MAY 29 is drawing close and it will be time to celebrate democracy and do an assessment of how far Nigeria has fared with this system of governance. Of recent, there have been talks about the depth of the democratic experiment, whether there have been conscious efforts to enhance the space that is available for citizens’ participation, and how much benefits have accrued from the process so far.

Generally, enlightened Nigerians, I mean politically, have become extremely cautious when they discuss how much of deepening has taken place in the democratic space. Somehow, a good number of them have become shy to hit the nail on the head, because they remember how costly this democracy was won in 1998/99. They are careful not to give an assessment that could be interpreted to mean that democracy has failed.

Recently, scholarly Father Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, expressed pleasant surprise that in spite of the gross deficit in governance, nobody has yet advocated for a return of the military. That to him is a democratic dividend. It is true nobody has, because it is better to allow things fall in place by themselves, so that the consequences could be better appreciated when it is full moon. It is true that Nigerians who witnessed military rule would recoil in fits and nostalgia, because those long years of military rule were an ill-wind that blew no one no good.

Be that as it may, this is not the democracy citizens yearned for. This is not the inclusivity they were promised of democracy in elementary government textbooks. So far, the political class has monopolised the democratic space and took away the ladder, so that majority of citizens are locked downstairs. If you must join them, you simply have to force your way. Unfortunately, majority of the people do not yet understand the concept of power and how to relate it to real life. That’s another day’s discourse.

When democracy was fought and won in 1999, some people expressed reservations. They wanted to see if the military could be trusted with their decision to leave the stage permanently. They applied the sidon look approach because they had burnt their fingers in previous transition programmes, particularly under Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

After the first set of elections and the inauguration of the first set of elected office holders, it was expected that the democratic wheel will become well oiled and regularly too, so that areas needing more depth would experience depth, while areas needing expansion would experience expansion.

Taking the institution of INEC for instance, depth and expansion required that reasonable amount of money would be available at the right time, so that electoral umpires at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will have sufficient allowance to do what they have to do, without begging anybody.

It was expected that the political class, through the legislature would be pragmatic enough to evolve newer ways and means to lubricate the wheels of democracy, through appropriate laws. For instance, the constitution that was put together by the military government under Gen. Abdulsalami Abaubakar was not a perfect document. The new government was supposed to look at it and determine where to make amendments, so that democracy will continue to improve. In this same manner, they were supposed to look at the electoral laws and make necessary adjustments to consolidate democracy and make the system better dispensation after dispensation.

In 13 years, how much of growth can we say INEC has experienced, for us to go to sleep with two eyes closed, rest assured that at any point the body is called upon it would not disappoint Nigerians?

Under Ephraim Akpata, respectable jurist and first chairman of INEC in the transition years of 98/99, there was relative sanity and the elections were good. The electoral process was generally fair, perhaps because the military supervised the exercise.

Under Abel Guobadia, respectable scholar and administrator, INEC suffered the misfortune of gross underfunding. Guobadia had to go begging for INEC to be funded. The political class will not fund you if you were going to disgrace them at the election.

Under Maurice Iwu, a professor, INEC did magic and made promises it could not keep. INEC promised biometrics, but ended up using analogue voter register to conduct elections, a register was largely, fake. INEC promised it would transmit election results from collation centres, but ended up announcing dubious results in Abuja, voting was still ongoing in some states.

Now, 2015 is gathering storm and INEC is yet to announce a roadmap. The roadmap has to do with regular update of voter register and mapping out of electoral constituencies, to admit new ones in view of growing population and new settlements. We are talking about the democratic space and how much access is available to citizens to participate and decide the leadership they want.

This is the time for INEC to update the voter register. Many eligible voters could not vote in 2011 because the system of voter registration in Nigeria is designed to be very difficult, as difficult as queuing to obtain a driver’s licence or having the misfortune of an appointment with the Immigration Service, for the purpose of obtaining an international passport. That is the nature of service delivery in the public sector. You are first punished mercilessly, after which you are heavily taxed.

In the last registration exercise, a lot of communities were outside INEC’s delineated areas. The community where I live, which consists of not less than 2000 adults of voting age had no registration centre as at 2011. To be able to register, I had to drive several kilometres outside where I live.

On Election Day, which is more like a day of emergency rule, movement is restricted and it is impossible for one to leave one’s area of domicile to exercise one’s voting right.

Now, because of the kind of work I do, I am permitted to go out under the category of persons on essential duty, for the purposes of reporting and monitoring election. That still does not permit me to vote, because I do not have the luxury of time to go and queue endlessly, waiting for INEC to deploy men and material at one miserable polling centre, under the sun.

In addition to this predicament, on most elections, I go on duty outside Lagos, to do reporting and monitoring, which automatically disenfranchises me, because INEC’s analogue system does not make provision for itinerant voters. Big shame. It is a shame, that voter registration and actual voting in Nigeria’s 21st century is made so difficult, that many people are unable to register and vote without being severely punished. Nigeria is severe punishment in many respects.

Whereas, smaller and very poor African countries are able to sort out such little challenges, thereby gaining experience year after year and growing their democracies. In 2011, November, I was a short-term election observer (STO) to Liberia, for the presidential rerun. I was on the bill of Carter Foundation. My location of observation was Upper Lofa County, far outside Monrovia the capital, which is comparable to the distance between Lagos and somewhere in Niger State. Guess what! The driver who took me on my observation was able to walk in and out of any polling station to vote, seamlessly without inhibition. A Nigerian version of that would have been for an itinerant driver who lives in Lagos to be able to cast his vote in Minna or Kontagora, where he is on a temporary business trip. This is no fiction, because Attahiru Jega, our INEC chairman was also in Liberia, as a celebrated international observer from Africa’s largest (population) and about richest country. That’s not all. Our respectable Gowon was there too, but you see, we love to celebrate our mediocrity abroad.

Don’t even think of Diaspora voters here, because INEC says it is not permitted by law to accommodate Nigerians of voting age who are everywhere on the globe; never mind that a good number of them are in foreign jails. If the laws were to permit INEC, does INEC have the infrastructure to capture Diaspora votes when thousands here at home cannot vote? Do we have the integrity to deliver Diaspora votes, without same ending up in the kitchen cabinet of ambassadors, who are card-carrying members of the ruling party?

Lest I forget, let me use this opportunity to ask INEC to issue my permanent voter card, because the ink on the temporary card they gave me in 2011 has vanished. If I were to present it at the next election, in case I have the luxury of time to go and queue, I can be arrested for being in possession of a fake voter card. I cannot even recognise the card myself. This is height of mediocrity.