By Comrade Ogbu A. Ameh
How do we focus on interrogating the choice between crude evolutionism (history as a developmental goal) and teleology, history as a path drawn irresistibly towards a pre-ordained goal?
The Nigeria’s political elites over time have turned the concept of democracy on its head. This has been overtly demonstrated in the deliberate practice of naked variance of democracy. This is also a fact about the African continent that, no one of the countries know any peace or real progress.
Democracy is not just about good governance, it is a principal tool for economic growth at the secondary resource or knowledge phase of development that many Africa’s countries have entered. The serious part of African problem with democracy is that, the experiment is locked in the deficit trap. The people including the legislators do not understand the functions of the legislature. If they realized that, the legislature is the first arm of government and the real essence of democracy. The moment they realize this, democracy will be stabilize.
This ignorance arising from dearth of political education, abandoned by political parties has put the country in democracy deficit trap today. The legislators take the people for granted and as tools for periodic elections. This is glaring in the disconnection between them and their constituents.
The people centered philosophy of the architects of democracy has been replaced with political elites centered democracy in Nigeria. The people and their mandates are bought at a cost, by the capricious hustlers’ politicians plying the trade.
Each time the people shake off the dews of slumber and passivity, the state actors would collectively engage in conspiracy to truncate the struggle from below. Today as many times past, the legislature has used the judiciary to engage in legal technicalities to stop the popular will of the people to recall their unrepresentative Senator.
The memory of June 12 is still fresh on our minds as we recall the social and political upheaval thrown up by this violent rape of democracy by the Juntas and its apologists. We saw the colours of the political elites,
it was clear the the bourgeoisie conspired to truncate democracy in Nigeria. Instead of making direct appeals to labour unions, student unions, women groups, youth’s groups and the general public urging strikes and demonstrations, they merely called on the masses to remain calm and be law-abiding.
Within the socialist tendencies, comrades knew why they adopted this ostrich altitude. It was very clear from the outset that the political elites do not want to encourage workers, students, women and the masses to cultivate the culture of mass struggle from below. They believed it could be used to fight incoming democratic government whenever it becomes inevitably necessary for the people to revolt.
Today, even when the democracy they enjoy by occupying elective offices came out of popular struggle, they conspired against the people who made it possible.
We on the left strongly believed that, this is another time for the popular will of the people to prevail. We call on the three arms of government to respect the first principle of democracy and let the people speak in one voice. According to Abraham Lincoln, Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Ameh is Founder, Generation for Revolutionary, Change from below, Writes from Akatekwe Kingdom.
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