January 13, 2004
Nigeria's Democracy: What Premium?
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Last week, the multi-facet political imbroglio raging in Anambra State was again heightened when the Governor, Chris Ngige, had his security aides disarmed and withdrawn by police authorities. The police were purportedly acting in compliance with a court order, which directed the Inspector General of Police to remove the Anambra State Governor from office. The said order was part of the judgment of an Enugu State High Court presided over by Justice Stanley C. Nnaji in a suit filed by a suspended member of the Anambra State House of Assembly.
Interestingly, this new twist to the logjam came at the heels of a peace accord entered into by the two feuding groups, brokered by leading politicians from the eastern part of the country. Without doubt this turn of events in Anambra State is condemnable, and the inglorious roles played by persons/institutions regarded as critical stakeholders in our fledgling democracy is completely appalling.
The swiftness with which the police authorities began to implement the said court order, without regard to due process, and the cold feet attitude of the federal government to help bring an objective solution to the crisis left much to be desired. Indeed, Nigeria’s nascent democracy is being endangered by the day.
No doubt, the unresolved political crisis in Anambra State is a symbolic representation of the brewing political disaffection and looming political crisis in Nigeria. The crisis situation needs to be dispassionately tackled headlong and all culprits brought to book. A holistic approach to resolving the debacle is indeed apt, the price that was paid for our democracy is too great a price to be wished away.
In the face of all the political upheavals, worsened by the crushing economic hardships unleashed on the people, the resultant excessive heating up of the polity and the unpatriotic attitude of most of our elected leaders, one cannot but conclude that no value is placed on Nigeria’s hard-earned democracy by our politicians, political office holders and some other key stakeholders who are consistently working to throttle our democracy.
There is thus an urgent need for a self-appraisal and reflection by all our elected leaders and stakeholders, given where we started out from and the price paid for democracy in Nigeria. At this stage of Nigeria’s development, our leaders ought to be preoccupied with laying a solid foundation for the common good of the people and a greater tomorrow. Our democracy should thus be held in high esteem and made priceless; all interests should be subjected to it. Indeed there should be ‘no sacred cow’.
CRP therefore calls on all elected leaders and other critical stakeholders in the Nigeria project to place national interest above all personal interest in helping to sustain and consolidate democracy in Nigeria.
Copyright© 2005 Constitutional Rights Project (CRP). All rights reserved.
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