Democracy in Nigeria

[Proty]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.
The leaders are supposed to be the servant of the people and not the other way round .whenever the government come up with any policy that is not favourable to the well fare of the people, if the masses should protest against it the leaders will see it as a propaganda by their political opponent and they begin to issue treats and warning to the people there by trying to enslave the will of the masses.
The democracy that is been practiced in Nigeria is democracy in form of oligarchy, were power belong to few privileged and powerful people. This people are there to represent their own selfish interest and not that of the people that voted them in.

[Charles-Tim]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.

Even in family, the poor are voiceless unlike the rich ones among. That is life. In the hierarchy, the politicians in power at the top, followed by the rich people, followed by the average people and lastly below the pyramid are the commoners and followed by the poor. This is not just in Nigeria but all over the world.

The democracy that is been practiced in Nigeria is democracy in form of oligarchy, were power belong to few privileged and powerful people. This people are there to represent their own selfish interest and not that of the people that voted them in.

I still always argue this, that Nigeria has become a good democratic nation. Although, our leaders may not know much about economy and how to lead us up to a standard to compete with well developed countries.

[Loveday422]

Democracy is a government of the people for the people and all the people,this definition shows that everybody are one body and also need to benefit from Nigeria our country but in this case now the revace has been the case ,what will see is not longer democracy,the democratic country which they all say has change is not longer the government of the people but the government of some people,which is very bad ,it bleed my heart ,bcos what will all know as democracy is not longer what we see today, though their is a saying that says think of what you can do to the country and not what the country can do for you,that's for sure but the basic need which government supposed to produce true the help of democracy we are not seeing them ,what happened to our Mdg's ,we are just leaving by his grace,bcos democracy has corrupt.

[Samlucky O]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.

What do you expect? Do you want a politician to be in power yet you as a citizen will be in control? No. Most at times we always complain about bad leadership but the funny thing is that we don't have much people with the heart of a leader. Some people that talk so bad about leadership of others, may even be worst than the leaders in question, just that they have not been given the opportunity. I was watching a video online and I heard pastor Christ talking about power and how people act when they have power. He said I'd you want to know people and how they act when they have power that you should look around the environment and see how people act when they have small place they manage. Like when you are the manager of a company how do you handle workers? when you are a site manager how do you act? When you are the principal of a school or a teacher how do you handle your students? When you are the bread winner of the family how do you manage your family? Those that has a gate man how do you treat him? When you are accormodating your brother's child or your uncle's Child how do you treat him/her?

Leadership does only signifies when you have becomes a politician, you can check around yourself and see how you behave when you have a little opportunity then you can talk about bad leadership. Charity begins at home they said
if you are a bad person you are a bad person and you can't expect good thing from who is bad. Untill we have a good person to enter government seat, you can't expect a tangible thing or expect a good result. Nigerian leadership is a kind of leadership of godfatherism.

Godfatherism: is also a cause of most bad governance. When your political godfather puts you in seat he doesn't allow you to do things that pleases you, you will be in seat and be controlled by other people and hence if you can't obey them, you won't run for another tenure or they may find a way to impeach you. They have plan on how the ruling system will be and going there you must be currupt to fit in to there system otherwise you will be eliminated.

Party system: has also been another hindrance to our political system for long. When people believe that there party will always been in the top of rulership without thinking of how they can bee at the top of changing the narrative of the economy. Even when they see that a particular person is good for a position and may likely to do well they might not allow him to go for the position simply because he is not from their party. and because of this most people who would have done well have been deprive of leadership and the economy has been stagnant for years.

INEC and the 3 arms of government are currupt including the arm forces. What do you expect?

Solution if we want to change our system of government all we need to do is to
1) Dissolve party system. Because party system is the cause of political tursule and bad leadership because when there is party system your party people have a control over you.

2) there shall not be used of ballot papers' Election will be made by electronic thumbprints machine which will be visually seen by every one on television on how the votes count not using ballot paper which people will not know how many people voted and can be manipulated and send a fake result through the bivers.

[Hewlet]

One of the serious issues with us as a nation is that we only know that we have bunch of problems but are never willing to give solutions to it. Who are these leaders? Are they not the same people that complained about bad governance and came out as the Messiah that will finally redeem us only to get into office and become intoxicated by the previledges they have in the office and end up doing little or nothing to improve on the failed system we've inherited from the past failed government? Who voted these old incompetent leaders into office? Are we not the once that took peanuts and sold four to eight useful years of our lives to these men that are just after thier pocket and how to make it as fat as possible?

