At 40 a man is expected to have achieved certain things or gone a long way in life. But what do we say of a Nation which is still crawling at 60?  A country where there is no support for one's goal, a country where People don't live the way they do because they like it. They live as they do because they don't know what else to do.

There is nothing so spectacular about this year's Independence day celebration, because for me the country has not improve and better the people's lives in anyway.

At 60 Nigeria is yet to be developed compared with her contemporaries, I tell you, there can never be any development in Nigeria without a visionary leaders.
Nigeria hasn't really had the best leaders and this, I must say is the biggest problem Nigeria has.

Imagine at 60, Nigerians haven't been able to enjoy the real dividend of democracy. Well, before then what is democracy ?

Democracy is an age long system of government traceable to the ancient greek. It is a system of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation, usually involving periodically held free and fair election.

On this lane of understanding, the most comprehensive and acceptable definition of democracy as a form of government was given by the former American president Abraham Lincoln. According to him " Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people."  

The most used phrase in his definition was "THE PEOPLE" because they are the most important pillar in democracy. Democracy is about the people, the betterment of the people, the welfarism of the people and the can be no democracy without people participation in the political Authorities. Therefore, with the people and their participation in democratic process make the system of government crediable. But our leaders do not understand the concept of democracy, if they do then the fail to appreciate it.

Democracy has been disappointing in Nigeria, in the sense that, Our leaders has not delivered the promises of democracy. It has not treaded on progress, peace, welfarism and security  of the people. The country has not been able to tackle unemployment, there has not been an improvement in our education, electricity and health sectors. Also the economy is unstable and the country is yet to conduct a crediable free and fair election. So far, in many ways democracy has been a disappointment compared to what it should have been.

All these fall back to the poor quality of leadership in this country, which is why so many things are not the way the should be.

I am worried about the condition of Nigeria for now, especially the situation in which we are now,  where so many are dying needlessly. For now, too many people want to be in charge and there's a feeling that tomorrow might not be better than today. But I am optimistic that these are challenges of the present moment, with time things will change for better.

However, this is when most of our leaders are been voted out, as most of them are largely responsible for our present situation.

Our leaders fails to Understand what democracy is and if they do, I'd say the fail to appreciate it. I think the major problem combating the Nigerian government is that of incompetence on the part of leaders. We don't have visionary leaders for now, who can make this country what it should be. In a short run, things will get worse, but at the end, it would be better.

Leadership is not an opportunity to enrich ourself, family members or friends. Rather leadership should be an opportunity to serve the people and help better their lives.

The average Nigerian youth is made to believe that corruption is the only means to live a better life. This is as a result of the bad leadership.

Those in leadership positions should have a rethink about why they are there. The earlier our leaders began to reflect on this the better, because one day the have nots would rise against the rich. ( It is an accident waiting to happen.) The number of the have nots keeps daily, which is a dangerous signal to a democratic society.

Our leaders should know that democracy is people and government is all about the people. Our youth should reflect and make better our country.

ABDULRASHEED MUBARAK FOCUS
mubarakfocus99@gmail.com
08100919322