June 12: Nigeria’s Democracy Yet To Deliver Promises Of Prosperity, Liberty – Atiku
Atiku Abubakar 2011 President campaign Photo by www.mortenfauerby.dk ©mortenfauerby 2010 - all rights reserved
Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has said despite nurturing democracy for a quarter of a century in Nigeria, it has continually failed to deliver the promises of prosperity and liberty to the people.
Atiku in a statement issued on Tuesday, noted that the past nine years has thrown up a regime of extreme hardship in Nigeria, which he stated, “manifested in excruciating poverty and unprecedented levels of violence and insecurity upon our people.”
He blamed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for bringing this gloom on the people, but however added that “the opposition political parties are even more guilty than the ruling party for the seeming lack of capacity to come together and galvanize a coalition that will retire the ruling party and articulate a plan of good governance that will earn the conviction of Nigerians.”
The former vice president stated that the failings of the opposition parties to uphold the functionality of their existence is the major threat to the nation’s democracy.
He advised that the earlier opposition parties realise that the fortunes of Nigeria lies in them forging a coalition, the better it would be for the country and the people.
Atiku recalled that the struggle that birthed this democracy was “abundant with a series of coalitions and alliances amongst the political leaderships of that era to flush away the vestiges of military and dictatorial governance in order to return power to the people.”
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He commended the people, the civil society groups and the political class for nurturing a democracy, and called on all stakeholders to continue to do their bit to ensure the sustainability of democracy.
“Truth be told, there’s no substitute to democracy as a form of government,” Atiku said, adding that “The secondary purpose of declaring every June 12 as Democracy Day in our country is to commemorate the history of our long journey of becoming a stable democratic country.
“It is commendable that for 25 years, we have witnessed an uninterrupted season of electoral politics. It is an unprecedented epoch in our history.”
He paid tribute to many patriots, “chiefly among them Basorun MKO Abiola and his beloved wife, Alhaja (Mrs) Kudirat Abiola, Tafida Shehu Yar’Adua and Alfred Rewane, among many others,” who he said, sacrificed their lives for democracy in Nigeria.
