The essence of the head of a human is to receive and
process signals, coordinate activities of the body system and provide direction
by sending information to the parts as at when due.
In a nutshell, failure of the head to carry out the
afore-mentioned functions automatically endangers other parts just as it may
also mean that the body as a whole, is headless or lifeless.
In much the same manner, is the essence of a
government over a people or nation. Be it in the garb or form of presidential
system, the parliamentary, unitary monarchical, welfarist or any of the
variants of democracy, the purpose of government is primarily the same. Maintenance
of Order and Achievement of Progress.
Order has to do with avoidance of conflict,
disharmony among the various parts of the society. It includes also provision
of a conducive atmosphere for living,
expression of creative ideas and ingenuity. Setting up reliable mechanisms to
resolve conflict or tackle complaints and injustice is also within the purview
of Order.
Progress is achieved when needs, whether social or
economic are met via acceptable means. In general, progression is about moving
from a lower state to a higher one. Sometimes this may be measured in ability
or capability of a nation to meet the needs of her population and her neighbor.
These capabilities may be denominated in such things as human development
index, per capita income, inflation, gross domestic product, population
density, life expectancy ratio, infrastructure, infant mortality, and other
demographic indices.
Over time democracy has evolved as the most
celebrated pattern of government all over the world. It has the characteristic
of giving access to more people to participate in electing their representatives.
Though commonly defined as “the government of the people by the people and for
the people”, whether it is actually so, is another issue altogether. The
reasons for this are not far-fetched.
First, different shades of democracy exist from one
nation to another. What is referred to as undemocratic political culture by
some countries had paid so well for others.
Whereas a one party state like China has achieved
tremendous progress in different areas of human endeavour the last two decades,
others known for vaunting multi-party system have found themselves way behind
even in things they used to pride themselves in.
Secondly, the manner of selecting candidates for
election (as being practiced across the globe) under democratic rule is faulty.
In most cases, it is the top echelon of political parties that determines who
goes for what. The populace is left out
in the choice of candidates and only made to vote for whoever the party caucus
presents as candidates. So at what point is it the government of the people, by
the people?
In Nigeria,
political parties demand huge sum of money from aspirants, and more so, at
different levels of scaling the hurdle. This practice in Nigeria and other
countries “compel” candidates to source for fund at all cost. Moneybags are
brought in to fund candidates and so, they do anything to win the election,
after which looting of public fund commences for, he who plays the piper
dictates the tune.
What percentage of the populace are registered
members of political parties? Or have they access to where the real decisions
are taken?
For countries often viewed as highly democratic,
there are questions begging for answers.
Why did it take a country like the United States over
250 years in democracy before a Black could be voted in as president? Of all
the races in the United States, how many have won presidential ticket on
Republican and Social Democrat’s platform other than the Caucasian?
(To be continued)
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