NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY ---TEN YEARS ON..........

Hurray!!!!!!!!!!! its being ten years since the Nigerian streets were freed from the dominance of the men in khakis. On may 29th our beloved country marks its tenth year since independence, but what can be said of the impacts of democracy on my beloved nation??

We have seen 1.5 presidents within this time with one man presiding for eight good years and then handing over to an ailing man. We have witnessed a supposedly successful recapitalisation of our local banks (that was until the stock market turned a cruel hand on them) and our insurance sector..hmmm not sooo… successful recapitalisation . A Nigerian became the most beautiful girl in the world and we have also seen two other Nigerians getting in the highly envied Forbes worlds wealthiest list. In the year 06/07 Nigeria boosted its highest rate of foreign investments due to the world banks declaration of Nigeria becoming an emerging market to watch. Real estate reached its all time high with skyscrapers and luxury flat complexes sprouting up in every corner of the Island. The New York Times did an article on the lavish lifestyles of Nigerians in contrast to the abject poverty within the same country. We hosted the greatest football team in my books…glory glory MAN UNITED!!!! And we are about to host the under seventeen world cup.

The national judiciary now flexes its muscles with a show of authority through election nullifications (as seen in Edo and Ondo state) and ensuring the rightful winners rule the states. Lagosians love for Fashola has not been shown to any other govenor, because he is doing an AMAZING job in lagos. And my personal favourite of all our successes the local content clause, which ensures that all multinationals(aka oil and gas companies) operating within Nigeria, who are awarded local contracts must employ at least 70% of the local citizens within the working teams .Which also led/encouraged to the PPF scholarship fund which grants tuition schlorships in engineering and specialised courses at reputable world class universities.

Democracy has allowed some great minds hold some key positions even though for a short while i.e Ngozi Okonkwo and Mummy re-branding extraordinaire Dora A.

The birth of the telecommunications sector is another democratic success, it has helped to bridge the gap between Nigeria and the west, remember the days when if u travelled abroad u could not call home to let them know you had arrived alright and had to write a letter instead..hmm seems so far back but its really not that far back.

Small and medium scale companies are being birthed everyday as long as the founders are willing to work at it they become successful(ok ok with a bit of egunje here and there also helps). Privatisation is the order of the day with the Nitel deal still on the table. Tourism has improved in our country with big thanks going to Rivers state and the calaber Christmas carnival.

We have hosted major artists from all across the globe, but more importantly, We have restructured our own local music industry and grown to LOVE it, even more than the foreign stuff! This has given hope to the youth that they too can be the next P-Square or D'banj!

These are just a few of the things that democracy has achieved over the years. I think the most important is that the sense of frea has been removed, with military rule, anyone can be killed at any time for toeing the line, speaking thier mind or fighting for change. Now people, the media and other countries can safely criticize and question the government and those in power without fear for thier life(to a certain extent). Democracy has brought with it hope to the Nigerian people. Although it has not been utilized to its maximum, at least it has started on the journey. But can you imagine any of the prior listed occurrences happening under Gen Sani Abacha. NOPE!!!! I don’t think so.
Many Nigerians equate the success of democracy to economic success, but you see democracy is only a political system and not a policy or programme its fundamental nature is that it provides people with choices. I mean a clear case of this are two prominent economies, India and China. India has been a democracy since 1947 but still remains one of the poorest countries albeit an highly staked emerging one, while china which still suffers from communism has become one of the most rapidly expanding even though their people remain without political rights as seen after the Sichuan earthquakes.

We spend so much time complaining about our country and never appreciate our few glory milestones. Yes we still have a really bad reputation and a long way to grow, but it’s a working progress. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Continuation and further development lies in our hands although I fear for tomorrow as the children of today are way more greedy, lazy, and inpatient than those of yesterday. There is more interest in what they can gain from Nigeria and not what they can add to it, with that sense of hope, hardwork and discipline loosing to the ideology of get rich quick or die trying! But lets not loose hope and stop dreaming cause as we have all learnt from the African Americans there is power in THE DREAM!!

PROUDLY NIGERIAN…………XOXO

Miss L.C