Citizens And The Demand For Accountability

I repeat... that all power is a trust; that we are accountable for its exercise;that from the people and for the  people all springs, and all must exist
. 
-Benjamin Disraeli

I want people around me who call me out and hold me accountable.

-Hunter Parrish

 

Democracy as widely noted, is a subspecies of a broader concept: the accountability of state to society. This political accountability is about those with authority being answerable for their actions to the citizens, whether directly or indirectly. Thus a polity is democratic to the extent that there exist an institutionalized
mechanism through which the mass of the population exercises control over the political elite in an organized fashion.

In democratic theory, individuals are regarded as inherently equal in fundamental rights irrespective of religious, social or political orientation, and political power is granted to officials by the people, who can withdraw that authority in accordance with constitutional arrangements.

Therefore, if we as citizens think that we are fostering the demand for accountability and progressive policies in our nation's politics by simply making a joke of every sad events or just retorting to venting out our anger on social media platforms alone, or labeling every voice as being "sponsored"  then we are sadly mistaken. It is remarkable that we have a voice (or invent one), but as long as it is misconstrued as self-serving or sponsored, it's impact will be limited.

How then can we hope to hold these powerful elites accountable in such a country as ours? The first point is that, to hold powerful governments accountable, citizens needs more voice united towards a common front, not less. We do not have to be divisive in our approach or simply label everyone who’s gutted enough to raise his/her voice as being sponsored by opposition. Indeed, one of my concerns about claims that every chants of demanding accountability from  government and public office holders concerned is “sponsored”, is that weakening these voices will give governments more ability simply to act as they please and go unaccounted for.

In the long term, the only remedy for this situation is that networks of connection and empathy be developed on a national basis so that citizens demand that the interests of the generality of the populace be taken into account. That is, we need to adopt a forceful and genuine concept of solidarity.

To do this, we need to renounce doctrines: religious, ethnic or otherwise, that denies the moral and constitutional rights of other people to demand that a government and people who are entirely responsible to them be made to account for its deeds or misdeeds. In that manner we can ensure that the energies of those disaffected are harnessed for the progress and unity rather than for division and dissipation of efforts.

There is however the question of whether the government, political actors are doing well enough to represent the interest of citizens and being accountable at such. While some will support this argument, some will oppose in equal measure and others will even stagger at it.

The answers to these questions should be based on well thought-out factors and not just merely on a snap opinion. A lot of people seldom think through the issues. They have opinions about child marriage, gay marriage, jungle justice, religion, and things like that, but when it comes to looking at the realities of governing and being governed, there is too much left to be desired.

Generally, people want good roads, portable water, good transport systems, liberty in their personal lives, good jobs, standard medical attention, stable power supplies, etc. In the light of the aforementioned, we can therefore draw an unfortunate conclusion that our present/past government and political class have failed woefully in this regards.

I truly do not understand why some of my fellow citizens can advocate for a continuous tolerance for breed of leaders who have abused privileges entrusted upon them by citizens at citizens and taxpayers expense and will often find their way in enriching themselves also at taxpayers' expense. I am most certain that most Nigerians you will talk to, whether home or abroad will emphasized this standpoint.

Most of our leaders are under-performing and lackadaisical towards any meaningful national development idea, yet many are ready to die for them and even excuse them despite their myopic tendencies. In fact, it seems to me that the less likely a leader is to perform—the more people are ready to kill or excuse for him. I guess it is because they know very little about the consequential effects such leaders bears on us all and future generations.

It is a pity that some of those people who seems to excuse government inefficiencies and excesses will not own up to the present realities of all the avoidable vices that have thwarted the hopes and aspirations of our dear country…. because if they will, I would guess we would have fewer bombs, less infant mortality rate, fewer cases of air/road mishaps, fewer cases of corruption, fewer communal crises, etc.

My submission, which seems to hold true for most of the questions of accountability that the Nigerian society face, is that we must determine how the overall good/interest of citizens  and advancement  of society be placed above the selfish individuals in our political space that demand things that hurts the overall interest of society. - if we require that governments at all level must be responsive, or at least functional, then we need to determine whether we are going to hold accountability as primary when we define the level of performance and service delivery by these governmental actors  in a society.

As agents of change, the youths and citizens of our dear country need to discharge their responsibilities both as a unifying voice and a movement for national liberation. The attainment of a society where development and value on citizens is core is a necessary and a noble task; but as long as the rhetoric and actions appear far removed, the objective of reconstruction and any meaningful development cannot be achieved.

At this point, unless the voice of citizens under the umbrella of a genuine progressive movement are strong and united around the realization of clear social delivery objectives, the demand for accountability will continue to be a farce.

However, if the revolution is successful, the efficiency of government and its responsibility to its citizens will hold great weight because the demand for accountability would have ignited a spark of development that will follow suit and a saner society.

Our principal task as citizens who believe in the essence of accountability is to build support within our powerful populace and demand for a more effective governance and committed leadership knowing fully well that as citizens, we remain the most powerful actors in our democracy.

For such demand to be actualized, citizens themselves will have to take action, a radical one at that, but in concert with one another: because our best hope for actualizing good governance in the long run is the construction of stronger transnational bonds of empathy and strengthening of personal and social ties.

As Nigerians, who either seeks to fulfill or betray our collective destiny, this is our charge and unless we choose to fulfill our destiny by collectively lending our voice as well as actions behind every noble movement that seeks to curb this nation of government inefficiencies, maladministration, and rogues in power, then we must unfortunately conclude that our vision of a sane and a relatively advanced society is a mirage!

Twitter: @MichaelAgada