Kogiflame
1.0. Today, Nigeria marks another Democracy Day Anniversary, which present yet another opportunity to review the state of democracy of our great Nation. As we all know, Nigeria’s Democracy Day is a public holiday to commemorate the restoration of democracy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And it marks the day the military handed over power to an elected civilian government in 1999 and has remained a tradition that has been held annually, beginning in year 2000.
2.0. As expected in the early hours of today, President Buhari gave his Democracy Day Speech to commemorate the restoration of democracy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and from the speech, it is even glaring that the dividends of democracy are yet to be felt by Nigerians under this administration. From the speech, I sincerely expected Mr. President to succinctly enumerate the dividends the citizens had gained under his administration. But unfortunately, the speech was full of promises to get things right. Mr. President, after how many years in the office? Are you not tired of these promises? Well, be informed that Nigerians are tired and fed up with your promises.
3.0. For the avoidance of doubt and for the umpteenth time Mr. President, the dividends of democracy Nigerians are yet to reap and are clamouring for under your administration include but not limited to good governance, rule of law, respect for human rights and social justice, fight against corruption, economic empowerment and a better standard of living. But is disheartening that this administration has failed on all fronts more specifically on these three- insecurity, corruption and economy you promised to tackle in 2015.
4.0. A once robust economy handed over to this administration by the last administration in 2015 has been ruined and Nigeria has been turned into an unenviable poverty capital of the world, where over 82.9 million once-thriving Nigerians can no longer afford their daily meals and other necessities of life. Sadly, most Nigerians are yet to see better living conditions.
5.0. Also, one of the primary responsibilities of the government is the protection of lives and properties of its citizens according to the 1999 Constitution as amended. Section 14(2)(b) 1999 Constitution as amended provide thus: “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. But this government has woefully failed us. A country where we now live with perpetual fear of been attacked anytime, any day and anywhere. People killed or kidnapped on daily basis and having their carcases littered on the street. We can no longer travel to any part of this country with the hope of arriving safely
6.0. Like I stated sometime last week, the corruption scandals oozing out of his government has never been witnessed before in the history of Nigeria. Transparency International revealed that Nigeria is more corrupt today than she was in 2015. The United States’ 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released by US Department of State has described the scale of corruption in Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as massive, widespread, and pervasive.
7.0. My fellow Nigerian, as we celebrate our democracy day today, let it be our resolution not to continue this way. Let it be a wakeup call. We cannot afford to get it wrong come 2023. We must vote this government out and remind them that supreme power is vested in the people. Year 2023 will be a year we decide whether to continue wallowing in the valley of the shadow of death by allowing APC to continue or we want to be taken to the promise land by a Nigerian who can unify this country and transform the economy. I therefore encourage Nigerians to get their Permeant Voters Card (PVC), make sure we vote come 2023, protect our votes and save this country from these economic cankerworms and scavengers and have economic transformation we all longed for. *IN AN UNJUST SOCIETY, SILENCE IS A CRIME.*
God Bless Federal Republic of Nigeria
Signed
Senator Dino Melaye
12/06/2022.
