A Political Economist and former Presidential Candidate, Professor Pat Utomi, has stated that the kind of democracy we run in Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari is that people fear the government, instead of the government fearing the people, adding that, until we can make the government fear the people, we do not have a democracy, .
He described the EndSARS protests of October 2020, as an event marking the arrival of citizenship in Nigeria.
Prof. Utomi spoke on Tuesday, during the commemorative Lecture and Public Presentation of a book edited by Chido Onumah, titled: ‘Remaking Nigeria: Sixty Years, Sixty Voices’, in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The event themed: ‘One Year After #EndSARS, 35 Years after Dele Giwa and the Quest to Remake Nigeria’, was held to reflect on the assassination of the former Newswatch Editor-in-Chief and Youth Activism.
He said: “We need to build citizenship and raise citizens – people who have a passion for a shared humanity. At the bottom of society’s ladder are idiots, people who care just about themselves, and at the next level are tribalists who care only about people who share the same blood or language. For tribalists, everyone who does not share in their parochial base is an enemy.
“When these people move up and become citizens, a shared humanity will drive them to do things that are for the common good of all. This is why the #EndSARS protests, for me, marked the arrival of citizenship in Nigeria.
“Democracy is supposed to be people holding government accountable. But the kind of democracy we run here is that people fear the government instead of the government fearing the people. Until we can make government fear the people, we do not have a democracy.”
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