Everyone detests with passion seeing his/her
voice or speech swept under the carpet. In the same vein, it’s extremely
painful and devastating for one to be deprived of his freedom of speech in any
circumstance or arena he finds himself. And, this characteristic known as
‘Freedom of Speech’ remains the most distinct feature finds in 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.
Frankly, democracy of any country is the prerogative of the people that
make-up the country; therefore ought to be duly sustained 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.
It is appalling that in most developing nations such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Rwanda, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Kenya, and what have you, 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 such as personal aggrandizement,
nepotism, election rigging, abuse of human rights and 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’.
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 twenty percent (20%) 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 United Nations. These and many more factors presently found in the seemingly democratic setting of many nations in the world are products of corruption.
Tuesday September 15, the world over commemorated the 2015 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.
As Nigeria joins the global community to
commemorate the International Day of Democracy, we are expected to join hands
in the ongoing crusade that is targeted towards eradication of corruption,
which has eaten deep in our democratic bone marrow, as being led by President
Mohammadu Buhari. Similarly, there’s also 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 and socio-cultural organizations
across the globe. This apathy applies to both established and emerging
democratic states.
To this end, I’m candidly calling on the civil society and all concerned
institutions cum individuals for total eradication of corruption in our
democratic system through sensitization of the youth as well as promotion of
freedom of speech among the electorates; so that, the citizenry of the
contemporary Nigerian society shall live to benefit the real dividend of democracy.
Don’t forget; for the fight against corruption to be holistic, all hands must
be on deck as long as it lasts. Think about it!
(The Media Ambassador)
Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research
& Career Development - Owerri
_____________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056 http://frednwaozor.blogspot.com
Twitter: @fdnnwaozor
