In spite of
the biting economic
hardship, political leaders yesterday appealed to Nigerians to persevere
some more, saying there was light at the end of the tunnel and that
there was no alternative to democratic rule in the country.
The appeal comes as Acting President
Yemi Osinbajo addresses the nation this morning on the midterm scorecard
of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media
and Publicity to the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, told THISDAY in a
text message yesterday that the Acting President would address the
nation but did not give details of the focus of the speech.
However, President of the Senate, Dr.
Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu
Dogara; Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu; National Leader
of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Bola Tinubu; and former Vice
President Abubakar Atiku, have urged Nigerians not to allow their
current economic predicaments predispose them to dictatorship, saying it
was better to support and strengthen the institutions of democracy to
assure a better future.
Others who also urged support for
democracy included Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Ayuba Waba.
Since the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen.
Tukur Buratai, warned officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army to shun
alleged entreaties from politicians to subvert constituted authority a
couple of weeks ago, the nation has been on edge, with many Nigerians
calling for a thorough investigation into the alleged security breach
and prosecution of culprits.
The celebration of Democracy Day and the
midterm of President Muhammadu Buhari today has offered political
leaders another opportunity to espouse the virtues of democracy and warn
dictatorship adherent to stay off the polity.
Saraki in his Democracy Day message
saluted Nigerians for their perseverance in the face of the prevailing
hardships, assuring them that there were better days ahead.
“Let us celebrate with hope that the
present economic challenges will soon give way to a prosperous country
that we can all be proud of. Our democratic institutions need to be
strengthened to perform their duties in the service of all Nigerians
irrespective of the government in power,” Saraki said in a statement by
his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu.
He called for concerted efforts to build
a strong national economy, as a way to ensure the sustenance of
democracy in the country, adding that the biggest challenge to democracy
in the last 18 years, had been the need to better the living standards
of citizens, and ensure even development across Nigeria.
Dogara in his message spoke in similar
vein: “I thank and appreciate our country men and women for the
dedication, patience, hope and resilience that they have shown, that in
spite of the biting economic recession, we have held on to our hope for a
better nation and we have not given up.”
He noted that despite the challenges,
democracy remained the best form of government, adding that the
government of the day was committed to strengthening its institutions
and fighting corruption.
According to him: “I know there are
challenges but these challenges are not peculiar to us. So many
countries have had to face these kind of challenges in their
developmental strides.
“Thank God we have a president who is
determined and who has an uncompromising stance against corruption, and
we are building strong institutions that will deal with the hydra headed
monster.”
Ekweremadu on his part harped on the need to uphold constitutionalism and the rule of law to sustain democracy.
“The greatest blessings of democracy
are constitutionalism, rule of law, respect for human rights, courts,
separation of powers, and the ballot box,” he said, contending that
democracy was not just about good roads, hospitals, electricity, and
other socio-economic infrastructure, which are not only grossly
inadequate now but could also be provided by a dictator.
“Unless we apply the breaks and uphold
the rule of law and democratic conventions and practices in all
ramifications, our greatest losses, moving forward, will not be economic
recession, lack of critical infrastructure, among others, but an
irredeemably deteriorated civilian rule where the decisions of the
courts, letters and spirit of the law, resolutions of the legislature,
electoral choices of Nigerians as expressed through the ballot no longer
count,” Ekweremadu said.
He urged Nigerians to defend democracy with all lawful and legitimate means, for posterity sake.
In Lagos, Tinubu asked Nigerians to keep and nurture democracy, not for the sake of democracy but for the sake of the country.
“We must remember that should we fall
asleep, there are those who would like nothing better than to take it
from us,” he said in a statement by his Media Adviser, Mr. Tunde Rahman,
telling Nigerians to be vigilant and ensure a better future and better
Nigeria.
Atiku said Nigerians should not
contemplate having the military back to power, asking anyone toying with
such an idea to perish with such thoughts as the worst form of
democratic rule had been adjudged far better than the best form of
military dictatorship.
“Nigerians should be proud of themselves
for doing away with military governments in 1999, in favour of
democracy, which the World over, gives voice and a sense of belonging to
more people in the society,” he said in a statement by his Media Office
in Abuja.
He said since the return of democracy in
1999, the nation had accomplished a lot in social, economic and human
development, adding that in those other areas where the nation was
lacking, the system made it possible for the problems to be brought to
the public arena for discussion and settlement, in democratic
institutions like the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly.
On his part, Dickson insisted that the
current form of government had come to stay, challenging those he
described as anti-democratic forces who had been working to truncate
democracy to rethink because democracy is here to stay.
Non-democratic rule, said Dickson in a
goodwill message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel
Iworiso-Markson, was no longer fashionable; stating that democracy
remained the best system of government.
He charged critical stakeholders like
members of the National Assembly, civil society organizations and the
media not to abdicate their roles to defend and promote the noble ideals
of democracy even in the face of constant threats and intimidation.
Also opposed to any attempt to truncate
democratic rule was an APC chieftain, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, who warned
Nigerians against military interference.
He, however, said the recent alleged
plot by some politicians and top military hierarchy to take over the
government was uncalled for and charged Nigerians to protect the current
democratic dispensation.
Baraje spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, while speaking with journalists on the state of the nation.
He cautioned against religious bigotry, ethnicity and acts that could truncate the peace and unity of the country.
He called for prayers for quick recovery of the president.
The NLC in a statement by its president,
Wabba, called on the Chief of Army Staff, Buratai, and the Nigerian
Army authorities not only to investigate but to prosecute anybody found
culpable in the alleged coup plot.
Wabba warned that the organised labour union would not tolerate military takeover of the government.
Wabba said that NLC decided to break
from its norm of not issuing a statement to mark May 29, because of the
sensitivity of the issue raised by the Army and the current
socio-economic realities in the country.
According to him: “This year, we have
decided to break from the tradition and address an issue, which came to
light recently. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Tukur Burutai,
recently told Nigerians that he had gotten “information that individuals
have been approaching some officers and soldiers for undisclosed
political reasons.
“This thinly veiled statement has been
decoded in plain language to mean that some politicians and non-military
persons have been approaching military officers to organize a military
coup to truncate the current democratic dispensation.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress wishes to
state in the strongest possible tone that it is categorically opposed to
any further military adventurism in the body politics of our nation.
The damage military incursion into Nigeria’s political arena did over
the decades it imposed itself on the people is largely responsible for
the underdevelopment of our political culture almost six decades after
attaining political independence.”
Wabba said the military did not only do
incalculable damage to the nation’s political culture but also deepened
and virtually institutionalized corruption in all segments of national
life.
“We call on the Chief of Army Staff to
go beyond just informing Nigerians and cautioning those trying to derail
our democracy to desist from it. Rather, the armed forces should at the
appropriate time after concluding its investigation, identify the
individuals involved, prosecute them in the relevant courts, and if
found guilty given the appropriate punishments as deterrent to
potentially ambitious adventurers,” he said.
He called on elected public office
holders at all levels of government to rededicate themselves and work to
make democracy impact the people positively.
Wabba also cautioned the federal
government on the pending demand for the review of the National Minimum
Wage, warning that labour’s patience was waning and urged the federal
government to use the occasion of the Democracy Day to announce the
composition of the tripartite negotiation committee so discussions on
the demand could start.
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