THE NIGERIAs ELECTIONS 2015: FOR THE ATTENTION OF PRESIDENT JONATHAN/PDP, GEN.BUHARI/APC, POLICE/IGP, SSD/INECs JEGA/NGOs AND ELECTORATES AND ALL OTHER DEMOCRATIC STAKEHOLDERS IN NIGERIA (2) BY ABBATI BAKO,psc,UK. Politics has competing values, interest and ambition. Also is a game of dialogue and negotiation (is never a game of fighting or violence) as well as a game of influence, indoctrination, monopoly, strategy and planing. Politics is between vision and practicality. So, politics is a fantastic and beautiful game within the branches of social sciences (although there has been an argument among scholars whether politics is a science or art). But the game must be conducted in accordance with its rules and principles. Politics is a way of governing the human society based on laws formulated by the elected representatives of the people. The intrinsic relationship between the successful conduct of free, fair, credible and acceptable elections and the institutionalization and consolidation of democracy in nations is widely acknowledged. This arises from the notion that in a democracy, “the role of the people is to produce a government” and elections are “the institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of competitive struggle for the people’s votes”. Elections are thus perceived often as a procedure for regulatory competition of political power through competition for votes. Within this conception, elections are fundamental building blocks of democracy. Failure to conduct free, fair, violence free, transparent, credible and internationally acceptable elections in a polity often generate outcomes that stunt the growth of democracy, as well as the proper development of the nation. Paul Collier (is an expert and professor in political economy at University of Oxford, London) says “Elections are the institutional technology of democracy” According to him, elections have the potential to make a government more accountable and more legitimate. Elections should sound the death knell to political violence. He argues that elections and peace settlement in the world’s most violent countries may lead eventually to a brave democratic world. In the mean time, though, brutal, protracted civil wars, military coups and failing economies will plague the bottom billion, unless national sovereignty is curtailed and economic discipline introduced”. For professor Tatah Mentan “democracy is about political choice fostered by meaningful political competition”. He observes that “in a democracy, all partisan interest and ideological flavours have a chance to make their case to the electorate. A well functioning democracy does not guarantee success in the political (or economic) market place. Rather it does assure that everyone should potentially be capable of securing office”. This scenario is a reflection of what currently appears in Nigeria. It is therefore important to assess what factors exacerbate the situation. And why does violence occur in Nigerias political democracy? For many observers; example the electorate and civil society, genuine democracy has not been established in Nigeria, and this is what causes/bring about tension and violence in the country. Looking at what democracy is, one could argue that up till now, we have not been practicing proper democracy in the country. Experts such as Paul Collier and Tatah Mentan argues that in most African nations (Nigeria inclusive) real democracy has not being practiced; rather practices DEMOCRAZY. Abraham Lincoln popularized the saying that democracy is a government of the people by the people and for the people. Is this the case in Nigeria one might ask? To be continued (In Sha Allah) Abbati Bako,MA,psc,bsis,mti,Kent,UK (Political analyst and Consultant,IPRC)
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 22:53:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015