It has again been asserted that the rule of law and
the twin principles of fairness and justice were truly the only rationalizing
benchmark upon which the people’s development and growth could be measured and
assessed.
Making
the assertion in a chat with The Navigator recently, a former
Minister of State for Works, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Engr. (Dr.) Chris
Ogiemwonyi, FNSE, noted that “several peoples and countries of the world have
embraced democracy, which encompasses all of these principles of human
management, because of its guaranteed freedom and social justice.”
While
remarking that democracy has continued “to fare better and better since its
re-emergence on the political landscape of Nigeria since 1999,” Engr. (Dr.)
Ogiemwonyi emphasized that unless a greater majority of Nigerians continued to
show, not only a feeble interest, but also active and committed participation
in the social engineering mechanism of civil governance, the full relevance of
democracy and its expected messianic capabilities in positively impacting on
the lives of the people, would remain a mirage.
In his words, “democracy, as we know it, is a
system of political governance that is wholly based on the people. It is of the people, it is by the people and it
is for the people. So, if the people,
therefore, do not show effective interest and participation in the operational
activities of the system, then, it should be called by a different name
altogether.”
He
expressed satisfaction with the growing increase in the number of Nigerians who
are daily showing interest in politics and the art of governance, noting that
“it should be the business of the people how those in government govern
them. It should be their business how
those who they voted for, or who they elected into offices, are running the
affairs of the state or nation on their behalf.
“Democracy, as a system of government
and politics, in its enlarged definition, should not be the exclusive preserve
of a select few who may not mean well for the generality of the people. Everyone must not only be seen to be
involved, but they should really be in the thick of democratic activities, for
there to be any meaningful and sustained change in their welfare.”
He,
therefore, challenged Nigerians, especially as the political events of the
election year, 2015, continue to gather momentum, “to come out of their shells
and take part in the on-going processes of voters’ registration and
sensitization. It is the responsibility
of everyone to speak to encourage others to participate. Some people say politics is a dirty game;
yes, it will remain dirty if we leave the game in the hands of charlatans and
mediocres; when more refined persons continue to find their ways into politics,
it only would get better, because what you would expect from such a system
would equally be more refined and more rewarding.”
Outside
of the call for the people to show greater interest in the governance and
politics of their country, state and locality, Dr. Ogiemwonyi, who retired a
couple of years ago from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC,
after rising to the enviable position of Group Executive Director, Exploration
and Production, equally demanded from those in government a more transparent
and accountable attitude to the electorate, noting that “a responsible,
people-oriented government which derived its mandate and credibility from the
people, should, in turn, be transparent and accountable to them, for only then
would the people’s trust and confidence in that government be more firm and
gratifying.”
On
the on-going national conference, Engr. (Dr.) Ogiemwonyi maintained that it was
a welcome development as it would afford ethnic nationalities and other
interest groups in the country to brainstorm on problems that had clogged their
development in the past with a view to finding lasting solutions, insisting
that “the convocation of such a conference was long overdue.”
TheNavigator
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