Saraki: Our Democracy Has Not Given Birth To Good Governance

Former President of the Senate Bukola Saraki has said that
Nigeria’s democracy had not given birth to good governance. He
however stated that it was noteworthy that Nigeria sustained the
semblance of a democratic system for 22 unbroken years.

In a statement he released on this year’s Democracy Day
celebration, Saraki said: “There is no doubt that democracy is the
best system in evolving a modern government and it remains the most
acceptable globally. However, the celebration today should also
help us to raise the question of whether democracy is working to
serve the interest of Nigerians.

“After all, it is known widely that democracy is not just the
absence of military rule or the routine conduct of elections after
which some individuals are announced to have been elected. The real
end product of democracy should be good governance.”

The former senate president said that it was obvious that in
Nigeria, democracy had not given birth to good governance.

However, he said, “We have inadvertently operated a democracy,
which instead of being the government of the people is rather
creating a distance between the people and what should be their
government.

“Elections should be for the purpose of allowing free choice
between competing ideologies, manifestos, policies, and
programmes.

“Elections should not just be about putting people in office and
when they get there, they start groping in the dark or thinking
about what to do and where to start from. This approach has set us
back for many years and deprived our people the opportunity to
enjoy good governance or earn what in the national cliche is known
as ‘Dividend of Democracy.”

He added, “Today, our country faces security challenges and the
government is not able to adequately protect the citizenry. There
is massive unemployment which has impoverished a high percentage of
the population and many citizens are questioning the basis for the
unity of the country. These are pointers to the question of whether
democracy is actually working in our clime.”

However, he said, since Nigerians have accepted that the best
form of government is democracy, “we have no option than to make
the system work for our country and her people. Thus, I appeal to
all stakeholders to give peace a chance. This is because nothing
can be achieved in the absence of peace.

The quest for peace places a burden on all of us who are
leaders, both those in and out of government, to effectively
shoulder our responsibilities to our country.

“We have two years to the formation of a new government. That
should mean two years for us to have brilliant ideas on issues of
security, education, health, youth employment, revolutionising
agriculture, human capital development, improving capacity for
delivering good governance to the populace and fostering unity
among the people.

“It should be time for considering how to entrench discipline,
equity, justice, respect for the law and accountability as part of
our national ethos.

“We must start to think. We must pre-occupy ourselves with how
to make democracy survive and how we can use it to better the lives
of our people. I believe this is the best way to ensure we continue
to celebrate democracy for many more years.”

Former President of the Senate Bukola Saraki has said that
Nigeria’s democracy had not given birth to good governance. He
however stated that it was noteworthy that Nigeria sustained the
semblance of a democratic system for 22 unbroken years.

In a statement he released on this year’s Democracy Day
celebration, Saraki said: “There is no doubt that democracy is the
best system in evolving a modern government and it remains the most
acceptable globally. However, the celebration today should also
help us to raise the question of whether democracy is working to
serve the interest of Nigerians.

“After all, it is known widely that democracy is not just the
absence of military rule or the routine conduct of elections after
which some individuals are announced to have been elected. The real
end product of democracy should be good governance.”

The former senate president said that it was obvious that in
Nigeria, democracy had not given birth to good governance.

However, he said, “We have inadvertently operated a democracy,
which instead of being the government of the people is rather
creating a distance between the people and what should be their
government.

“Elections should be for the purpose of allowing free choice
between competing ideologies, manifestos, policies, and
programmes.

“Elections should not just be about putting people in office and
when they get there, they start groping in the dark or thinking
about what to do and where to start from. This approach has set us
back for many years and deprived our people the opportunity to
enjoy good governance or earn what in the national cliche is known
as ‘Dividend of Democracy.”

He added, “Today, our country faces security challenges and the
government is not able to adequately protect the citizenry. There
is massive unemployment which has impoverished a high percentage of
the population and many citizens are questioning the basis for the
unity of the country. These are pointers to the question of whether
democracy is actually working in our clime.”

However, he said, since Nigerians have accepted that the best
form of government is democracy, “we have no option than to make
the system work for our country and her people. Thus, I appeal to
all stakeholders to give peace a chance. This is because nothing
can be achieved in the absence of peace.

The quest for peace places a burden on all of us who are
leaders, both those in and out of government, to effectively
shoulder our responsibilities to our country.

“We have two years to the formation of a new government. That
should mean two years for us to have brilliant ideas on issues of
security, education, health, youth employment, revolutionising
agriculture, human capital development, improving capacity for
delivering good governance to the populace and fostering unity
among the people.

“It should be time for considering how to entrench discipline,
equity, justice, respect for the law and accountability as part of
our national ethos.

“We must start to think. We must pre-occupy ourselves with how
to make democracy survive and how we can use it to better the lives
of our people. I believe this is the best way to ensure we continue
to celebrate democracy for many more years.”