Our Democratic failure starts from the pole when after all the noise and protest and shouting some still went on to vote for incompetent person just because they want to play loyalty to a political party even when they already know that the candidate has no plan for the nation. The only chance we have to make democracy what it ought to be in our nation is to elect a candidate that's ready to serve and not someone that's just going into that office because he feels that it's his turn to become the President. Untill we make the right decision at the pole, forget about democracy and face your hustle with your full chest.

[Bitco55]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.
The leaders are supposed to be the servant of the people and not the other way round .whenever the government come up with any policy that is not favourable to the well fare of the people, if the masses should protest against it the leaders will see it as a propaganda by their political opponent and they begin to issue treats and warning to the people there by trying to enslave the will of the masses.
The democracy that is been practiced in Nigeria is democracy in form of oligarchy, were power belong to few privileged and powerful people. This people are there to represent their own selfish interest and not that of the people that voted them in.

Democracy is one of the systems of government or probably the only one that puts power in the hands of the masses. But sometimes, I think it's just a cover-up to let other systems run in the background. Despite the fact that the rich continue to have more say in these decisions made, we can also note that the commoners and poor people continue to do so themselves.

During an election, who steals ballot boxes? Who kills people just for money? Is it not the people who will later come and start shouting that the government is bad? If the government in this country is bad, the people who carry out their evil deeds for them are even way worse.

[Cryptoprincess101]

Our Democratic failure starts from the pole when after all the noise and protest and shouting some still went on to vote for incompetent person just because they want to play loyalty to a political party even when they already know that the candidate has no plan for the nation. The only chance we have to make democracy what it ought to be in our nation is to elect a candidate that's ready to serve and not someone that's just going into that office because he feels that it's his turn to become the President. Untill we make the right decision at the pole, forget about democracy and face your hustle with your full chest.

This is exactly what is happening in our Democratic government just like you said the problem of this country starts from it Citizens because imagine where people compromise their franchise just because of little peanut they get from these so called greedy and power hungry leaders during elections though we all know that the electoral process is not 100% credible but yet our actions sometimes can help in times of probing the electoral process. And another thing is that politicians no longer see government as a service to the people but a way of showing superiority over their subjects and takes decisions that are not in alignment with the masses opinion.

It is very bad that our democracy have been jeopardized over the years due to self centered leaders that only cares about enriching themselves rather than proffering solutions to the problem of the masses. Democracy Which is supposed to be government of the people is now government of some cabals of people and everything rotates among these set of people that is why the masses doesn't feel the positive impact of government.

[Briankimp1]

I believe the lawyers would tell us better about this topic though from my little knowledge I believe Nigeria does not practice true Democracy.
As we may all know it our dear country practices the federal system of governance which simply means a system of governance where power is divided between the central, regional and state governments. Federalism in Nigeria refers to the devolution of self-governance by the West African nation of Nigeria to its federated states, who share sovereignty with the Federal Government. Federalism in Nigeria can be traced to Sir Frederick Lord Lugard, when the Northern and Southern protectorates were amalgamated in 1914 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalism_in_Nigeria#:~:text=Federalism%20in%20Nigeria%20refers%20to,protectorates%20were%20amalgamated%20in%201914.

This has remained from time in memorial the way the British mapped us out in a simply divide and conquer quest, While the British practice a parliamentary and constitutional monarchy system of government where they are allowed to compare and contrast on ideas that benefits them as a people, Over here our president is given autonomous power to do and undo.

We need to start the restructuring of Nigeria from as low as our government and it’s rule of law the Nigerian constitution and interpretation of the law before we can begin to enjoy the term democracy.

[Gormicsta]

Democracy is meant to be a form of governance in which the people have a vote in how they are governed, but it appears that this is not occurring in our nation because the legal system is now being used to punish opposition politicians while protecting those in power. Establishing a system in which judges and other officials are really independent of the government would be a significant step toward a society with greater freedoms.
Another task is to create a more open government. There are several examples of government officials engaging in corruption, and it can be difficult for the common individual to determine what is really going on.

[Gozie51]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.

The point is that Nigeria masses have always been scared to make the democracy work by ensuring that leaders do what they are suppose to do. Right for peaceful protest is enshrined in the constitution but having coordinated mind is the real challenge. The youth in Nigeria are divided along different lines like especially religion and ethnicity, so that actually affects the togetherness of the youth during election. The youth has what it takes to unite to take over the country for good but den some youth go still run go under the old politicians because dem don brainwash dem out of right things to do and for sake of money.

[Kelward]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.

The point is that Nigeria masses have always been scared to make the democracy work by ensuring that leaders do what they are suppose to do. Right for peaceful protest is enshrined in the constitution but having coordinated mind is the real challenge. The youth in Nigeria are divided along different lines like especially religion and ethnicity, so that actually affects the togetherness of the youth during election. The youth has what it takes to unite to take over the country for good but den some youth go still run go under the old politicians because dem don brainwash dem out of right things to do and for sake of money.

