Prince Mbah, Businessman
It’s been a journey but we cannot say it’s a destination yet. In the course of the journey, we have had our bumps and difficulties. The only thing we can say we have achieved is the smooth stability of the transition. We have transmitted from one successive democratic government to another. So far, our democracy can be said to be stable, going by the way we have gone from one successive government to another without military intervention and that is what we can say we have achieved so far.
But on the flip side, the country has been turned to an abattoir in the last three years with the carnage, going on in the North, kidnappings in the South and the East and armed robbery in the West. If this can be described as democracy, we have not had it yet. Before we used to sleep with one eye closed but now we are sleeping with both eyes open, no thanks to insecurity.
Aaron Ikegulu, Student
We have not had any gain in democracy yet because the country is ridden with bad governance, infrastructural decay, monumental and institutional corruption. It is a huge problem. Democracy should be more than just handing over from one government to another. So far, what we have had is leadership ineptitude. Our roads have continued to remain death traps; the standard of our education has lowered considerably and power supply has almost collapsed. The gap between the governed and the governors is widening every minute of the day. The difference between the military and democracy is just the uniform. The only plus we have now is the freedom of speech, which this democracy affords us. People can now give their opinions without being harassed. I believe that we will still get there because we are not there yet. After all, Rome was not built in a day.
Mike Ikeazu, Engineer
We have to thank God for the peace of the country. Events of the past years would have caused the breakup of this country but God in His infinite mercy has kept us. There have been a few positives despite the insecurity challenges; we have continued to forge on as a country. This is the first time that the country would go from one transition to another. In the past, we would find the military, ruling for many years but from what we have now, it is obvious that democracy has come to stay.
The government has a lot to do because today, the cost of living is so high that people now live under bridges. There is no policy on housing, the power sector still remains epileptic, the government has to look into it because if there is stability in the power sector, we will have many small scale industries and a lot of people would be self employed. If the government can stabilise the power sector, a lot of people would be employed and the economy would be better for it.
When I was a student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, we were usually fed by the school and before we even graduated, companies used to come to our school to source for the best students. But all that is gone now. Democracy should improve the lives of the people and not worsen it. Ironically, the military, which Nigerians fought were the responsible for some of the lasting infrastructure like roads that we still have. In those days, you could travel from lagos to the East and you would arrive in a few hours because the roads were good.
Then, night journey was the vogue. But now, when you want to travel from Lagos to the North by road, you are most likely to spend two days. However, the worst civilian rule is better than the military because we now have our freedom. But the government still has a lot to do if they are sincere. As far as I am concerned, since 1999, we have been going round in circles without serious infrastructural and economic development but I believe things can get better if our leaders are sincere enough.
Ngozi Nwoye, Nurse
How can you talk about democracy when people are not employed? Every day, we churn out graduates, yet there are no jobs for them to do. It is not all about celebrating Democracy Day but what have we achieved? I know of someone, who lost his wife and baby because he could not afford a medical bill of N3,000. The other day, we heard of a couple that lost their triplets because of N4,000 medical bill they could not afford. Many people today do not have access to free medical care and that is why the maternal mortality rate is very high.
We are all witnesses to how a lot of Nigerians now go to countries like India to receive treatment. So, why can’t we develop our own health care system? Why should India be better than we? Is there anything that they have that we do not have? It is very unfortunate that we are still having these problems. I do not know where these things started from but I know that our infrastructure was better during the military regime than it is now I know that there is money in this country but it is circulating among a few people. Today, there is a thin line between the government and the people. Democracy should be the government for the people but today we are having a government by the few and for a few.
Amara Chukwumezie, Student
Our democracy is not perfect but I still prefer it to the military. It is true that most of our infrastructure like the roads, railway, airports, etc. were done during the military but we did not have the freedom that we have now and that is why I still prefer the democracy that we have now. However, we still have a long way to go because things seem not to get better. As a student, I have observed our lowering standards of education and it is very worrisome.
>>>sunnews
No comments:
Post a Comment