Start; define democracy, Write a brief epistemology of it. Write briefly on its features. AN ASSESSMENT OF DIVIDENDS OF DEMOCRACY IN BURUKU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE NIGERIA (1999 – 2011) Folashade B. Okeshola Aaron Igba Department of Sociology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria –Nigeria Abstract: Democracy in Nigeria has brought very few gains and these gains have been rendered insignificant by the negative, uncompromising, depressing and devastating state of the nation. Findings show that the dividends of democracy provided by the government for the masses are enjoyed at a low extent. They are also not equitably distributed. The major reason for the non – equitable distribution of dividends of democracy is corruption in governance aside god fatherism, costliness of Nigeria’s democracy, electoral malpractices, ethnicity, religion and externally triggered democracy. It is therefore recommended that corruption, which is the core impediment to our growth and development, has to be tackled aggressively under a willed and purposeful leadership. Key Words: Dividend, democracy, Nigeria Introduction Nigeria’s return to democracy on May 29, 1999 was seen as an end to the torture, suffering of the military era. It was seen as the requirement for the country to develop following the triumph of democracy as system of government at the end of the cold war where democracy became new world political order. The process of democratization in Nigeria can be traced to the Ibrahim Babangida’s political Bureau in 1986 ( Omotola,1997).This was a failure because of the annulment of the June 12,1993 presidential election which was rated as the freest and fairest in the annals of electoral history in Nigeria (Izah, 2003). The regime was unable to cope with the crisis that followed this annulment hence the institution of an Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan (Ojo, 1998). This was greeted with mass protest that it will not put things under control. This allowed for the military takeover of power by General Sani Abacha in November, 1993. However, he was not interested in any transition process. There were resistance, resentment, protests from various groups. General Sani Abacha resorted to arrest, detention, extermination and harassment of his opponents. At the demise of late Sani Abacha on June 8, 1998, this brought in General Abdulsalam Abubakar as the Head of State whose regime successfully completed a transition to civilian administration, which ended by handing over power to a democratically elected government with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the president on May 29, 1999. Democracy is defined as “rule by the people”. After the prolonged military rule in Nigeria and the subsequent return to democratic rule in 1999, the Nigerian people hoped for a life much better than during the military rule. According to Chaj (2008), democratic governments and legitimate systems all over the world concerns center around providing welfare and basic necessities that will make life easier and prepare its citizens for the challenge of nation building. Some countries even though not endowed with natural 551 resources, have used their initiatives to guarantee that lives of their citizens are at least comfortable and satisfactory. From the onset of the fourth republic in Nigeria, there have been repetitions via media, government officials, and populace of the slogan “dividends of democracy” The high expectations of African leaders Nigeria inclusive to connote the slogan “dividends of democracy”. The dividend of democracy means the benefits and the advantages of democracy. These include rule of law (supremacy of the law, equality before the law and fundamental human rights), legitimacy of the state, improved standard of living for the majority of the populace, improved atmosphere of peace and stability etc. All these suppose to be prerequisite for nation’s development (Igba, 2012). Statement of the Problem Democratization trend is taking shape in many states of Africa in order to produce the expected result of societal transformation. However, this process is dotted with civil war, genocide, poverty, corruption, insecurity among others still exist in many African countries (Fayemi, 2009). In Nigeria, people’s desire for democracy is with the hope that it will bring about the nation’s development came to reality on May 29, 1999 with the handling over by General Abdulsalam Abubakar to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the civilian president of Nigeria. The transition to democracy poses some challenges for the new democratic government (Agbu, 2000; Eyinla, 2000). These challenges include how to nurture the nascent democracy to maturity such that it can no longer be reversed or eroded. Can we really say there is good governance, respect for human rights and empowerment? Is Nigeria really a democratized nation? These questions brought in the concept of dividends of democracy that has earlier been mentioned. Democracy in Nigeria has brought very few gains and these gains have been rendered insignificant by the negative, uncompromising, depressing and devastating state of the nation. Since the inception of the fourth republic instead of democracy delivering dividends (electricity, infrastructures, education etc.) as promised by the political leaders, there have been high rate of unemployment, increase level of corruption, increased poverty rate, ethno religious crises, industrial strikes, inception of Boko Haram and its destructive activities (bomb blast, killing, shooting etc.), increased fuel price, inflation despite the fact that the country is experiencing its first longer tenure of democracy. One can imagine whether Nigeria has experienced thirteen years of unbroken civilian. A critical look at it will reflect that it has nothing close to genuine democracy but a woeful failure to improve the living standards of her populace (Omotola, 2007). The standard of living continues to worsen by the day while the social infrastructures and educational system are still on the decline. Nigerian economy has not showed enough signs of recovery, a phenomenon that has been complicated by the haphazard implementation of the privatization exercise, without due recourse to its social, economic and political cost. The atmosphere of instability has given place to no meaningful development. Recent reports show that despite Nigeria’s plentiful resources and oil wealth, Nigeria is now considered one of the 20 poorest countries in the world, with over 70% of its population classified as poor, with 35% living in absolute poverty. Also reports indicate that 59% women die during or soon after childbirth every year. The second highest in the world after