Aldo I gree say our politicians de use some of our youths as thugs for election matter and some don sale dem conscience because of money wey politicians de take shut dem up, but I no gree with wetin you talk say our youths de fear to make democracy work for dis country, remember wetin happen during endsars, how soldiers open fire on unarmed civilians wey de protest about di evil of our law enforcement wey be police, how dos innocent Nigerians die while standing for what is right. Make I tell you di truth for Nigeria, if you no get money or you no know person for di top forget about your right to protest, odawise na for detention you go spend most part of your life. We need some influencial people to lead di struggle for a better governance, because di government don intimidate me and you to talk our minds.

[Ever-young]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.
The leaders are supposed to be the servant of the people and not the other way round .whenever the government come up with any policy that is not favourable to the well fare of the people, if the masses should protest against it the leaders will see it as a propaganda by their political opponent and they begin to issue treats and warning to the people there by trying to enslave the will of the masses.
The democracy that is been practiced in Nigeria is democracy in form of oligarchy, were power belong to few privileged and powerful people. This people are there to represent their own selfish interest and not that of the people that voted them in.

Nigeria no be Nigeria again, I no sure say our constitution dey work again because our leaders dey do wetin dey their mind, whether e affect us or not , e no concern them and if we come voice out, dem fit do us wetin no good like to kill us or imprisoned us, or even make things dey worst pass the way e dey now, and if na only me self wey dey this country, I no go fit come out come vote for anybody, mk dey vote themselves even their children to vote because I no see any reason why I go vote yet dem no won know whether we dey do find or not, we no get say again for this Naija o. For the people and by the people no dey exist again, now na for themselves and by themselves na e dey exist, na e mk we get God.

[MorganaX]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.
The leaders are supposed to be the servant of the people and not the other way round .whenever the government come up with any policy that is not favourable to the well fare of the people, if the masses should protest against it the leaders will see it as a propaganda by their political opponent and they begin to issue treats and warning to the people there by trying to enslave the will of the masses.
The democracy that is been practiced in Nigeria is democracy in form of oligarchy, were power belong to few privileged and powerful people. This people are there to represent their own selfish interest and not that of the people that voted them in.

Democracy they say is government for the people,by the people and of the people but funny enough is slowly turning to government of the leaders, by the leaders and of the leaders

How can the government make laws that is favourable to themselves and if the masses complain they'll keep a deef ear to it and nothing about

I can vividly remember when there was not cash you see that the politicians has a lot of cash and they also go to banks to buy for the money while the poor masses suffer

[Uhwuchukwu53]

Let us not forget in a hurry, that when we are talking about this democracy we should at first know the reason while democracy has been bastardized mostly in third world nation like Africa, the saying that one can't work faster than it's shadow or smarter it master is the results despite the facts that greed also contribute but the case lies in our colonial Master who always in one way act as shadow members to influence our democracy because of their gain.

I do see the situation and our practice here not democratic but kakistocracy because what we install as leaders is the least before us but can't change it base of the level at which colonial Master back mist of this thing they even help in hidden some secret to enable them gain more in what they want.
You can expect through leader or democracy where all the nation is after one resources, the constitution which was handled over by our colonial Master and the way they communicate to them from the beginning has impacted wrong practice. Democracy has never been the best practice but been adopted due to influence of our colonial Master as a result of what they want to gain leads to, many corrupt and lacking democracy as the tool to checkmate this can't be handled by civilian.

[teamsherry]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.

The point is that Nigeria masses have always been scared to make the democracy work by ensuring that leaders do what they are suppose to do. Right for peaceful protest is enshrined in the constitution but having coordinated mind is the real challenge. The youth in Nigeria are divided along different lines like especially religion and ethnicity, so that actually affects the togetherness of the youth during election. The youth has what it takes to unite to take over the country for good but den some youth go still run go under the old politicians because dem don brainwash dem out of right things to do and for sake of money.

You can hardly blame them for that, no one wants to be a scapegoat for others, if you can recall the incident from end sars, people died for retaliation against the government even as a peaceful protest and now nobody would want to risk that against tinubu cause it happened by his command last time when he wasn't even in command as a president talk more of now.

[Gozie51]

It really amase me when we say that Nigeria is a democratic nation. if u look at what is happening in Nigeria, u will see that power belong to the leaders instead of the people, the masses are voiceless.

