THE PRICELESS TREASURE OF DEMOCRACY
Message by Governor Alex C. Otti, OFR, to Mark the 2025 Democracy Day Celebration in Abia State on June 12, 2025
- My People, I bring heartfelt greetings to your homes and wherever you may be this morning on the occasion of the 2025 Democracy Day celebration. We thank the Almighty God for bringing us to the solemn occasion of another June 12, a date that has increasingly become synonymous with the Nigerian political renaissance. Today offers us an invitation to reflect on our democratic journey as a country, especially since the dawn of the Fourth Republic, identifying where we have made definite progress, and what we need to do better as we march on in hope and expectations.
- We have since come to a national consensus, having tried military rule, that there is no alternative to popular democracy defined by the principles of free, fair and credible elections, freedom of speech and association, and the ultimate pursuit of the common good. The question is never whether we should try something else in place of democracy but rather how to strengthen our governance architecture to offer the full spectrum of benefits associated with democratic practice to our people. The June 12 anniversary presents us a special opportunity to evaluate our individual roles in advancing the ethos of democracy and appreciate what we need to do more to guarantee that the government of the people, for the people and by the people as Abraham Lincoln captured it, remains the favourite vehicle for actualising our shared development aspirations.
- Moments like this require serious truth-telling for that is the only path to superior outcomes. The democratic experiment in Nigeria has been anything but ideal — individuals and families are losing hope in the promise of democracy and many have quietly but unfortunately come to the conclusion that anything but what we have currently would work better. It would be unfair to dismiss the concerns raised by our compatriots because the expressed worries reflect their lived experiences. The menace of hunger, poverty, unemployment, insecurity, social anxiety and deteriorating or non-existent public infrastructure taint the appeal of democracy for millions of Nigerians. These challenges are completely blind to the little matters of ethnic, religious and political affiliations. The spirit of patriotism demands that we spare a moment on a day like this to find out if and where we have directly or remotely aided the escalation of these difficulties over the years through our actions and inactions.
- The economic and social challenges facing our country which have forced many to question the validity of the democratic promise are exacerbated each time we refuse to participate in the electoral process. We abuse our democratic rights and privileges when we collect money to vote for individuals and political parties that our consciences may have rejected. When we accept bribes from helpless citizens to do what we have been hired to do or act with selfish intents in our workplaces, we hurt the appeal of democracy. The flavour of democracy is polluted when selfish individuals deliberately vandalise public infrastructure, collect money for work not done or manipulate the system to advance individual interest over the collective. The whole truth therefore is that democracy is hurt by the things we do in the course of our daily endeavours and inevitably, by the things we fail to do, even when our conscience nudges us to speak up in defence of the truth or invites us to act with patriotic intent.
- Evidently, there are genuine reasons to question where democracy has taken us to as a nation but we must also not ignore the tangible changes that have been witnessed across diverse sphere of our national life over the past 26 years. The democratic space is expanding and millions of Nigerians are increasingly getting involved in the important matters of governance, asking questions, demanding accountability and pushing for new paradigms on the issues they care about. If we consider that we are coming from a background of military dictatorship where the punishment for saying unpleasant truth to power could be stiff, then we have to appreciate the fact that today, majority of us can speak without anxiously peeping through the window.
- Across several communities, the stock of economic infrastructure is improving and what was once considered a privilege has become a regular demand from citizens who need certain structural leverages to pursue their dreams. Beyond what one can call modest improvements in the stock of public infrastructure; there is a whole lot happening in the digital and financial services industries leading to more job and wealth creation opportunities. The most fundamental improvement we have recorded in our economic space over the last 26 years is the accelerated growth of the private sector, the emergence of indigenous conglomerates able to hold their own on the global stage and the huge impact on our national GDP. Again, we need not delude ourselves about the true state of our economy but what can be learnt from the giant strides that have been recorded in a few areas is that we have within us, the capacity to do a whole lot more to actualise our true potential as a nation. Our job going forward would be to apply our best efforts to the task of reimaging our greatness and doing whatever needs to be done to mine the extensive system of advantages we hold as a country.
- Today we celebrate the heroic sacrifices of brave warriors like Chief M. K. O. Abiola, GCFR, the winner of the presidential election held on this day in 1993 and his dear wife Kudirat who gave their lives in pursuit of the ideals of a democratic Nigeria. The chronicle of June 12 would be incomplete without honouring the courage and immense sacrifices of thousands of fearless patriots from different fields of life whom as I said in my speech two years ago, did not dread death because for them, there is no substance to life whence freedom becomes negotiable.
- Our dear state Abia has a notable list of brave participants in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria and on a day like this, we are bound to remember heroes like Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu and Comrade Chima Ubani, both of blessed memory. Another great son of our land, Ochiagha, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, the former Chief of General Staff, taught us through his commitment to the struggle for a democratic Nigeria that privileges should neither enslave nor blind us to our moral and patriotic responsibilities. Beyond these notable names, thousands of our friends, brothers and sisters were also in the trenches, fighting alongside other patriots from across the country for the return of democracy in the years leading to 1999.
- Today we remember these heroes, sung and unsung, for their unyielding faith in democracy, for believing that democracy, warts and all, is the best system of governance. The expectation, however, is that we should be able to mine the great promises that democracy offers while exploring robust measures to mitigate its flaws. The baton has been handed down and the responsibility is now on us to continue the marathon that is democracy. The unchanging target is to create a system that offers social, economic and political freedom to everyone, guaranteeing that the rights endowed us by the Creator are not undermined by powerful human actors or influences.
- The New Abia offers very enduring lessons on why we must keep faith with the democratic process. It may not always be smooth. Disappointments are almost inevitable, chaos may arise from time to time and institutional frustrations may follow every now and again but nothing should ever make us to take our eyes off the ball. The multi-sectoral changes we are witnessing today could not have happened without our tenacious faith in the promise of multi-party democracy. Our communities are safer, the stock of road infrastructure is improving, the environment is more appealing and more money is flowing into the pockets of genuine economic actors because we refused to surrender to the forces of defeatism who insisted that we are doomed to mediocrity. Your resistance is at the heart of our liberation and we cannot stop being grateful to you, umunne m Ndi Abia.
- The charge is to consistently insist that our voices are heard and our inputs sought in making the decisions that would affect us. Beyond just voting and supporting candidates who convince us about the validity of their programmes, the reality of our system today demands that we do more than just vote; we are fundamentally required to stay vigilant at every election post until an outcome achieved through transparent adherence to laid down processes is attained. We are required to go the extra mile to fight off the forces whose disdain for democratic ethos pose more serious threat to our democracy in the new age than the barrel of the gun ever did.
- Voting, as I stated above, is an integral part of the democratic process but there is more. As I had written severally in times past, we have an obligation to hold our elected representatives to account, ask reasonable questions, make genuine input into the governance process and offer our support through prompt and regular payment of taxes. Your confidence when you pay taxes to a democratic government is that the funds would be managed by individuals elected by you — who can also be legitimately removed by you when they do not perform. Democracy is superior to all other forms of government because that is the only system that gives the average man on the street, the same power as the wealthy. We must therefore treasure this sacred trust and pursue the obligation it demands with every legitimate tool at our disposal. One decision we have to make collectively as patriots on this day is to vehemently resist whatever presents a threat to the continuous expansion of the democratic space for that would be the most impactful way of honouring the memories of the men and women whose sweat, tears and blood watered the seed of the freedom we enjoy today.
- Finally, let me wish our people a happy democracy day!
Dr Alex C. Otti, OFR
June 12, 2025
