Democracy in its various variants and manifestations has become an enduring and prevailing framework for governing societies in the recent past centuries. Its tentacle, appeal and reach is expanding diminishing constantly the spaces that despotism and other sub-optimal governance frameworks occupy globally.
It has proven to be thus far the best way for humanity to progressively organise production in a more stable and sustainable manner.
The implication of this to national stability is that it has been generally agreed that nations that adopt this framework in organising themselves stand a better chance of creating a more stable and progressive society than others.
Flowing from this, we can easily summarise that any nation that therefore works outside this platform is doomed to operate at sub-optimal level thus unable to pursue in a more coherent way the mission to grow and develop its economy.
If this framework with all its imperfections is what offers humanity as it is today the best hope for continuous and sustainable development, and, that is also what Nigeria as a nation has fortunately chosen to operate, then it is our duty to ensure that we allow its very fine tenets and applications to operate unfettered without distortion both in theory and in its practices.
A decapitated democracy offers no salvation to the people and becomes worse than other social constructs. It is stripped of its ability to deliver its full potentials to the nation. A pseudo democracy is lukewarm and cannot function properly and is unable to muster the needed leverage to drive national development.
A distorted democracy is akin to a tricycle without one of its leg. It will lay crippled, incapacitated without progress. That is the choice when a nation practices democracy in breach and its truly a kiss of death.
Unfortunately for us in Nigeria, that is a horrible choice we seem to have made. In our present practice of democracy, the Legislature both at the federal and in all the states of the federation has become fully marginalised, compromised, subjugated and at best castrated.
There is always a struggle by the Executive arm of government to hijack its leadership and processes so that it can control its outcomes. This is unfortunately now the prevailing understanding.
The Executive pursue this as a conscious and deliberate agenda. I do not only think, I know that this poses a great danger not only to democracy but undermines national stability and cohesion.
One of the basic principles of democratic practice is the critical provision for the Separation of Powers. This is functioned on the fact that democracy is anchored on a tripod – the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. The fundamentality of this is founded on the fact that it is upon it that the idea of democratic checks and balances is built thus derives traction.
Any attempt at fusing all these three arms into one arm becomes a movement or romance with despotism. It detracts from the sacred practice and defiles our politics contaminating it to an extent that it puts not just the people in danger but also the people who are short-sightedly pursuing this agenda and worst of all, it is a huge threat to national survival. This is where I am deeply worried.
When a nation therefore allows any of the arms to be undermined in anyway, it heavily compromises the entire framework and endangers the nation. It stifles the ability of the system to self-regulate, correcting, adjusting and progressing. It allows the nation to gather clogs, remove fresh breathe and then putrefy and if left unchallenged goes into extinction. We therefore see any society that walks this path as a nation bent on committing hara-kiri.
Throughout the history of governance in Nigeria, the Legislature has always been the most abused, bastardised and traumatised despite its well documented contributions to our dear nation. It is the oldest arm of independent government in Nigeria as it was the first arm to attain full “Nigerianship” before the Judiciary and the Executive arms came through in October 1st 1960. One of the problems of our Democracy could therefore easily be situated in the disregard, marginalisation and abuse of one of our most experienced arm of Government in terms of origin.
We believe that for Nigeria to move forward, it has to seek a return to the traditions of democracy and tap into the experience and benefits of the Legislature. Until the Legislative arm is respected and fully given space to operate freely as an equal partner in our democratic journey, Nigeria will unfortunately remain in the doldrums of development.
A brief look at our history will suggest this continuous abnegation of the hallowed assembly of the people. After the first military coup, the Legislature was disbanded, but the other arms of government remained and were transformed in a new way.
This was replicated throughout our sojourn in the wilderness of military hegemony. Unfortunately, with the advent of democracy and the return of the Legislature, various leaders in the Executive arms have had to seek ways to capture or hijack the legislature so as to undermine its effectiveness and reduce it to a mere rubber stamp.
This historical struggle and abuse has contributed in the demise of our democracy and stifled the potency of our governance arrangements. It has led to wastage of resources and the dispensing of energies into pursuing shadows instead of the core substance of governance.
The unfortunate Ghana must go displays, the unfortunate paddings and the several struggles in the NASS and the various state houses of Assemblies were all attempt at compromising the Legislature with the single objective of muzzling and determining its various outcomes.
The legislature remains the arm of government closest to the people thus is easily congruent and deeply consanguine with the feelings, desires and desires of the masses. Its marginalisation and subjugation is therefore a subjugation of the will of the masses; an alienation of the people and a total disdain of the sovereign power of the people exercised through the Legislature.
It is through the Legislature that the people are given a critical voice during the life of a government . It is through them that millions of voices are articulated and desires are expressed and met while the various feelings of the masses are given vent. The Legislature is clearly critical to the success of any democracy as it becomes the major plank through which the people hold the Executive to account for their activities during their tenure.
We believe that the time has come for all lovers of democracy and indeed every Nigerian who still believe in democratic governance to stand up in support of upholding the principles of democracy. It is our civic responsibility to protect and entrench democratic culture in our nation. Where the Legislature is allowed to operate unhindered; the full benefits of democracy are activated; the masses, Nigeria and even the political class become beneficiaries in the long run.
Our collective outrage should be expressed against any other arm of Government that tries to hijack the Legislature in whatever guise. We must collectively hold such attempts with disdain and contempt rejecting it as an abhorrent practice that does the nation no good. When we keep quiet in the face of this continued marginalisation of the Legislature, we become unwitting collaborators with those who are bent on making a mockery of democracy including those whose desires are the continued undermining of the sovereign power and expressions of the people.
Nigerians must realise that the battle to free the Legislature is tied to our collective battle for good and effective governance. it is tied to our collective battle to stamp out corruption and free greater resources of the nation to serve the interests of the majority of Nigerians.
We must all come together as a nation across the various geographic expressions to restore the freedom of the Legislature frowning at Governors or Presidents that undermine the nation through the continuous undermining of the powers of the Legislature. Steal the power of the Legislature, steal the sovereign power of the people should be noted and creatively engaged. It is our moral, civic and collective responsibility. Time to save our democracy is now.
*Honourable Olumuyiwa Jimoh, former Deputy Majority Leader and member of the Lagos state House of Assembly representing Apapa II constituency.
