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Democracy:
Maybe a Little Expensive for Democracy? By Abdul Rasheed Muhammed I remember only to vividly the euphoria that swept our great nation when we ushered in the new democratic dispensation . A new era that promised hope, peace and stability. In a long time, Nigerians were celebrating in unison, free from religious or trifling issues like tribalistic differences. Our joy knew no bounds, alas our democratic utopia was short lived. In a period of five years, we have watched as thousands of innocent Nigerians have died at the hands of religious zealots. The continuous economic hardships with no immediate solutions in sight, power and water outages, alarming increasing crime rates, frustration of students due to insistent strikes (the average Nigerian student spends between 5-11 years of his/her productive life in college ), unemployment for graduates. The list is endless. For a country that is recognized worldwide as a dominant and leading African power, it truly saddens my heart how she treats her citizens. I would say this with all pride, Nigerians are one of the most resilient people one can ever find on earth. It is not news that our Government has failed in addressing this issues but what i find most disturbing is the current killings and wanton destruction of property that our Government has allowed for too long. News about this carnage from home shocks me to my very marrow, iam constantly in a state of paranoia, as soon as a phone call comes from Nigeria, i hold my breath in anticipation for bad news . I wonder to my self, are we collectively as a country truly oblivious to the rule of law or are we using the cloak of democracy to perpetuate such barbarism. In all rationality, who are we to declare that another creator is to be killed in the name of religion or for selfish political gains, but then again apparently rationality is absent from our collective intellect. How else can can one explain this madness? True, for every nascent democracy to succeed, it must undergo such trials and tribulations but how long would we continue to live by crude murderous weapons in a democratic state? How long should we continue to look over our shoulder all the time we step out of our houses for fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nigerians have now developed an insatiable hunger for retribution. I truly begin to wonder if Nigeria was actually ready to welcome democracy. Are we pursuing the white mans model of Government because we think it is perfect? Are we sure those are the are the scripts that have been destined for us? Questions like these flood my thoughts because the price we are paying is a little bit too high. I blame these perfidious religious leaders for fueling animosity between different faiths and the conniving politicians who capitalize on the ignorance of the masses for scoring cheap points at our expenses. These leaders forget that they are role models for the preservation of peace and stability. For how long should we continue to live in fear in our own country? We are more or less at war, but with whom? These problems are a sum total of the Governments inadequacies and inefficiencies and we the citizens are paying for it with our lives . It is time the Government starts treating this problem as a clear and present danger. Based on our historical cultural differences, we acknowledge the fact that states tend to get volatile in reaction to religious or tribal conflicts but until we can all find a way to respect and live with one another peacefully, we need contingency plans for each state to curb this genocidal madness. This attitude of brushing it off as something that just happened in one state or another would not cut it . We
demand to know what the Government is doing to address this issue. ABDUL
RASHEED MUHAMMED WRITES
FROM HOUSTON TEXAS USA |