By Ubong David
I woke up to read narratives from some of my friends on facebook questioning the rationale for some PDP supporters to defend Bukola Saraki. To me, these are people who should know it better that the office of the Senate President is the No. 3 highest position of the land in a democratic setting like ours and immediately one ascend that position, he automatically become Nigeria Senate President and not a political party Senate President. It is either they are ignorantly trying to mislead the public or emotionally express their sympathy to gather support for their party leaders to mortgage democratic processes with impunity.
Nigerians are more enlightened people to be silenced on very sensitive issues such as the election of principal officers of the National Assembly. These educated illiterates should know that the office of the President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives do not belong to any political party immediately they emerged not minding their political platform. They belong to all Nigerians and as such they are answerable to Nigerians and not political party. They are accountable to Nigerians and not political party. Therefore, the power by political party to exert unnecessary influence on these four individuals is unacceptable and every Nigerian has a right under the Constitution to defend them either as an individual or a group and PDP is not excluded.
Of course, no patriotic Nigerian will allow the Prime Minister of UK, David Cameron or the US President, Barack Obama to compel President Muhammadu Buhari to implement same sex marriage in Nigeria. I thought many of us were still alive when the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the leadership of Distinguished Senator David Mark ruled against same sex marriage and the penalty thereof. It was not the PDP Senators that made that to happened but the collective effort of Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and no individual or party can lay claim to that ruling.
It was the late Chinua Achebe who posit in his book THERE WAS A COUNTRY that ''This is not the time to bemoan all the challenges ahead. It is a time to work at developing, nurturing, sustaining and protecting democracy and democratic institution.'' He went further to state that ''Debates about a nation's future should not turn into an excuse for politician to drink or feast on meals in Abuja. It should continue for decades, in small forums, in schools, offices, on the radio, on TV, in markets, in our newspapers and on the streets until we get things right. A new patriotic consciousness has to be developed, not one based simply on the well-worn notion of the unity of Nigeria or faith in Nigeria often touted by our corrupt leaders, but one based on an awareness of the responsibility of leaders to the led on the sacredness of their anointment to lead and disseminated by civil society, schools and intellectuals. It is from this kind of environment that a leader humbled by the trust placed upon him by the people will emerge, willing to use the power given to him for the good of the people.''
Corroborating Achebe's position, it is therefore incumbent on the led to defend democratic institutions and demand leadership to be accountable. The dust raised by APC apologists to question the defense of Bukola Sakari by PDP members does not arise at all as it exposed their lack of intellectual capacity to decipher on the workings of democratic government especially in a Presidential System like ours. Their mental deficiency that the No.3 office of the land belong to a political party because it is occupied by an APC member and therefore barring others to speak on the matter is below rational thinking and a shame to democratic culture.
I therefore recommend them to some government textbooks and tutorials on democracy, rule of law and separation of power by the three arms of government. It is time for some folks to liberate themselves from mental slavery and align with global realities on the workings of democratic governance. They can't take us back to the Stone Age as democracy is evolving in Nigeria. The earlier they realize this the better.
I woke up to read narratives from some of my friends on facebook questioning the rationale for some PDP supporters to defend Bukola Saraki. To me, these are people who should know it better that the office of the Senate President is the No. 3 highest position of the land in a democratic setting like ours and immediately one ascend that position, he automatically become Nigeria Senate President and not a political party Senate President. It is either they are ignorantly trying to mislead the public or emotionally express their sympathy to gather support for their party leaders to mortgage democratic processes with impunity.
 |
| Sen. Bukola Saraki, Nigeria Senate President |
Nigerians are more enlightened people to be silenced on very sensitive issues such as the election of principal officers of the National Assembly. These educated illiterates should know that the office of the President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives do not belong to any political party immediately they emerged not minding their political platform. They belong to all Nigerians and as such they are answerable to Nigerians and not political party. They are accountable to Nigerians and not political party. Therefore, the power by political party to exert unnecessary influence on these four individuals is unacceptable and every Nigerian has a right under the Constitution to defend them either as an individual or a group and PDP is not excluded.
Of course, no patriotic Nigerian will allow the Prime Minister of UK, David Cameron or the US President, Barack Obama to compel President Muhammadu Buhari to implement same sex marriage in Nigeria. I thought many of us were still alive when the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the leadership of Distinguished Senator David Mark ruled against same sex marriage and the penalty thereof. It was not the PDP Senators that made that to happened but the collective effort of Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and no individual or party can lay claim to that ruling.
It was the late Chinua Achebe who posit in his book THERE WAS A COUNTRY that ''This is not the time to bemoan all the challenges ahead. It is a time to work at developing, nurturing, sustaining and protecting democracy and democratic institution.'' He went further to state that ''Debates about a nation's future should not turn into an excuse for politician to drink or feast on meals in Abuja. It should continue for decades, in small forums, in schools, offices, on the radio, on TV, in markets, in our newspapers and on the streets until we get things right. A new patriotic consciousness has to be developed, not one based simply on the well-worn notion of the unity of Nigeria or faith in Nigeria often touted by our corrupt leaders, but one based on an awareness of the responsibility of leaders to the led on the sacredness of their anointment to lead and disseminated by civil society, schools and intellectuals. It is from this kind of environment that a leader humbled by the trust placed upon him by the people will emerge, willing to use the power given to him for the good of the people.''
Corroborating Achebe's position, it is therefore incumbent on the led to defend democratic institutions and demand leadership to be accountable. The dust raised by APC apologists to question the defense of Bukola Sakari by PDP members does not arise at all as it exposed their lack of intellectual capacity to decipher on the workings of democratic government especially in a Presidential System like ours. Their mental deficiency that the No.3 office of the land belong to a political party because it is occupied by an APC member and therefore barring others to speak on the matter is below rational thinking and a shame to democratic culture.
I therefore recommend them to some government textbooks and tutorials on democracy, rule of law and separation of power by the three arms of government. It is time for some folks to liberate themselves from mental slavery and align with global realities on the workings of democratic governance. They can't take us back to the Stone Age as democracy is evolving in Nigeria. The earlier they realize this the better.
Comments
Post a Comment