Nigerians celebrates Democracy Day without the presence of the president.

Reflecting on the two years of the Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) federal government, Nigerians are of various opinions, some commends Buhari for his achievement in fighting against corruption and the development in the agricultural sector. Majority of the citizens laments on how his administration has failed to fulfil the people's expectations, talking about the poor economic policies, which led to economic recession thereby worsened the living conditions of citizens since the past two years.

In addition to this, the former Vice President Atiku
Abubakar, Senate President Bukola Saraki
as well as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, National leader of the All Progressive Congress, in their different statements they issued to mark this
year’s Democracy Day, in conjunction with Buhari’s two years in power, urged
Nigerians to continue to sustain
democratic governance.

According to Tinubu, a former governor of the Lagos State, he
asked Nigerians to keep and nurture
democracy, not for the sake of
democracy, but for the sake of the
country.
In his words, he said:
“We must remember that if
we should fall asleep, there are those who would
like nothing better than to take it from
us,”
The APC leader further added that Nigerians
should remain vigilant and “by doing so
ensure a better future and better Nigeria
for ourselves and our progeny.”
As seen in his statement:
“Democracy Day and our commemoration
of it must be more than an empty ritual. It
must add up to more than another reason
to have another holiday.
We, as a people, choose democracy as
our preferred form of governance, not
because it would be easy to achieve or to
hold, even once we have it. We choose
democracy because history has taught us
that the welfare of the people is best and
perhaps only secured by government
responsive and accountable to the people".

Atiku Abubakar made it known that, Nigerians should be proud
of themselves for doing away with military
governments in 1999, in exchange with
democracy, which the world over, gives
voice and a sense of belonging to more
people in the society.
He further counselled those who may be
contemplating alternatives to do away with such
thoughts as the worst form of democratic
rule has been adjudged far better than the
best form of military dictatorship. Reading through his speech, he stated that,
"In those other areas, where
the nation is lacking, the system makes it
possible for the problems to be brought to
the public arena for discussion and
settlement".

The senate president, said,
" the real challenge to the
sustenance of the democracy, which the
country had experienced in the last 18
years, was the need for a solid economy
that would ensure that the citizens
enjoyed high standard of living and even
development across the country".
He  however commended the policies and
programmes of the present administration
aimed at repositioning the country and
called for more support for Buhari to
achieve his lofty economic plan.

Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of
Representatives in his speech marked the APC
administration high.
“We know that within
the two years of this administration, the
government has achieved a lot in the area
of security.
In transportation, we are talking about
railways, in agriculture and in diverse
fields of our endeavours a lot has been
achieved and a lot need to be done, but
we are committed to bringing succour to
the common man".
Dogara further added that despite challenges,
democracy remains the best form of
government, stating that the government
of the day is committed to strengthening
institutions and fighting corruption.
In his words,
“I know there are challenges but these
challenges are not peculiar to us.
So many countries have had to face these
kind of challenges in their developmental
strides”. 
Concluding that, The Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) said that the APC has
squandered democratic governance
bequeathed to it due to its intolerance
and highhandedness to any form of
opposition, as well as crass ineptitude in
governance.

Ekweremadu, in his own speech,
stressed the need to uphold
constitutionalism and the rule of law to
speed up the growth of the nation’s
democracy.

In a statement yesterday made by the spokesperson of the National Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo
Adeyeye, he said, the PDP said there was nothing
to celebrate from the APC government.
The party acquired  that: “A government that
formed its cabinet within six months of
assumption of office, jokes with the
country’s annual budget, led the Africa’s
No. 1 economy into depression, put in
place an ambiguous economic plan after
two years in power, and the list is endless,
has nothing to celebrate.”
Further listing the shortcomings of the party, PDP said that
the APCled government of President
Buhari failed in the area of corruption, the
electoral process, the judiciary and the
economy. And also, the security situation
in the country today has worsened with
the rampaging Fulani herdsmen’s attacks
while suicide attacks in the North-East
have continued unabated.

To the former Governor of Anambra, Chukwuemeka
Ezeife, he said apart from the anti-corruption
war of the Buhari administration, there is
nothing else to celebrate for its two years
in power as the country seems to have
collapsed.
He stated:
“The first thing is to commend
President Buhari’s anti-corruption drive. It
hasn’t succeeded yet, but it was good to
have started it. The only problem is its
implementation, because it has been quite
selective. Opponents of the APC are
pursued, while people close to power are
getting away with corrupt
practices. Besides the anti-graft campaign,
I don’t know of any other thing to praise
the Buhari government for because
everything has collapsed and we
erroneously blame it on falling oil price.
Again, if you look at all the promises
made by the President, when he was
campaigning, not one has been fulfilled.
We have hunger like we never had before
and people are committing suicide in their
number. So, there is the need to rebuild
the country.”

A former governor of
Kaduna State and leader of the Peoples
Redemption Party (PRP), Balarabe Musa, termed the
Buhari administration as a complete
failure because it has not corrected the
wrongs that it promised to correct.
In his words:
“In fact, things have
become even worse; there is no initiative
and gradually, the problems have
overwhelmed the government. On security,
which they claim to have made
achievements, I will like to say that it is
only in terms of Boko Haram that people
are saying that they have achieved some
success.
But other crimes have continued. Even
the defeat of Boko Haram has not been
decisive. Anything can happen at any
time. Boko Haram may have made a
strategic withdrawal or may have changed
tactics and style".
Moreover, he added that,
“The war on corruption has not even
started because the level of corruption,
stealing and criminal waste of resources. The discoveries of large
amounts of money and arrests by the
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) are all superficial.
The root of the problem hasn’t been
touched".

Why hasn’t the administration arrested
former President Goodluck Jonathan? He asked. Is it
because it doesn’t want to rock the boat
of the ruling class? “On the economy, the
recession is even getting worse. The level
of unemployment and poverty has been
unprecedented in the history of this
country. Industries have continued to
collapse and privatization of the power
sector has failed.”

According to the Chairman of Northern Elders Council
(NEC), Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, in his opinion, he evaluated the current administration by stating that, if things are bad for Nigerians then it is bad for he himself, thereby adding that he feels exactly what other Nigerians are feeling.
In his words:
“I feel
the same way majority of Nigerians are
feeling. I don’t feel any difference; their
assessment is mine. If the country is
good for them, it is good for me. If the
country is not good for them, it is not
good for me. If they are suffering, I am
suffering. If they are not suffering, I am
not suffering.
HAPPY INDEPENDENT DAY NIGERIANS!