Ordinary Nigerians Do Not Still Understand That Government Belongs to Them-Lauretta Onochie
Lauretta Onochie, the Personal Assistant to President Buhari on Social Media in an interview with Asphericnews, said that democracy, as we know it today, is totally different from what it used to be many years ago, and is different from the recent past.
She also said: “We have to understand that democracy was foreign to our people because we had our own system of governance, the system that evolved in villages and towns and which traditional rulers were the ones who made most of the decisions before the advent of the white man.
“And then they brought democracy, it was difficult for us to embrace and we are still grappling with it because democracy is foreign to our culture, but because that is what the modern world demands we are trying our best to be part of the democratic structure of the whole world in order that we are not left behind in the scheme of things.
“And democracy has come to stay in our nation, it is now the form of government we have embraced because democracy is about the people, the people, and the people. She added.
Onochie further said that the people are beginning to know their right: “As at today most people, the ordinary Nigerians do not understand that the government belongs to them, they do not still understand that.
“So, governance is still in the hands of the elite.
“The ordinary people are yet to grasp the fundamental issue that democracy actually belongs to the people.
“So, that’s where we are now, the people are coming up gradually, they are beginning to know their rights, they are beginning to insist on their rights, and their privileges and they are beginning to hold their government to account.
According to Onochie, she was once bullied for speaking against an event that occurred in her state.
Detail as follows: “In the past, I remember in 2010, when I stepped into the Nigerian facebook space, there was something that happened in My state and I spoke about it and everyone descended on Me and said You don’t know they are our leaders, why are You criticizing them.
“But today everybody is doing it and I am very glad, I am very happy that people are holding the government to account.
“Because each time somebody steps out into the political space and ask for permission from the people to serve them, that person automatically becomes the servant of the people. That’s why they call the ones that work in government civil servants and people like us public servants.
“We are the servants of the people so we must take our directions and our instructions from those who should be calling the shots and that’s the ordinary Nigerians. But up till now, many Nigerians do not really know the power the willed, they do not know that government belongs to them. She concluded.
Ayooluwa Joshua