The Kukah Centre has stated that the inability of the ruling class to tolerate opposing views is posing a threat to the development of the country’s civic space.
Fr. Atta Barkindo, Executive Director of the Centre, made the observation while speaking in Abuja on Wednesday at the public presentation of a document titled, “A Compilation of Policy Briefs on Civic Space Engagement in Nigeria”.
He lamented that desperate politicians, who have benefited immensely from the Nigerian project over the years, no longer accept constructive criticisms from well-meaning citizens.
He opined that such treatment had remained the greatest threat to the people’s engagement with the governance process.
The Executive Director suggested that the country was in dire need of leaders that were open to accepting differences and ultimately managing the diversities that exist in the country for its development.
According to him, “The greatest threat to the civic space in Nigeria is the people, particularly politicians, who want to do everything to hold onto power, and cannot accept constructive criticisms.”
He stated that Nigeria was growing and there was a serious political consciousness ongoing in the country, saying that the citizens have the right to participate in the affairs of their own country and the way it is governed in which they have a contribution to make towards policy formulation.
According to him, constructive criticism is one of the unseen ingredients of democracy and must be open to different perspectives and opinions, stressing that if you have people in power who have very small capacity for accepting constructive criticism, you have the greatest threat to participation in the civic space.
He added that any political leader who cannot accept criticisms would certainly deploy the instruments of power and the monopoly of force to suppress and even sack and entire cabinet, because they disagree with him, thereby being the greatest threat.
The Kukah Centre believed that governance is an applied science of running the affairs of the nation, pointing out that people could learn how to effectively operate the democratic processes through socialisation.
To participate in the democratic process, he believed that there should be proper education of the child.
To overcome the threats to the civic space, he suggested that Nigerians needed to have short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies which include educating the children on the democratic process from very young ages.
According to him, if the country plans very well, the next generation would simply enjoy the advocacies it is making today for the expansion of the civic space for engagement and warned the citizens against abusing the liberties inherent in civic engagement.
He urged them to tread with caution when spreading information from one source to another on social media.