NAME YOUR DOG "BUHARI" AND BE ARRESTED!

Democracy as the white men defined it for us is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. If We should go by this definition, then it is required and of utmost priority that in democracy, the people and the people alone should be the only one given the power to choose their leader, ratify his leadership role to the people and ultimately endorse his leadership without any interference or form of prejudice or jeopardy. And also the last time I checked, to every government of democracy there is a constitution that goes with it, whether written or unwritten as the case maybe. This constitution that goes alongside this democracy is a sort of sacred document(s) that contains the rule of law meant to govern the government and the govern- none is exempted. Unlike the military system of government where decree and ordinances reign supreme, in the democratic system of government, the ultimate power rests on no one individual but the constitution and this was exactly the form of government the Nigerian people unanimously agreed upon on the 1st May, 1999.For seventeen years now we've been practising this system of government albeit in its crude form because I believe Nigeria is yet to come to terms with this phenomenon called democracy, we are yet to grasp the most important rudiments involved in democracy,we are yet to ingrain the main elements of democracy. Even though I believe we are still in the infant stage of our practice of democracy but I still think we are not growing fast or developing with pace. Democracy in Nigeria can be compared to the case of a little baby that have refused to grow or develop in spite of the available nutritional milk and food readily supplied to him.

The bedrock and foundation of every democratic constitution is its content of the citizens' fundamental human rights and in the case of the Nigerian constitution this was clearly and particularly written on the first page. One of these fundamental human rights is the one that clearly states that a citizen of Nigeria has the freedom of speech and choice. This right can and should not be trampled upon no matter what. The moment this right is under threat whatsoever then believe me we are just about and fast going back to those dark days of doom and destruction that goes with along military Era. And suffice it to say that you can be democratic on the outside but military in the inside but as we all know it is the inside that matters because afterall you can still go ahead and preach what you don't do. And this is exactly what I believe is the case with the Nigerian leadership. They seem to profess what they really are not.

During the campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari, he wholeheartedly declared to Nigerians, to all and sundry that he is now a "Born again Democrat". That though he was formerly a military that was highly controversial and termed "wicked"  but he is now a repentant man who has imbibed the spirit of democracy over the years and now a born again democrat ready to follow religiously the Dos and Don'ts of democracy,and that if voted in as the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, he will uphold this religion called democracy. He won the hearts of a considerable number of Nigerians with that great speech who I believe ultimately went on to vote for him.

Now is the right time for the fulfilment of the pledge he made to Nigerians concerning strictly adhering to the ethics of democracy. Events that have occurred this past few weeks which included the police arresting a certain JOE CHEKWAS and arraigning him in court for naming his pet dog "BUHARI"  is certainly not one of the fulfilments! The most amazingly crazy thing about this is that the president himself has not come out to condemn the arrest is shocking. The president has to show up to the press and condemn this act of the Nigerian police. You can't go everywhere arresting your critics and sending them to jail just because they spoke against you and your government. This is not obtainable anywhere in the world where democracy is practised. This is an act of dictatorship and unruly behavior. The president not coming out to condemn this act and addressing this issue and thereby putting this issue to bed once and for all has further added fuel to the already blazing fire. Another case of arresting a critic blogger is another crude show of power which is typical of a militarian. The president has to once remember that he is the leader of a democratic nation and not the not the one he was governed in the military regime. A word they say, is enough for the wise.


Exclusively written by DANIEL IKECHUKWU EKWUNIFE for odogwu blog.com
DANIEL IKECHUKWU EKWUNIFE is a social commentator and international affairs analyst.