The point is that Nigeria masses have always been scared to make the democracy work by ensuring that leaders do what they are suppose to do. Right for peaceful protest is enshrined in the constitution but having coordinated mind is the real challenge. The youth in Nigeria are divided along different lines like especially religion and ethnicity, so that actually affects the togetherness of the youth during election. The youth has what it takes to unite to take over the country for good but den some youth go still run go under the old politicians because dem don brainwash dem out of right things to do and for sake of money.

You can hardly blame them for that, no one wants to be a scapegoat for others, if you can recall the incident from end sars, people died for retaliation against the government even as a peaceful protest and now nobody would want to risk that against tinubu cause it happened by his command last time when he wasn't even in command as a president talk more of now.

I agree with you bro but the challenge is that of religion and ethnicity. Those are the major divide in our daily struggle in Nigeria. However, those in power at a time doesn't want food to be taken out of them and so they will issue whatever command to the gun men. Hence, are we now saying that the few in government can over power 200million people? It is those divide that makes proper decision taking difficult. In countries that have only one major religion or ethnicity, they have one voice and more united to force the government to listen to them.

[Sunt tech]

When we say Nigeria as a democratic nation I will be like are we really democratic or we are just playing cards with the country treasury, corruption has eaten deep in the hearts of our leaders and embezzlement of public funds and that is why we find it difficult to develop in this country.
Until we get it right that is when this country glory will be restored and it is until we change from our bad ways, until our leaders sees the child of poor as human being like them that is when Nigeria will be great again.

I hope somedays Nigeria should be the country we have always dream of to be.

[Ever-young]

Democracy is a government of the people for the people and all the people,this definition shows that everybody are one body and also need to benefit from Nigeria our country but in this case now the revace has been the case ,what will see is not longer democracy,the democratic country which they all say has change is not longer the government of the people but the government of some people,which is very bad ,it bleed my heart ,bcos what will all know as democracy is not longer what we see today, though their is a saying that says think of what you can do to the country and not what the country can do for you,that's for sure but the basic need which government supposed to produce true the help of democracy we are not seeing them ,what happened to our Mdg's ,we are just leaving by his grace,bcos democracy has corrupt.

Actually you are correct, democracy should be by the people and for the people but not now, is vice versa because of corruption, our government are no longer interested to grant our desire or the wellbeing of it's people, they are so selfish that they forgot that we are one's who voted them to be in power and do things for their self interest and these kind of situations causes inequality, nepotism etc and it's also lead the people into doing more corrupt things in the society which will affect the wellbeing of the individuals and the society at large but when voting for another leader, let's be more vigilant in voting who will take the interest of his people at heart.

[Jegileman]

The democracy that is been practiced in Nigeria is democracy in form of oligarchy, were power belong to few privileged and powerful people. This people are there to represent their own selfish interest and not that of the people that voted them in.

We have been living in this type of democracy for many years now and if you’re just realizing it now, it will make me to be surprised why it is so. Nigeria democracy is only favouring the few people that are in power or those related to them. If you’re a son or daughter of nobody, you’re not entitled to your full rights as a citizen of the country. You’ll have to lobby yourself into getting what is lawfully right for you to get. And this sense of leadership have also went down to the grass root where even the aspire future leaders are already living that type of democratically rule even before been elected into those seats. If we want a change, it should begin from the bottom and not top. If the bottom are United, they can stand against the top leaders. The masses power is more that the power willed to a single leader. If we want change, it’ll begin from you and I and those that hold leadership positions no matter how little to do just to their followers.

[iBaba]

Democracy is one of the systems of government or probably the only one that puts power in the hands of the masses. But sometimes, I think it's just a cover-up to let other systems run in the background. Despite the fact that the rich continue to have more say in these decisions made, we can also note that the commoners and poor people continue to do so themselves.

There is no perfect system of government in the world, as much as it was man-made or arranged by men. There's always one loophole or the other, whether intentionally or unintentionally. This is because people come together to form ideas and systems on the basis of interests, and while they look at the larger picture of the interests, due to their human nature, they also look at their common interests too. By so doing, we have loopholes in the systems of governments including their policies and programs however beautiful they are. I think for now, democracy still remains one of the most effective systems of government that's working for many countries. But there are also countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, Japan, Denmark, etc, have one of the best political system of governance and are not practicing Democracy but Monarch yet they have some of the best economies, leadership and governance too.

During an election, who steals ballot boxes? Who kills people just for money? Is it not the people who will later come and start shouting that the government is bad? If the government in this country is bad, the people who carry out their evil deeds for them are even way worse.

To mention this, is also to say that, in the end, one political system of governance maybe quite better than the other generally, but when sampling it with specific locations, what might be best for the Americans may be totally bad for Nigerians, hence reason why it is difficult to rule one system of government other others.