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When I think of Democracy Day I think of freedom in all senses.
Democracy Day marks the day the military handed over power to an elected civilian government in 1999, marking the beginning of the longest continuous civilian rule since Nigeria's independence from colonial rule in 1960. It is a tradition that has been held annually, beginning in the year 2000.
Wikipedia
While the initial date for democracy day was May 29 which is when the first civilian government was inaugurated. June 12 is seen as the day which held the freest and fair elections, it is the day the Nigerians had the most say on who would represent us in government.
The difference between a military government and a civilian government is the freedom it gives to the citizens. The freedom of speech, expression, movement, etc.
When the military is in control, you cannot speak ill of the head of state at the time, if caught doing so it could lead to severe consequences. There is barely any freedom of speech during military rule.
In a way we can see the Nigerian democracy day as the day we gained "independence" from the military. This gave us the freedom to partake in the establishment of rules governing the state.
With the end of military rule came a government that was supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people. A government we would choose, one that would represent us.
This is what democracy day means to me, the freedom to express myself concerning the performance of the government that is meant to be for us. However, can I say the Nigerian government fully gives me that freedom - the answer is NO.
Under a truly democratic rule, peaceful protesters would never be harmed or arrested. Engaging in a peaceful protest is part of their constitutional right. We see the exact opposite of this in Nigeria today.
In my opinion, our present president who used to rule during the military era has not fully grasped the idea of a democratic type of government. He still exhibits some of the traits of a military head of state.
Nigeria has not gotten to where it should be but I believe we have come a long way and it takes a government who truly cares about the state of the country to take us to where we are supposed to be.
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