DEMOCRAZY VS DEMOCRACY

In DEMOCRAZY, the minority have their way, and the majority have their say

In DEMOCRACY, the majority have their way and the minority have their say.

Ours is confusing, as we practice DEMOCRAZY and QUASI-DEMOCRACY. In some states of the federation, there are thin veil of democracy and democrazy, as the executive, though overbearing still allows the legislature some breathing space but not absolute autonomy, as the imperial majesties, the governors exercise some level of controls on the legislature. In those states, the legislatures are at the beck and call of the executives lead by the governors. In that vein, executive Bills emanating from the governors are not debated but passed with fiat. Furthermore, the state governors run the third tier of government, the local government, usurping the powers of the selected/not elected local government chairmen. In some other states, the executives are at war with the legislature, as the governors apply, divide-and-rule tactics, electing to work with fewer members of the legislature, making the minority have their way and the majority have their say— DEMOCRAZY. These governors are mostly relations of Boris Yeltsin, the late Russian leader. In October 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered tanks and airborne troops to shell and storm the “White House,” the Russian Parliament (Supreme Soviet) building, to suppress the opposition trying to impeach and remove him – a landmark turning point in Russia’s failure to develop democracy.

In this Republic, some governors who feel threatened not only choose to work with fewer members of the state House of Assembly but go the extra mile of bulldozing the House of Assembly building to prevent the majority members for meeting. This was the case in Edo State in the time of Governor Godwin Obaseki, and same is playing out in Rivers State under Governor Sim Fubara who also bulldozed the House of Assembly building.