic knowledge and the application of this knowledge encouraged rather than being stifled.

d) An environment that economically empowers citizens to earn a living through value creation rather than depend on sycophancy and god-fatherism for livelihood.

e) Only persons with the required competences are given the opportunities to assume office for the governance of the country; and pretenders to power in their deceptive orientations should never be allowed into positions of governance.