India (Chaj, 2008). However, only few Nigerians could testify that democratic rule from 1999 – date has direct positive impact on their lives. Among the very few are the politicians themselves, their families and cronies, business moguls and, consultants who have connections with politicians, professionals and academics given appointments to hold public offices and those that get tokens as defenders and promoters of politicians and public office holders. Furthermore, the Nigerian people who don’t have connections with politicians are continuing to live in hardship and uncertain future. Poverty, maternal 552 deaths, unemployment, insecurity, underpayment, corruption, rigging of elections, lack of electricity, good drinking water and roads etc. seem to be the order of the day. Therefore, one will begin to wonder if Nigeria is really on the path to democratization which will deliver the promised “dividends of democracy”. With the democratic rule in Nigeria from 1999 to date, will the Nigerian people testify to any meaningful change that has brought about any positive change in their lives? Have they reaped any meaningful dividends of democracy? Is there will at the polls true reflection of their leaders and representation? Are their leaders and representatives performance anything to hail up about? And have they held the trust invested on them sincerely? This study seeks to address the following questions. What is the perception of people towards dividends of democracy in Nigeria? Why are Nigerians not enjoying dividends of democracy? What are the possible ways by which dividends of democracy can be equitably distributed so that the masses will enjoy them? Perception of People towards Dividends of Democracy Dividends can simply be called the gains or profits realized from democracy. It is an obvious fact that military government operates by decrees while in an ideal democratic government, law operates. Rule of law is what is unique to democracy. It includes supremacy of the law, equality before the law and fundamental human rights. It is only in democracy that rule of law can be obtained. Therefore, rule of law can be said to be part of the dividends of democracy. Many policies, programmes and plans have been termed “dividends of democracy” by politicians and people since the beginning of the fourth republic till date. They include the introduction of new salary scale for civil servants by the Obasanjo led Administration, multi-party system, deregulation of the communication sector that led to the introduction of Global System for Mobile telecommunication (GSM) was introduced and debt relief during the same administration, the seven point agenda of President Umar Yaradua. The passage of the freedom of press bill, the establishment of nine federal universities and the recent action of the federal government to deregulate the downstream sector in this Goodluck Jonathan’s were also seen as “dividends of democracy” (Igba,2012). According to Omotola (2007) by dividends of democracy we mean the benefit and positive gestures which the new environment of democracy has brought to bear on the state and society. Ideally, it would include rising legitimacy of the state; improved standard of living for the majority of the populace; improved climate of human rights in all its ramification; all culminating in popular empowerment, participation and enhanced atmosphere of peace and stability as a prerequisite for development. The Pattern of Dividends of Democracy in Nigeria The pattern of dividends of democracy in this project signifies how dividends of democracy happen or are arranged in Nigeria. Are the promises of the dividends of democracy fulfilled? In the eventuality of being fulfilled, are they equitably distributed? Have they transformed to improvement in the standard of living of the populace and development of the economy? The so called dividends of democracy are not enjoyed by the masses but by those in corridor of power and their allies. The minority ethnic groups feel left out while the supposedly enjoying majority ethnic groups are fighting over the rotation policy that decides who assumes office. There have been more cases of ethnic religious crises, bomb blast, unemployment, corruption and other social vices even as the country celebrates its first longer tenure of democracy. Electricity, infrastructures, education etc. That were promised by politicians during campaigns were not enjoyed. Even when the promises are fulfilled after much plea from the masses, they are either substandard and few. Most times people that are in the grassroots are not carried along. 553 The government actions to wholly or partially privatize public owned sectors e.g. communication, power and downstream sectors from 1999 till date has little or no positive impacts on the nation’s economy. According to Omotola (2007) Nigerian economy has not showed enough signs of recovery, a phenomenon that has been complicated by the haphazard implementation of the privatization exercise, without due recourse to its social, economic and political costs. The communication sector is dominated by foreign companies who are known to be loyal to their home countries. They did not give space to local companies to be a major player. The only local company that has been able to contend is GLOBACOM. Despite the fact that GSM have brought ease in communication, it is obvious that Nigerians often experience network problem and providers give out substandard services. The major employment opportunities given to Nigerians are selling of recharge cards, open call centres. Up till now, some villages are still not connected to these networks. The power sector that was partially privatized has not changed in its services. The only thing that changed about it was just the change of name from NEPA PLC to PHCN .Some Nigerians even turned PHCN to “Problem Has Changed Name”. Inefficient and ineffective power sector in the country has contributed to slow economic growth as many industries have packed up (Igba, 2012). The 2011 Report of Transparency International rated Nigerian as the second most corrupt countries .Even though the salary of civil servants increases, the country experienced increased inflation because of that. Civil servants though form a large percentage of employed people in Nigeria, can never be compared to the percentage of the unemployed. The inflation led to downward trend in the exchange rate of the naira. When we are talking about increase GDP, this economics statistics cannot be said to be a measure of economic development in a country like Nigeria where there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor (Igba, 2012). Reasons why Nigerians are not Enjoying Dividends of Democracy (a)Externally Triggered Democratization: According