A cross-section of Nigerians from civil society, media and the civil service have called for a single tenure of six years and a rotational system of government to improve Nigeria’s democracy.
The respondents, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday, said unless the country reviewed its system of governance, dividends of democracy would continue to elude Nigerians.
Mr. Uche Nnorom, a Makurdi-based journalist, said wrong leadership and bad governance had continued to be the bane of Nigeria’s underdevelopment.
According to Nnorom, leaders would be challenged to provide good leadership within six years and leave the stage for others because their second term tenure often leads to compromise and corrupt tendencies.
He said they would have enough time to concentrate on the business of governance and would not be forced to dance to the tune of hungry politicians who they would be trusting to help realise their second term ambition.
He said it was unfortunate that Nigerian leaders over the years had continued to be insensitive to the needs and yearnings of their people.
“They contest with selfish motives, and to achieve their goals, they always have to collude with INEC (the Independent National Electoral Commission) and the judiciary,’’ he said.
Nnorom therefore, urged leaders to ensure transparency, fairness and justice in leadership, as well as put measures in place to cushion the effects of any economic policies they might formulate in the overall interest of the citizens.
On his part, civil society activist Steve Aluko, called on the government at all levels to strengthen democracy in Nigeria by prioritising good governance, transparency and accountability, tackle corruption and also promote the rule of law at all levels.
Aluko, the Director, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), told NAN in Jos, that the legislature, judiciary and executive arms of government had all failed Nigerians.
According to him, the legislature, since 1999, has not passed any bill that will benefit the common man, such as the bill to make local governments (LGs) autonomous.
He further said that most of the bills passed by the legislators fell short of the expectations of the masses.
He also berated the governors for failing to conduct LG elections in their states, an act he described as contrary to democratic principles.
Aluko also accused INEC, which he said should serve as a critical instrument in ensuring an unbiased democratic process, of being compromised repeatedly.
“If the process is already compromised, then the product cannot be better off than the process itself,’’ he said.
The activist, also in the same vein, said the judiciary had also done more harm than dispensing justice, as most of the progressive judgements judges passed were reversed.
He urged the judiciary to, as a matter of urgency, work towards redeeming its image, as Nigerians had lost confidence in the courts because the culture of impunity had taken over the justice process.
On the part of the executive, Aluko called on the government to ensure citizens were provided with basic social needs, particularly in the area of protection of lives and properties, as insecurity in the country had heightened in the last 25 years.
Others who aired their views on Nigeria’s 25 years of democracy had been marred by the decisions of INEC and the judiciary.
They blamed the two bodies for government failures in delivering dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
Mr Attah Edeh said INEC and the judiciary had not managed Nigeria’s nascent democracy well with its controversial results and judgments which had brought in some bad leaders and had led to untold hardships on Nigerians.
Edeh said: “INEC always clears unqualified candidates to contest election, and when the electorate exercise their power by voting qualified persons, INEC will still declare the unqualified ones as winners and ask the aggrieved parties to go to court.
“It is a vicious circle that has stagnated democracy in Nigeria for 25 good years”, Edeh said.
Also, some civil servants expressed dissatisfaction with Nigeria’s democratic journey so far, especially as it concerned workers.
According to Mr Stephen Yohol, year after year, the emoluments of civil servants have remained stagnant, while those of politicians or public office holders keep increasing.
Yohol said that the economy of the country also kept depreciating on a daily basis for the past 25 years.
Mrs Veronica Ayoosu and Mr Joseph Bagu, on their part, said that Nigerians had not derived any benefits since the return of the country to democracy in the last 25 years, instead, they had continued to face many challenges.
Ayoosu and Bagu said most civil servants across the country were currently finding it difficult to feed their families and the government did not appear to be doing anything about
