Nigeria’s inglorious democracy

It was a bad Christmas day everywhere in Benin City I escaped from Lasgidi, our one and only lagoon city in the southwest of our boisterous, booming country currently suffering what it should not suffer. There was no power everywhere. Or, to rephrase the statement, there was no power in many places and most homes. Some persons near and close to Government House in the Edo capital even informed me that there was really no buoyant Christmas in the state’s house of democratic power.

All my attempts to get to the NUJ (Nigerian Union of Journalists) building to ascertain the true state of things did not yield my expectations. And a regular reader of this column who looked forward to hosting me for even fifteen minutes if I would be kind enough to be his guest for the stated duration of time was unhappily unhappy when I said I would not come to keep him company as he wished. Did he make all the social efforts and preparations in vain? With the Almighty COVID-19 still plucking down people of all ages, why should I not allow Miss Dreadful to curtail my independence and freedom of movement?

Besides, my regular reader’s abode in the Ekenwan Road axis of Benin could not but be a no-go area at this time of the Yule-tide. Again, serious road work, road repairs or construction and re-construction, is steadily going on there – meaning that the traffic palaver there is one that does not make room for even a lonely crowd. Of course, the “lonely crowd” there is something invigorating to the Benins on account of what their son and brother, their icon of a governor in the person of Mr. Godwin Obaseki, is doing in the city as their democratically-elected governor.

And talking about democracy, one cannot but ask: How many of our so-called democratic leaders know that this system of government is the central principle in all parts of our social life today in Nigeria, our dreadful country your dreadful country? I always remember the following quotation on democracy: “Democracy is an ideal and practice of life in which all the members of society are always full of hope, enjoy life, work and study in the spirit of independence, creativity, friendship, and service, and endeavor toward endless progress and prosperity, harmonizing the civic rights each of us has received, with the public welfare.”

This is certainly a glorious statement about democracy. But our current politicians, who call themselves democrats, wrongly in my view, are taking us back to an age gone by, centuries ago, when social and moral codes were clearly anti-progress and anti-prosperity. Different kinds of strife, schism, conflict and repression, and oppression have birthed in our country country various aspects of discrimination on account of dissimilarities in ethnicity, religion, perspective, politics, wealth accumulation, bigotry of ideologues who are at best nothing but what and who they truly are: bigoted ideologists killing Nigeria and Nigerians. Swine and swine and swine! Hell!

There is no liberty in the true sense of the term in this country anymore. The diabolical crushing of the #EndSARS protesters is one evidence, yes, one undiluted example and unmistakable evidence of this. There is no equality in the true sense of the term in this country anymore. The diabolical appointments of individuals of a particular region or section to man key posts, offices, organizations, and establishments can always be cited to buttress this point and observation. There is no happiness in this country anymore.

The hunger everywhere in the land even in a supposedly festive season and period is visibly visible evidence to cite as another problem confronting our fellow compatriots, the majority of whom receive from their employer’s remunerations that cannot provide square meals on their tables for up to two weeks, at least. There are other examples to cite here to underscore the point that Buhari our president and his cohorts, partisans, and presidencynologsts are lacking in the moral task and dutiful duty to perform what they as democrats need to perform for us who democratically elected them to give Nigeria and Nigerians happy happiness of solid social security, solid courage and sense of a system of ideas beneficial to our democratic moralogy, as the Japanese would say. Rather than humanizing us, Buhari’s regime, Buhari’s democracy, is demeaning, diminishing, and de-humanizing us.

Many things we never saw, experienced, and accepted before his second coming, no, before his third coming, we now see, experience, and are being forced (and compelled) to accept. What are these or those things? We all know them as compatriots whose conduct and emotional and mental attitudes must be rightly humanized or re-humanized by these civilians, these demo-repressors overwhelming, swallowing us, and smashing us all over us as our conquerors. We must resist them fully and even to the bitterest end. Every now and then we must issue our declamations and declamations against their inglorious democracy. As glorious democrats or believers in and of democracy, ardent believers, who voted them into their present seats of power and authority our declamations will never cease.

I will like to end this my Christmas season contemplation and meditation with the following two quotations from a collective of Japanese scholars, Japanese moralogists of democratic moralogy as follows: “Democracy can be justified not because rights are guaranteed but because there exist people who endeavor to perform their duty to respect others and to guarantee others’ rights.” The second quotation which I must invoke from the collective goes thus: “Democracy can claim its name, not because the enjoyment of happiness is guaranteed but because there exist people who endeavor to realize happiness and welfare for the total society.”

In an inglorious democracy such as ours of the present time in our country where many men without Allah hold sway, democratic moralogists cannot but be in very short supply. And happy “happiness and welfare for the total society” as well as respect for others’ rights” will hardly be realized here. But sooner than later we shall get our country back. The Supreme Masters of Merit many followers of this column are not strangers to have promised and guaranteed us that. And we shall surely be happy as long as no one is unhappy or unhappily unhappy. Ours must be a glorious democracy, not an inglorious democracy. Sooner than later this will happen. The Supreme Master of Merit will give us the “motive power” for getting this done. And we shall witness the true meaning of democratic glory and responsibility and morally charismatic authority and power that will uplift Nigeria really gloriously. This guarantee has been given to us.

Afejuku can be reached via 08055213059.