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In the ongoing and
necessary discussions about the state of our nation and the quality of
our polity, the phrase ‘dividends of democracy’ keeps coming up, often
as a strident complaint that we have not received the dividends of
democracy even after 10 years of democratic government.

It seems like only
yesterday that the news filtered out in hushed tones and hurried
conversations that Abacha was dead. No one DARED speculate openly about
the veracity of the rumour. I received the first phone call informing
me in code that the head honcho had passed on, at 11am.

At 2pm, a friend
who was close to a Permanent Secretary in a federal ministry and whose
in-law is a military attaché in one of our diplomatic missions abroad,
called me to say the news was unconfirmed even to the military brass
and the civil service elite who were conducting themselves
circumspectly as if nothing had happened. He said I should not repeat
the rumour to anyone for the sake of my personal security. Not to
anyone! And I did not. I kept my mouth shut.

It was not until
6pm while I was playing netball with a group of ladies at the Lagos
YMCA on Awolowo Road, that we heard a roar from the street; the kind of
jubilation that occurs when Nigeria scores a goal in an international
football match. The news was officially out. It was only then that
people, big people and small people, powerful people and helpless
people could talk about it.

How many of us remember those days and identify freedom of speech as a dividend of democracy?

How many of us
acknowledge that only 15 years ago, the public assault on Uzoma Okere
by naval ratings would have led to loss of physical freedom for the
victim, instead of an official inquiry and embarrassment for the
previously untouchable men in uniform and their superiors?

While acknowledging
that we have so many systemic problems and challenges to overcome, we
also need to recognize that we are revelling in one of the dividends of
democracy – national debate.

National debate is
something we held very close to our hearts. Any time two or more
Nigerians gathered by chance or design, a national debate would take
place. These conversations would usually take place in a home, in a
restaurant, at a bar, during a work break. It was informal and it was
private. In public fora, we did not engage in national debates, other
than in side comments to the person adjacent to us about how correct or
how naïve the speaker taking on the establishment was.

Today, national
debate has come out of the closet. For the past years since the
successful handover from Obasanjo to Yar’ Adua, and all of this year,
following the successful, if rocky, handover of leadership to Goodluck
Jonathan, the level of public discourse, open opposition and support of
politicians and candidates has reached a level that my generation is
witnessing for the first time.

Let us take the
furore over Mr Babangida’s renewed political ambition. Today’s young
adults are not aware of what he did; it was before their time, and the
June 12, 1993, annulment of the presidential election results that
declared MKO Abiola the winner is clearly not a focus of their modern
history classes.

Yet derisory
posters, satirical cartoons, articles in newspapers and magazines,
blogs, television programming is analysing it all – OPENLY – and taking
positions while they do so.

Opening the public space

National debate is
a leading indicator of a progressive state of affairs, even though it
makes the leadership seat too hot for the incumbent to settle too
comfortably in. With the proliferation of private media – radio,
television, print, and online – commentary from the man on the street
about these issues is immediate and feedback through call-ins and
television appearances have become commonplace.

There are many
examples of debates going at the grassroot, state, and national levels,
to mention just a few: the outcry about the okada (motorcycle taxi) ban
in some cities; the organized opposition to the perceived abdication of
government of its responsibility to maintain major roads e.g.
concessioning of Lekki Expressway in Lagos; the conflicting expert
opinions on the governorship succession in Kwara State and the
canvassing of public opinion on the place of family dynasties in our
politics.

Others include: the
critique of the strategy and value of zoning in party politics and the
salary and allowances of members of the legislature.

We have largely
lost our fear of oppression. Even if we are wrongfully arrested, with
good representation either private or public, and with civilian
protests, the likelihood of being released is high.

The recourse to
assault and illegal means of settling disputes is being channelled into
the courts and alternative dispute resolution system. It is rarer to
hear of landlords removing the roofs from their houses to evict tenants.

As politicians
start their campaigns to solicit for our votes, we want to know how the
incumbent has fulfilled his or her responsibilities, and what s/he has
done to improve our lives. Are the roads repaired, the streets clean,
refuse being collected, schools improved, hospitals equipped, police
paid and supported, citizens’ rights protected?

Those are the questions that I will be asking. What will you be focusing on?