Every democracy has three arms for the precautionary purpose of checks and balances based on the humanistic premise that men are innately ambitious and are bound to pursue self aggrandizing goals if unchecked irrespective of the platform they operate upon. This must be the unique attribute of democracy that made Jawaharlal Nehru to observe that democracy is good when he once declared that “Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse”-This as we all know is, however, not automatic neither does it become simply because we parrot it.

 Democracy is a way of life. It is planted in good hearts. It sprouts in societies that have established imperatives for it to survive and flourishes where men and women in common good purpose come together to nurture it for the greater good of the commonwealth. If this be true; are we as Nigerians worthy of the inherent good in democracy?

My answer to this question without a second thought on the judgement all democracy activists may pronounce on me is an emphatic no! Let me therefore rise to my self defence on the assumption that I have been pronounced guilty. In doing so, I shall  call to the stand my witness: Robert Putnam who in his landmark study listed four characteristics as well as the empirical measures of the kind of social space necessary for “making democracy work” as he found in the region of Italy in which democratic government worked well as evidenced by the fact that government in these regions were efficient and effective and the citizens took pride in the government and identified with them as theirs. These characteristics he identified as: Civic engagement.

 The same characteristic Adam smith described as fellow feeling while identifying the characteristics of a modern society in his immortal book, the Wealth of Nations. Simply stated, this means the expectation that groups and individuals are alive to the interest of others. By this we are expected to alert the police when our neighbour’s house is being broken into by burglars, to lend a helping hand to the unknown guy knocked down by a vehicle by the side of the road even though there is no obligational demand. I am often amazed by the degree of passivity  displayed by fellow Nigerians when one of us is in trouble not minding whether he or she is being victimized or not. Even at schools, students will turn their back on their colleagues showing leadership to the extent of challenging obnoxious policies that affect all of them immediately there is a threat of institutional reaction.

 Recently, a group of twenty seven soldiers were sentenced to life imprisonment by a kangaroo military tribunal for protesting against the attempt by superior officers to embezzle salary due to them for volunteering to be shot at in the struggle to “make the world safe for democracy”. As these men are sacrificed in defence of a culture of absence of freedom and responsibility in the military, the only voice we hear protesting is the voice of their lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, a man who by qualification and contribution to the legal space and democratic development in Nigeria ordinarily should be a Senior Advocate but is yet to be so honoured due to arbitrariness even in the citadel of justice. Truth is we all have brothers and friends in the army yet we have all chosen to stand by in silence. Who knows who will be the next?  From here,  I shall derive naturally to the next imperative which constitute according to Putnam, in a high degree of political equality characterised by a “ horizontal relationship between citizens and their leaders making for reciprocity and cooperation rather than a vertical relationship characterised by authority and dependence” .Putnam found that in such places, leaders see themselves responsible to their fellow citizens rather than functioning narrowly as representatives of the interest of parties or factions as is clearly the case in Nigeria.

Thirdly, Putnam observed that the civic regions where characterised by a high level of solidarity, trust and tolerance which enabled citizens to cooperate with different groups for the sake of developing public good. Again, this is the exact opposite of Nigerian society that thrives on ethnicism, Nepotism, backstabbing of one group by the other in an atmosphere of complete lack of trust and idealism.

Lastly Putnam observed that civic regions were areas with densely populated associational life that encouraged the development of a culture of cooperation and shared responsibilities. It is clear that all these four characteristics are completely absent in the current Nigerian society. How then do we expect democracy to dwell among us?

If Roberts Putnam’s study portrays the minimum standard required for democracy to impact, then we are all guilty of unrealistic expectation for it makes it clear that democracy cannot thrive in our society because we are not caring enough to nurture it. We are caught in the common mistakes that have robbed many parts of the world the benevolence of democracy, the mistake of often requiring democracy to blossom simply because we proclaim it. The mistake that often makes citizens allow democracy to fend for itself in a world full of despots and men not restrained by any sense of moral  justice while sitting back , hoping that it will grow to  bestow on us its fruits like freedom, equality before the law, free markets and overall human development. It is downright sickening to know the views of fellow Nigerians when an issue of governance and political responsibility is the topic of discussion. Many do not believe that they have a stake in the government. Many more believe that there is nothing that can be done to bring about change in Nigeria. This same group will tell you that it is only God that will save us from our leaders.  I do not wish to discountenance the unseen hand of God in our daily lives, but would God make us in his own image and likeness if he never wanted us to think and act. The truth is that in life, people must fight to earn that which they desire. We fight to put food on our table. We fight to buy clothes for ourselves. We work hard to provide for ourselves and loved ones. It follows that we must nurture democracy for it to impact on our lives and until that is done; we will remain a grumbling lot while business goes on as usual. On the other hand, the fear of consequences will make us continue to wait on God and we all know that his ways are usually different from our ways and it might just take a little long  for him to intervene after all, a thousand years in our sight is like a day before God.

The Palestinians fight Israeli tanks with stones. The mothers of the dead protested under Augustus Pinochet and also at the height of Argentine dictatorship at plaza the Mayo. Kids in South Africa died fighting apartheid with songs and their blood. We do not need arms to bring about change in Nigeria. All we need is self realisation and irrevocable commitment to turn ours into a society fit for humans. If we wish to enjoy democracy, we must nature it. We must be willing to die for its sake. In the words of Leo Tolstoy, “Those who want to feel the significance of an art must first make themselves humble before it” This is the time.

Robot  # 1 | 14.07.2009 08:52

Democracy is a way of life. It is planted in good hearts. It sprouts in societies that have established imperatives for it to survive and flourishes where men and women in common good purpose come together to nurture it for the greater good of the commonwealth. If this be true; are we as Nigerians worthy of the inherent good in democracy? ...Read the full article.