Thursday 4 April 2013

WHAT MAKES DEMOCRACY ACCEPTABLE TO THE PEOPLE STARTS WITH A CULTURE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

One can speak about democracy, applying it is another concept entirely that one has to embrace. As wonderful as democratic principles are being preached, it is yet to be practiced in many developing nations that can not yet define democracy in their terms,. The basic structure of the 21st century democracy lies in governance that is laid on the foundations of a responsible leader. Growth and desired consistent development of critical sectors in virtually all nascent democracies stems from the knowledge of good governance among its political leaders. This which is the crux of the matter is what many voters from developing nations are either not taught or are probably not conversant with. Few of the Gulf states such as the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait are proving to many resource rich 3rd world nations that democracy is not all about political parties and elections but a culture of good,  responsive and responsible governance through the nationalistic nature of their rulers which puts its people ahead in the interest of unity and development.


                                          Asians waiting to cast their votes for their leaders

Democracy can not produce desired results at the present in an atmosphere where the culture of good governance is not an integral part of the population, and that starts from the lowest level of the society. Neither, will democracy in the future have any value for its citizens if its only built on a structure which enables the citizens to go to the polls every 4 or 5 years in order to cast their votes or change a government because the incumbent government could not produce expected results.  Many African countries and Nigeria in particular position itself as an example to this form of democracy that has not found its rhythm , the citizens and their leaders have subjected themselves to a "wait till after four years syndrome." As soon as such political attitude is embedded into the social consciousness of the people and as it develops and takes control of the independent minded democratic advocators and the civil societies  the political system becomes redundant machine which will help in producing a vivicious cycle of mediocre that will pollute the nation political and social fabric if care is not taken it runs down the lane of a banana republic.   

A good example are the City States of the Emirates (though undemocratic) that has opened up its society for the world and yet its people gain most from all the policies and program of the monarch. In virtually every sector of the economy, both educated and uneducated citizens have a greater upper hand, for those that are educated, they get the juicy jobs even when there are foreigners competing for the same position and the 41 Spirit of the Union is getting stronger not relenting on its achievements because virtually every citizen is giving a chance and they are contented with a good standard of living the government offers them. 



                                        Nigerians wanting to cast their votes on election day

 Africans, Europeans, Asians and Americans that are the masters in promoting democracy do not really recognize the essence of what government of the people by the people and for the people means until they find themselves in the oil rich states of the Middle East like the UAE. For some that have traveled there, they say they are love with the GCC states not because virtually all of them are ruled by dictators but because those dictatorial government are trying their best to offer the basics of  good governance to its people. For those foreigners that have live in those countries or probably still living in that region, its seems to them like what they needs as a means for understanding democratic principles is well available without elections.  

3rd world nations especially countries in Africa must begin to consider and evaluate what type of democratic principle their future leaders  are embodied with today. Are they a people with the nation at heart, that are determined to raise the bar no matter the challenges? Are they subject to the principle of good governance and their manifestos? These are the questions that must be paramount and needed to be asked as from now on if there is to be any meaningful change in the socio-political status of many African societies that are said to be practicing democracy. Because the rate and pattern of migration by African and Asian citizens to the Middle East is increasing everyday just to seek for a better society which its government functions.


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