By Peter Okoro
A Major political stakeholder, community leader and son of the former President of the Senate, Prince Onwa Nwafor–Orizu has said that Nigeria’s democracy started on a very faulty foundation.
He said this during an exclusive interview with our Correspondent yesterday at his country home in Nnewi, Anambra State in commemoration of Nigeria’s Democracy Day.
“Democracy has a general concept, but it is practiced in a peculiar way as it suits every society. The basic understanding of democracy is government of the people for the people and by the people. But it is not the holistic nature of what democracy is all about.
“Democracy is society bound. What goes on in America is peculiar to the environment, character and societal influences prevalent in America. The greatest problem of what we are calling democracy in Nigeria is that there is no effort put in place for effective functioning of the system, that is why it is very difficult for it to yield the dividends as it were.
“What I am saying is that in our society today, called Nigeria, democracy is supposed to mean that everyone should fully participate either through representation or through direct participation in elections, so that the distribution of wealth for the common good would be equal.
“The essence of government in a democracy is to protect the citizens of the country. In Nigeria, we started on a very faulty foundation and that foundation has been militating against the tenets of democracy over the years. That is why it has been too difficult to get the full dividends of democracy, even with all the promises and good intentions of every government that has ruled us from 1999 till date, “he said.
He advocated the practice a unicameral system of government that will eliminate both the Senate and House of Representatives, and in its place we will have one National Assembly to reduce cost of governance and financial loopholes.
Under the advocated system he said membership should be vocational with each member being paid sitting allowances.
Prince Nwafor–Orizu insisted that democracy is not about political parties, rather, it is about the mindset and ideology of those elected through the parties and what they want to offer to the people who gave them the mandate.
He said that it is very clear that democracy in Nigeria has not achieved much for Nigerians, rather it has become an oil mill for corrupt politicians who one way or the other found themselves in the corridors of power.
“Until power is decentralized in the country, things will continue to get worse, because too much power has been vested in the centre, “he added.
The Nnewi-born politician and business mogul further advised that Nigerians should continue to work hard to survive the present hardship in the country.
He lamented that the elite and the politicians are so much interested in looting and stealing, instead of giving the people dividends of democracy.
He finally submitted that the surest way to effectively tackle the issue of insecurity in Nigeria is by the introduction of State Police, which he said is the standard and normal procedure in advanced countries.
