The recent development in Turkey, when the military attempted to dislodge a democratic government, is food for thought for all lovers of democracy across the globe. It is also a wakeup call to practitioners, particularly in genuinely fledgling democracies and others that are permanently in the process of learning, not to trifle with what they have. As one songwriter once put it, ‘you never need your water until your well runs dry’. It is particularly instructive that it was ordinary citizens, who trooped out to defend their democracy, and rescued the Turkish government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The failed coup claimed 240 lives of citizens, many of whom had offered to die in order to save their country from military adventurers.

Coming home, the response of politicians and people in government to the development in Turkey was largely dismissive. That was to be expected. As far as our politicians are concerned, the military has been permanently disabled in the contest for political power, either here or all over the world. So, it is condemnation all the way, without a moment to crosscheck the facts and see what lessons are there to learn.

For some concerned citizens, the lessons are not farfetched. We could begin by asking, whether in these 17 years of democratic rule, there is in place, a deliberate policy to nurture, at least, 240 men and women who will surrender their lives to confront, for example, a military putsch, just to defend this democracy. We are talking of the last 16 years, which should not be misconstrued to mean that citizens of Nigeria at other times have never loved democracy. Those who witnessed democratic rule in the 50s and early 60s testify that democracy is good. Those were the good old days, when there were genuine political efforts to make life meaningful. Citizens were encouraged to go to school for free, while parents paid modest taxes to assist government. There were days of yore, when citizens could walk into community dispensaries (primary healthcare) and be treated for free. The roads that linked states and communities then were not expressways, but they were good enough to accommodate lorries, and could last for decades, because quality materials were used. We are referring to days when there were no privately owned schools, but there were local public schools that were efficient and academically sound. Teachers and other public workers were promptly paid their salaries, and pensioners were not subjected to hard life.

Those were some good things that democracy once offered in this country. And for that, citizens were ever ready to defend democracy. In the second republic, however, democracy did not yield much dividend. The management of the economy was poor and unprofessional, thus, plunging the country into a terminal depression from which it never climbed out. When the military came in December 1983, Nigerians were not enthusiastic to defend their government. Some even hailed the usurpers, because they were promised heaven on earth. They were told that corruption would be stamped out forever. They were told that their hospitals, which the former government had turned into ‘consulting clinics,’ would come alive again.

But that was not to be. The military, it turned out, offered nothing different from their civilian counterparts. That knowledge instigated long years of pro-democracy campaigns. Nigerians loved their freedom and it is democratic rule that provides the space to exercise the fundamental rights. Between 1983 and 1999, when the military was finally offloaded into the barracks, was a long and tortuous route. Many activists were bruised, others killed, in order to demand a return to democracy. The cost of that encounter was too huge to be forgotten, but how soon men forget.

And that takes us back to the question of having men and women, who can have muster sufficient passion to defend democracy. Largely, the answers are there for all to us. Even though the country has earned enough to make life more meaningful than what obtained in the 60s and 80s, all the indices of development are in the decline. Life expectancy has been on a steady decline; poverty has grown menacingly, corruption is in embarrassing digits; inflation is at all times high; and now the economy has entered into a full-blown recession.

That is the report card as at today. Whether citizens are well fed today to defend democracy is for the politicians to answer. One can only plead that we must all work hard to ensure that we do not lose faith. The larger responsibility is on the political class, whose members never learn from history. And this set of class is particularly full of absurdists.

The 8th National Assembly will task the best of behavioural scientists when it is time to psychoanalyze. At a time when the economy is in bad shape and the country itself is at a cliff, waiting to be nudged down, when you would expect sobriety from parliamentarians, what we get is absurdity. The face-off that has characterized the 8th assembly is symbolic of the health of our democracy. It is the failure of the party system to rise above pettiness and greed to forge real foundation for the growth of democracy.

There are no more heroes to emulate among our politicians. Why, because there is no mentoring process at the point of selection. As for elections, once a godfather projects a politician, he is sure to win. The process of selection into the political class has been thrown open and anybody can go and come at will. In those days, we heard politicians bragged that they belonged to the great Zikist Movement, or to Egbe Omo Oduduwa, the Talakawa movement, etc. Those were grooming ‘schools’ where disciples of great leaders, such as; Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Aminu Kano and others were studied, for morals, discipline, intelligence and statecraft. Politicians studied at the feet of these leaders for knowledge and it profited them.

These days, all a politician needs to win a party ticket into the Senate, is perhaps, a good outing at the #Bring Back Our Girls rallies during the Jonathan regime, when his government could not account for the missing Chibok Girls. That was where the All Progressive Congress (APC) scouted for a good number of members, including the now pesky, Senator Dino Melaye. Melaye played a prominent role in that campaign, and it was easy for him to switch roles as anchor at a number of APC rallies in those fledgling days. He was a very useful APC member then, as he lobbed invectives at the PDP and Goodluck Jonathan. Those who now cry ‘crucify him’ for taking on Senator Remi Tinubu did not see anything wrong then with the ebullient and energetic young politician. Did the APC, after it formed government, hold a special retreat to urbanise most of the members it picked along the road, or the senators and other members it stole from the Peoples Democratic party and acculturate them on its Credos?

Or, if I may ask, which school of politics did Ali Modu Sheriff attend, to be handed the chairmanship of the PDP on a platter of gold, apart from the rumor that he had invested sums to bailout the defeated party? That same seat, which Sheriff now drags in the mud, was the cherished stool former vice president Alex Ekuweme carefully managed for a brief moment; then he handed it to a tested Chief Solomon Lar. Highly disciplined Sunday Awoniyi coveted that seat, but was denied. Audu Ogbeh, a well-behaved man also sat on it. If our politicians know what a political party is, apart from offering them access to power and money, they will learn to treat it well.

This is where we are and unless other stakeholders, like the INEC and the judiciary teach some sense into our politicians, this democracy will come to ruins and nobody will risk his life to defend it. INEC has constitutional powers to regulate parties and put to shame politicians who are unruly. It is only an unruly politician that will stage a governorship primary in Edo without complying with the provisions of the Electoral Act, to notify INEC 21 days prior, and for the Electoral Body to witness the proceedings. INEC must be commended for being sensible this time. It is up to our judiciary to also be purposeful and firm. It will save our democracy.