When Democracy Fails...BY DR PEREGRINO BRIMAH

Genesis (NIV Bible) 19: 4 Before they had gone to bed, ALL THE MEN FROM EVERY PART OF THE CITY of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

The Cattle (Quran) 6: 116 Wert thou to follow THE COMMON RUN OF THOSE ON EARTH, they will lead thee away from the way of Allah. They follow nothing but conjecture: they do nothing but lie.

In the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006, Hamas won 74 seats to the ruling-Fatah's 45, becoming able to establish a Hamas majority government. The British Conservative head of the European Parliament's monitoring team, Edward McMillan-Scott described the polls as "extremely professional, in line with international standards, free, transparent and without violence." Immediately after the election victory, the Quartet (United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia) and Israel imposed crushing sanctions on the Palestinian authority and this ended in a violent breakup and a divided Palestine. 

In approval of the split, in 2007 sanctions were eased on the Fatah led West Bank, while more severe sanctions placed on the political victors, Hamas and the Gaza strip. The then U.S. secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice immediately added the following statement to the definition of democracy: “Democracy brings not just rights, but it brings obligations and responsibilities too.” Defining democracy as some sort of culture, she went on to say, "And one of those responsibilities is to care for and to be a fighter for peace, and not for war and not for violence."

In Nigeria, during the 5th republic, following the successful introduction of Sharia law in Zamfara state by the then governor, Sani Yarima, there were gigantic protests in the northern states, likewise demanding for Sharia law. Surveys conducted across northern states delivered a response rate solidly in favor of the introduction of Sharia law, in the 73-97% range. See 'Margit Cleveland, “Acceptance of Sharia Law in Nigeria,” in Paul Marshall (ed), The Talibanization of Nigeria: Sharia Law and Religious Freedom.' Credited as 'dividends of democracy,' by 2000, 12 democratically governed northern states in total officially re-adopted Sharia law a century after it had been laid down. The masses supported the adoption of Sharia seeing it as the only solution against the triad of corruption, inequality and poor governance. While many northerners believe the law is not adopted honestly and is used to witch-hunt the poor, while securing impunity for the rich and elite leadership, other Nigerians believe it should never have been adopted. Like it or not, and safe or unsafe within the context of Nigeria as is, the law came into being compliments of democracy. While still discussing Nigeria, the crises of governance in the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th republics delineate democratic realities.


CONCLUDING PART AFTER THE BREAK. PLS CLICK ON READ MORE BELOW