 Elections have come and gone in Nigeria, but many voters are still unsatisfied with their outcomes. Many times, those who represent them in governance do not carry them along, or the electorate themselves don't even know how to assert themselves. Year in year out, the electorate keep asking for better representation from those they vote for as public office holders. Is this too much to ask for? How can the people of the grassroots be better represented and involved? Well, these are questions begging for answers. To look at this and other issues on the prime time next night, is Honourable Kenny de Barmebeta is a former commissioner for information in Lagos and an aspiring Osho de Sola federal consistency at the House of Representatives under the APC. He is live with us in the studio. Thanks for joining us tonight. You have had your time in public office, prominently for that matter, and you're still an as parent, you want to represent your people at the federal House of Representatives. So we're beginning to look at how public office holders are fed in power selections and how well they've carried the people along. We're having a conversation the other time. You said to me that is it that the public office holders do not carry the people along or the people themselves do not know how to assert themselves? So which way do we go? Democracy is about the people. The constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria is very clear that we, the people, kept together to have this constitution for ourselves. It's based on that constitution that people join parties to be elected. And so the concepts of popular sovereignty that power ultimately is with the people must already be asserted. But this concept cannot be harrowed into a set of people, you know, for four years of a long time. The people must always be conscious of the fact that they own the power over their people and they must always call them to account every minute, every time for the period, for the mandate that they have been given. Now this is where we have problems, essentially, in people asserting their control over their representatives. The constitution has been very, very elaborate in providing even for recall that you can recall your representatives if they are not serving you well. But when it comes to people organizing themselves to take control of their representatives, we see a lot of failures. The Nigeria democracy seems very, very young. So we should be ready to test it, to experiment with it, to initiate measures to make it more democratic, more popular democratic in content. That is what we are not having. What we have had so far is what we call civil law. We are yet to have democracy. Democracy is one where the power of the people over their representatives is obvious, you know. It's a daily routine. It's a cultural thing, you know. And until we get to that place, that's when we say we truly have to be democratic. So for now, we need to make that democracy. We need to cook the food. We need to cook the meal. And in doing so, we can't just be spectators, you know. We need to go out there and assert our rights. So each time students, you know, each time working class, each time traders assert themselves, you know, either they demonstrate or voice their opinions, they are helping us to build that democracy, you know. And therefore, we also require people who are representing us to respond to these moves. Okay, now... So this is two-way thing. Two-way thing, yeah. For the people who should initiate are the owners of the mandates, the citizens of the federal political Nigeria. I'm happy you mentioned popular sovereignty. These are enshrined in chapter two of the 1999 Constitution anyway, as amended in 2011. Now, I'll come back to civil rule as against democracy later. But now, popular sovereignty, power belongs ultimately to the people. Chapter two of the 1999 Constitution. I'm aware of that. But let me bring it down. We need to better involve the people of the grassroots in democracy as you also agree with me that the people need to assert themselves. But there's this disconnect usually. And I want to know why. When they electorate voting someone like you, a member of the House of Representatives or a senator, and then in an attempt to assert themselves, they now begin to attempt to establish a communication line with them. They have complaints and their consistencies. They have issues in their area, in their local environment. They want to communicate those two, the people that are out there in Abuja, who are representing them. But they can't even quote them. They quote them. And again, it keeps ringing. They don't pick their course again. They don't want to talk to them again. The same people, they came to like this that pushed them into power when they were saying, I want to be there for you. Push me there. They can't talk to them again. Drive me there now. They can talk to them. What would someone like you do differently? We are not organizing enough. That's what I'm saying. We are not organizing enough. We are not holding the power enough. And what people like me, the difference we offer is that because we recognize this fact, we will work to empower people more. How do you want to work as a president? Let's bring it to you. I'll give you an example. I was chairman of a local government. Okay. Which local government? Ejiborah CGA. Ejiborah. And I made it a rule that every month I will go word by word and give an account of how I spend money every month. That was novel. But that basically was to let people understand that you are the right to know how the people you put, how they spend your money. And in terms of how to wait their year, you could do it every other month and you could ask questions. Now, there are what we call community development administrations. I will make sure that I will go around the CDAs regularly. In fact, I increased the CDAs from 15 to 75 so that you could see the power being moved in the grassroots level. So if you don't create those structures and if you don't encourage those structures to assert themselves, you will not have democracy. You have civil rule. Okay? You elect people who don't bother about you, who don't care about you. You know? Who give you money when elections come. I used to in touch with those LCDAs as of today. That's where I live. That's where I live. So it's life. I mean, that's where I go through anything. So since you live there, you have a working relationship with them. You have a practical interaction with them from time to time. Except from your screen. You see what the field. You see what the sea. You live with them. So that's it. So if you find somebody, you put somebody in power, you don't meet the children, you know, in any resource. You don't meet him at the filling stations, you know. You don't see him around for quite a long time. He comes back and he says, you elect me. You should be asking questions. You should be asking, where have you been? Or this why? You know? Why won't you, we felt your touch, you know? How come our complaints have not been answered too? You know? So these are issues. And so I'm saying that the major challenge of our current civil dispensation is that we are not organizing enough. We are not asking questions enough. We are not active enough. Only a very active citizenry that can mold a responsive and responsible democracy. You know? So that's where we are. And we are still very young during this. So we should not stop asking questions. We should not stop trying to put people with the power to respond to our needs. You know? To engage us, to converse with us. You know? We are so happy today that the mass media and the social media, the media or communications have become so widened that nobody has an excuse for not communicating and creating conversations. So we think that for now, let people be more active. And the more you are active, the more you engage, you know, when people will put into power, when they come back, then you can use your ultimate power, which is the power of the ballot, to determine their face. Are you aware, Honorable? Are you aware that some people at the grassroots have to, many times, pay their way through to the National Assembly before they get certain bills passed? Or sponsored before they get certain bills sponsored? You see, the point of this is the process of getting laws passed is quite a lot. There are interest groups, for example. For example, who want to have a bill or a law that protects their profession or protects their business. If they put resources behind it, you may not be able to fault them because they have a specific reason. But when you are talking of bills that have to do with the rights of the common man, that should not involve pushing funds. That should be obvious. I mean, the right of a child, for example, to education should be obvious. You don't need to push money behind that. I'm saying that the lobbying process as established all over the world involves a lot of resources. And basically, there are big interests, you know, where the ones laws that can conduce with their environment tend to push it. But I believe that ultimately what we need is a citizen's rate that holds people that expose their power accountable. Accountable. Accountable. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. We hope. We certainly hope because many of them sound like this before they get there. Only for them to get there and then break every bridge. We started from the student unions to live off. Oh, I see. It's a long history and I never failed anybody. I see. Okay. What's left is for me to wish you all the best in your political aspirations. Thank you very much. So you get notified about fresh news updates.