Democracy Not Virile If It Fails To Deliver Prosperity, Liberty To The People – Atiku
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said that Nigeria’s democracy is not yet virile if it continually fails to deliver the promises of prosperity and liberty to the people.
Atiku particularly noted that the past nine years has thrown up a regime of extreme hardship manifested in excruciating poverty and unprecedented levels of violence and insecurity upon the people, stressing that sadly, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is to blame for bringing forth this dawn of gloom.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who stated these in his Democracy Day 2024 Message to Nigerians, also said that 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.
He said 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.
Atiku said; “Truth be told, there’s no substitute to democracy as a form of government.
“Whereas our current democratic dispensation is a quarter of a century old, it will not be out of place to pay tributes to the sacrifices made by 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”.
He said that the historical timeline of the struggle that birthed this democracy is 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.
According to him; “It is commendable that for 25 years, we have witnessed an uninterrupted season of electoral politics. It is an unprecedented epoch in our history.
“It is worthy of celebration and commendation must go to the people of our great country. I must also congratulate the political class for having embraced the rectitude of nurturing a democracy, as well as the civil society. It is important that all stakeholders continue to do their bit to ensure the sustainability of our democracy,” he said.
