Today, Thursday September 15, the world over is commemorating the 2016
International Day of Democracy. The Day, which is annually celebrated, was
adopted on November 8, 2007 by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. In its
resolution in 2007, the General Assembly, which believes that human rights and
the rule of law are best protected in democratic societies, encouraged
governments to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and
consolidation of democracy and also decided that 15th of September
of each year should be observed as the International Day of Democracy.
The International Day of Democracy was first celebrated in the year
2008. The UN General Assembly recognized that the year 2008 marked the 20th
anniversary of the first International Conference of New or Restored
Democracies, which gave people a chance to focus on promoting and consolidating
democracy worldwide. The event which featured various activities was used to
raise public awareness about democracy.
According to BBC English Dictionary, democracy is a ‘system of
government or organization in which the citizens or members choose leaders or
make other important decisions by voting.’ The Oxford Advanced Learners
Dictionary defines it as a ‘fair and equal treatment of everyone in an
organization or any group of persons, and their right to take part in making
decisions’. In Political Science, democracy is referred to as ‘the government
of the people, by the people, and for the people.’ Furthermore, democracy could
be described as the slogan or anthem of a certain organization that is being cited
or sung, and understood by the entire members of the organization or union.
The last time I checked, democracy of any country deserved a thorough
sustenance because it’s no doubt a welcome development. This implies that any
democratic state is expected to be fiercely safeguarded at all cost owing to
the fact that any practice that gives peace to those concerned requires
adequate sustenance. However, it is appalling that in most developing nations
such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Rwanda, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Kenya, among
others, democracy has suffered from enormous maltreatment due to corruption.
Without mincing words, corruption has remained a blood-sucking cankerworm in
the democratic dispensation of numerous countries in the world to include the
aforementioned ones.
Corruption has indeed hampered the socio-economic and political growth
of several nations, thereby constituting nuisance to the available human and
natural resources of the nations in question. Surely, the various lingering
uncalled, bilious and questionable attitudes including personal aggrandizement,
nepotism, election rigging, abuse of human rights cum rule of law,
misappropriation of public funds as well as impunity of most public/political
office holders, in a country like Nigeria, is solely attributed to corruption.
In a nutshell, unequivocally, corruption has obviously rendered so many
countries incapacitated, all in the name of ‘democracy’.
Since democracy is believed to be the only
system of government that allows the citizenry to express their views in any
manner they prefer as well as act as they desire, people have unfortunately
mistaken its flexible and liberal features for laxity and docility. The leaders
on their part, rather than safeguarding the constitution which is the
rudimentary symbol of democracy, have equally chosen to abuse the content of
such essential document that’s required to be kept sacrosanct at all times.
Democracy is a universal value
based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political,
economic, social and cultural systems, and their full participation in all
aspects of their lives. On the contrary, Nigeria as a country has failed to
uphold this philosophy. This is why the youth are no longer the major dominance
of the country’s political arena as it was during the postcolonial era.
In spite of Nigeria’s bureaucratic nature, the youth cannot boast of at
least ten percent (10%) participation in her political strive. Rather, the old
men who started the game have vowed to die in service thereby endangering
thorough participation of the youth that are regarded as the most productive class,
which is purely contrary to the mandate of the UN. These among many more
factors presently found in the seemingly democratic setting of many nations
across the globe are solely products of corruption.
Hence, as Nigeria joins the global
community to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the International
Day of Democracy, we are expected to join hands in the ongoing crusade that is
targeted towards total eradication of corruption in our democratic system,
which has eaten deep in our bone marrow. To this end, I call on the civil
society and all concerned institutions cum individuals to endeavour to
contribute their respective quotas in their various jurisdictions through
sensitization of the entire citizenry via several forms of awareness campaigns.
We must acknowledge that this is the only way we can embrace the real dividend
of democracy.
Similarly, there’s equally an urgent need for us to ensure that our young ones are given the opportunity to effectively participate in the country’s democratic dispensation. Thus, we ought to endeavour to highlight the challenges and opportunities of young people engaging in democratic processes. Survey indicates that people between the ages of 18 and 30 constitute a fifth of the world’s population; yet, several studies show declining faith among the said set of people in politics, with decreasing levels of participation in elections, political parties as well as socio-cultural organizations, or what have you, across the globe. This apathy applies to both established and emerging democratic states.
Similarly, there’s equally an urgent need for us to ensure that our young ones are given the opportunity to effectively participate in the country’s democratic dispensation. Thus, we ought to endeavour to highlight the challenges and opportunities of young people engaging in democratic processes. Survey indicates that people between the ages of 18 and 30 constitute a fifth of the world’s population; yet, several studies show declining faith among the said set of people in politics, with decreasing levels of participation in elections, political parties as well as socio-cultural organizations, or what have you, across the globe. This apathy applies to both established and emerging democratic states.
Since
it has been proven beyond doubts that corruption remains the prime bane of
democracy and has succeeded in causing mankind an untold hardship, it’s
pertinent to acknowledge that we can never get it right if it isn’t holistically
eradicated. Think about it!
COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR
(The Media Ambassador)-Public Affairs Analyst & Civil Rights Activist-
Chief Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research
& Career Development - Owerri
_____________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
http://frednwaozor.blogspot.com Twitter: @mediambassador
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