As the world celebrates International Democracy Day, the Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections, Peter Obi, has identified corruption, insecurity of lives and property, and economic hardship as the greatest threats to Nigeria’s democracy.
Obi, in a message to mark the 2020 International Democracy Day, explained that the high level of corruption among political leaders at all levels of government seriously threatened the country’s democracy. He also stated that economic hardship and worsening levels of poverty in the country contented with Nigeria’s democratic existence.
The former Anambra State Governor said that unless Nigerians, especially political leaders, including himself, imbibed the virtues of accountability, political responsibility and financial prudence, the nation’s democracy would continue to stagger under the heavy weight of corruption. He said: “We must now begin to hold our political office holders accountable and demand transparency in the execution of public projects, so that we can stamp out the cankerworm of corruption eating deep into our private and public institutions.”
The ex-VP Candidate also lamented what he described as a horrible spate of insecurity in Nigeria, fuelled by the economic woes prevalent in the nation. Obi argued that if the economic conditions in the country improved, there would be lesser security threats in the country, thus strengthening the nation’s democracy.
“The International Democracy Day provides us another opportunity to soberly reflect on our democracy as a nation. We must now begin to critically look at those factors that have so far threatened our democratic ideals. Corruption, Insecurity and Economic Hardship seem to be the greatest contenders with our democracy. The challenges we face as a nation knows no particular tribe nor religion. Let us therefore unite to build our nation and strengthen our democracy,” Obi said.
The International Day of Democracy, celebrated on September 15, is an annual day that has been running for 10 years. It is a United Nations, (UN), day of observation aimed at reviewing the state of democracy in the world and upholding democracy and its principles.