Sustaining Democratic Values

The French Revolution occurred when the people decided to crush the power gaps themselves. When England reduced the powers of the Monarchy, it led to Industrial Revolution. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. For years, Nigerians fought for the democracy that we enjoy today, and some lost their lives in the struggle. We are not there yet but we are no longer where we used to be. It is imperative for every Nigerian to jealously guard democratic values and principles. We must sustain it.

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The past few weeks have been very eventful for our nation as we heard stories about how our commonwealth was stolen and shared amongst people that we had entrusted the destiny of our nation with. This is very barbaric, everyone involved must face the full wrath of the law, Justice must prevail.

In order to sustain democratic principles and values, we must understand history; Nigeria abandoned the Westminster system and followed Washington where with over 200 years of practicing democracy, it took them 90 years to get rid of slavery and 150 years to grant women right to vote.

Justice must not only be done in all corruption cases, it must be seen to be done. To achieve this everything must be within the ambit of the law. Court decisions must always be obeyed; the CHANGE government must strive to set a new precedence & make sure that no one is above the law. Our legal system doesn’t operate on truth, it operates on facts, if we must keep anyone in detention for whatever reason, and it must be within the scope of the law. Give the available facts to the courts and let the court determine if such people should be incarcerated or not. We shouldn’t give suspected criminals cheap publicity amongst their gullible followers by keeping them in detention.

There is only a thin line betwixt Justice and Injustice. There is a reason why there is separation of powers. For whatever reason, the executive shouldn’t choose which court order to obey. In pursuing Justice, it will not always be easy to obey all court orders but we must do it in order to entrench democratic principles & values. We must sustain it for the coming generations. Judges don’t deliver judgments based on truths; they administer the law based on the facts at hand. If government has any reason to incarcerate anyone, they must be willing to provide all the necessary facts in court, not anywhere else.

In order to sustain democratic values, separation of powers must be operational. Rule of Law must be adhered to. Everyone must obey court orders at all times and not only when it is convenient.

Nigeria has the privilege of setting a new record in entrenching democratic values and principles; everyone must join hands in making this a reality, we must respect constituted authorities at all times. No one must be above the law; every suspected criminal must face the full wrath of the law. It’s a new dawn in Nigeria.

The future of our nation is bright. God bless Nigeria!