What is democracy? This is a system of government where by people are allowed to choose who will lead them through a process called election. In my country, we use the democratic system and I think it's the best system of government because we have the right and choice to pick who we want to lead us and our voices are being heard.
Before democracy came into Nigeria, we used the military system of government and it was bad. During the military regime, people were not free to speak, they couldn't make choices they are comfortable with. Anyone that says something bad about the government is either jailed, beaten and sometimes killed. I never experienced the military rule but from peoples experiences I never wish to.
People lived in fear, and their rights didn’t matter. That’s not the kind of life anyone should live. What's the point of having rights when we can't enjoy our rights as citizens. That's why I like democracy, although it's not perfect, but we can speak freely, we an choose, we can vote and our voices are been heard.
Even with democracy there are still problems. Sometimes the leaders forget the people that voted them, they don't keep to the promises they made. They become selfish and only care about themselves and their families and their close relatives. Some even go as far as stealing public funds and using it for themselves while the poor masses suffer.
During election sometimes there is cheating. Some politicians pay people to vote for them, some of them scare people away with violence. This has made the right people not to win during election. So while democracy is good, some aspirants with their behavior make it look democracy is not working.
I believe that democracy will work better if people are educated, if votes are counted properly, and if the government listens to the people’s needs. Also when the aspirants occupy their positions, they should forget their promises, they shouldn't forget the people that voted them in, people's voices should be heard and their needs provided.
I don't believe any system of government is better than democracy. Military rule is not the answer, no one wants to be beaten because they air their views. Dictatorship: a system whereby one person rules forever is also dangerous.
However, if we want democracy to bring real change, the people must also play their part. We should vote wisely, not sell our votes. We should speak up when things go wrong, and not just sit back and complain. We should ask questions and hold our leaders responsible. If we keep quiet, bad leaders will continue to lead us. But when we participate in democracy and do it fairly, we can bring the change we want.
Conclusively, democracy is a better system of government than military rule. We have freedom to speak and make our choices without fear and we know our voices will be. I hope one day, we’ll have honest leaders who truly care for the people and not just themselves. That’s when we’ll fully enjoy the true meaning of democracy.
*Images are AI generated *