to Welzel (2008), there are four types of democratization. The first one is responsive democratization where the human empowerment path to democracy is responsive to mass pressures for democracy. It is only responsive democratization that responds to mass pressures for democracy. The other types of democratization processes that do not respond to mass pressures can be classified as enlightened democratization, opportunistic democratization and imposed democratization. In each of these types, the power elites’ vested interest in monopolizing power is overcome by reasons other than mass pressures and in each of these types lead to socially detached rather than embedded democracy. The latter of which can only result from mass responsive democratization. Enlightened democratization is a process where one of the reasons why power elites might succumb to democratize is when negative historical experiences have discredited alternative forms of government. According to Ogundiya (2010), democracy as it is practiced in Africa today is an imposed one. He said: It is clear that the form of democracy as it is practiced in Africa today is an imposed one. Most Africa states are forced to democratise in order to be able to access foreign loans and aid. Therefore, the third wave was not a natural wave. Democracy is adopted to suit the desire of foreign donors and advanced capitalist democracies. The problem here is that liberal democracy does not evolve, as it was in the west, with the African societies. (b)God fatherism and Electoral Malpractices: The presence of god fatherism and electoral malpractices in Nigeria has impeded good governance which provides dividends of democracy in Nigeria. The elections in Nigeria (both primary and general elections) are not free from the firm grip of god fathers and electoral malpractices. Most of political office holders (including political appointment) that get to office are either through a god father or electoral malpractices or both. Many aspirants to political office in Nigeria lack the access to resources usually needed to get to office. The 554 two most popular political godfathers in Nigeria are late Chief Lamidi Adedibu of Oyo State and Chris Uba of Anambra State. Most times, the god fathers dictate to their protégés on how to run the government. Any opposition from the protégée means disaster as was the case of the fall out between Adedibu and former governor of Oyo State, senator Ladoja who was Adedibu protégée (Human Rights watch, 2007). (c) Political and Bureaucratic Corruption: Nigeria democracy is an externally triggered one. Corruption has rendered our democracy ineffective. There is no commitment to the rule of law, that is needed to enforce civic freedom defines democracy, but commitment to their pockets. According to Ogundiya (2010), corruption is an aspect of poor governance and is defined as the abuse of public office for private gain. Nigeria is a nation where corruption thrives. From 1999 to date, Nigeria has been consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world (Transparency International, transparency.org). According to theWorld Bank (2006), Nigeria harbours one of the largest numbers of the poor in Africa. There is gross inability of most Nigerians to achieve a certain minimum standard of living. Corruption has led to acute youth unemployment in Nigeria. Various estimates put unemployment rate in the country between 20% and 50%. According to Ogundiya, among graduates of tertiary institution, unemployment rate is put at between 50% and 75%. This has resulted in general insecurity and high crime rate in the Nigerian society (Ogundiya, 2010). (d)Inefficient and ineffective Legislature: The legislative arm of government is expected to provide adequate checks on abuses of power by the executive and recklessness of politicians. Effective legislature contributes to good governance. Ogundiya (2010) in his views stated that a legislative house must not only be capable of making laws for the safety and general well –being of the people, but must also be able to manage funds in order to provide good life for the entire citizenry. The legislative arm has not been able to manage this responsibility and this has denied the people the gains of democratic governance or dividends of democracy. Legislative arm has not been able to promote good governance through equity in the distribution of resources. Also, the judicial arm that supposes to be an indispensable complement to good governance in Nigeria is inefficient and ineffective. Oyebode (1996) stressed that the Nigerian judiciary is to a large extent subject to the whims and caprices of the executive but has also been excessively politicised. The state of affairs in this country can also be attributed to the corruption of the judiciary. (e)Ethnicity and Religion: Nigeria is a multifaceted society with diverse cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. If these diversities have been properly managed, it would have brought in development most especially through tourism and cultural exhibitions. However, the improper management of these diversities has proved detrimental to the country’s democracy largely because of unequal distribution of the country’s resources (Igba, 2012). According to Karl Marx “religion is the opium of the masses”. Poor people turn to religion as a solace and to a common identity “ethnic” to find comfort. Economically, it is the religion and ethnicity that the politicians use to fulfil their selfish desires in Nigeria. According to Toyo (1994), democracy cannot be genuine and flourishing in a country where citizens are grossly unequal in wealth and the poor, who are the majority, are dependent on the wealthy. The poor are marginalized as they are exempted from the dividends of democracy which was their rights. They do not feel any sense of belonging as a Nigerian. Most of Nigerians are loyal to ethnic group and religious group. There is no common solidarity and when you want something done, the question is no more are you a Nigerian? It has now turned to which tribe are you or what religion do you practice? (f) High Cost of Nigeria’s Democracy: Nigeria’s democracy operates on the principle of federal character with so many portfolios. Servicing their offices has made our democracy the most expensive in the world while the citizens suffer. Also, 70% of the Nigerian budget is for recurrent expenditure while 30% is for capital expenditure. The recent reaction of the federal government to reduce by 25% the salary of its cabinet was explained by the president as a means of cutting down the costs of running government (nationalmirroronline).
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 11:20:54 +0000
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