Individual Responsibilities Towards Harnessing Benefits Of Democracy

Individual Responsibilities Towards Harnessing Benefits Of Democracy

At any given point in time, every individual has a responsibility to fulfill before he or she can enjoy the benefits attached to any task or responsibility.

A close example of this basic phenomenon is the relationship between the suckling child and the mother.

The process requires that for the child to enjoy the breast milk that child must exert pressure through the mouth, to be able to extract the mother’s breast milk as food.

This fulfils his or her obligations which is from birth towards enhancing the feeding processes.

So, by extension individual responsibility towards enjoying certain benefits in life cuts across all spheres of life.

Whether in the spiritual realm, where you need to pray and fast to receive certain divine interventions or the secular parlance where you need to work very hard to excel for a befitting reward, all in all there is always something to give, do or sacrifice for the rewards, benefits or dividends to begin to flow.

It therefore suffice to say that in spite of systemic failure and corrupt practices by certain individuals and leaders at different levels of governance, the roles or better still, support of the people directly or indirectly towards the sustenance of the bottle necks and corrupt practices, have really contributed in denying them the dividends of democracy.

Many atimes, the term masses has been exaggerated out of context, as what became masses at some point could be an individual which extends to the family, group, ethnic class or political groups as well as any other group of people as the case may be.

So, the contributions of individuals with regards to reaping the benefits of any administration is very important.

Other than failures on the part of the masses, compromise on the part of some individuals in the system had hindered the flow of the dividends of democracy to the people.

Obviously, determination on the part of individuals and leaders towards ensuring that all carry out their responsibility to the society,will always attract various forms of reward to all the parties.

For instance at a very remote village in the Federal Capital Territory, some fish farmers who were curious to learn have in no small measure extolled the contributions of the Agricultural Research Council Of Nigeria and Economic Community Of West Africa, ECOWAS, for the training and financial support to them in their fisheries activities.

In this regard the determination of the farmers and the resolve of the Research Council as well as ECOWAS, to do the right thing paid off to both parties.

Replication of such measures will definitely bring the dividends of democracy closer to the people.

As Former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana would say, if you are a civil servant serve well if you are a manager manage well and if you are a teacher teach well.

With the combined efforts of all, the dividends of democracy will be extended to all.

By Chikezie Chinkata, Edited By Grace Namiji