Democratic governance will not be anything more meaningful where the voice of the people does not count much and where the leaders pay lip service to the issue of accountability.
No doubt, genuine democracy is characterized with freedom of speech, rule of law, separation of powers among the vital three arms of government, periodic elections that ensures peaceful transition from one political administration to another through ‘free and fair polls’, freedom of association and so forth. All these are the ingredients or tenets of democracy. With these ingredients, democracy as a form of government is adjudged the best form of government globally speaking.
But today, the mind-boggling questions are; have we allowed the above ingredients of democracy to thrive so that man will be governed in peace, fairness and truth in order to effect desired development in our economic and socio-political spheres? To what extent have our leaders pursued leadership accountability in their styles of leadership to attract positive changes for the betterment of Africans and Nigerians in particular? How far has the leaders allowed public opinion or opinion pool and judicial verdicts in democratic experience to influence considerably our political intercourse for the good governance of the people of Nigeria and Africa in general? These are the bordering questions the readers of this essay will ponder about.
In our part of the world, what go on have made many Nigerians not to trust their leaders. The democratic tenets or ingredients mentioned above are not allowed to take full force due to man’s selfishness, corruption and unwholesome avarice for self aggrandizement or pursuit of power by all means and at all costs.
