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Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has said that Nigeria must evolve a home grown democratic system that takes into account the socio-cultural peculiarities of its citizens and environment. He cautioned that in democratic practice, the aping of other advanced democracies and systems may run counter to the overall success of the intended goal and thus hamper progress and advancement.

The governor said political/elective offices are serious businesses which should not be left in the hands of mediocres, charlatans and illiterate politicians simply because they assumed they are into politics as so called professional politicians.

Dr. Aliyu stated at the weekend that elective public offices especially for the governance and administration of people requires people who are properly schooled and experienced and can manage men and materials equitably for the good of all.

The governor who was the guest lecturer at the 10th Foundation Day of the Igbinedion University, Okada in Edo state, argued that service delivery to the people should be the guiding principle for all those elected into public offices and as representatives of their peoples.

Governor Aliyu who spoke on “Participatory Democracy as Ingredient for Sustainable Development,” argued further that Nigeria’s democratic experiments since independence have been so, because the concept of democracy and good governance for service delivery have not been properly and geniunely pursued.

He said for good governance to be achieved, the citizens must be educated and enlightened on their rights and responsibilities, mobilized for popular participation so that everyone could understand his role in the society.

Governor Aliyu said Nigeria must first evolve a political system that takes into cognizance the socio-cultural peculiarities and characteristics of all segments of the country’s population or run the risk of wholesome importation of ideologies that may not work well for the country.

He argued that though there are general elements and principles in democracy, however there is no universal blueprint for development for which all nations must subscribe to as a rule. He therefore argued that what Nigeria requires uppermost is development and the strategies he noted must be home grown and targeted at improving the lives and the lot of the citizenry.

Dr. Aliyu stressed that all development strategies must be citizens’ friendly and must revolve around the people who must accept the need to participate in emancipating themselves in line with the concept “of government of the people, for the people and by the people” (democracy).

He argued that the people must be involved in decision making that affects them and they should be carried along in implementing issues and programmes that affect them. He added that what matters most to a people is that which brings results of good governance and facilitates sustainable developments.

The guest lecturer said because politics is such a serious business, it is therefore too important to be left in the hands of the so called Nigerian politicians most of whom see politics as channels for plundering public wealth. “Politics is too important to be left to the Nigerian politicians,” he insisted.

He said since there is no such term as “professional politicians”, intellectuals, public servants, farmers and academics among others must see the prompt need to participate in partisan politics if the country truly desires to develop and grow and surpass its present level among the comity of nations.

He tasked Nigerians to imbibe the culture of asking for their rights from their elected public office holders and to monitor programmes and policies of their governments as a right.