The 2023 Presidential Candidate for Labour Party, Peter Obi, has questioned the essence of celebrating democracy in Nigeria.
He said that instead of celebrating democracy, attention should be directed towards addressing issues of state capture.
Peter Obi said this during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, as Nigeria marks 25 years of unbroken democracy amidst Bola Tinubu’s first year in office.
Obi said, “Are we truly Democratic? An unexamined life is not worth living. The fundamental question to ask is whether we are truly democratic. We must, at every step, try to examine what we have been doing. After 25 years of trying to be a democratic country, it is time to ask if we are truly democratic.
“Democracy is supposed to be the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. So the question to ask is: are we a government of the people, by the people, and for the people?
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“Beneath this is supposed to be a benefit for people, and such benefits are not there, but the opposite is what we see. There are leadership failures. There is massive hunger, insecurity, and suffering.
“What we should actually be celebrating is a sort of state Capture, where those who have captured it have cornered all the benefits made for people.
“What people are supposed to see in terms of good education, good health, and pulling them out of poverty has been cornered by few that have captured the system, and they continued at the expense of all.”
Obi emphasized the need for restructuring to tackle such challenges effectively. His remarks have ignited conversations across the country about the true nature of democracy and the pressing need for reform.
“There are things we need to re-examine and ask how to set them right for our future generation,” he added.
