Democracy is a universal concept. Its practice differs from one place to another, as regards acquisition of power and institutional arrangements. Hence, one can talk of “American democracy”, “Nigerian democracy”, “British democracy”, “Irish democracy”, and so on. Wikipedia defines ‘democracy’ as a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislators’.
The present Nigerian genre of democracy started in 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo took office as the President of Nigeria in 1999, ending the multiple decades of military adventure in power that began in 1966. It was only interrupted by a brief period of interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The best definition of democracy is perhaps that given by Abraham Lincoln in his 1863 Gettysburg, Delaware speech. He said democracy is government of the people by the people and for the people. In the world at large, there is nowhere democracy can be said to be a Republic of equals. Thus, socio-economic and political inequality is a prominent and permanent feature of democracy, particularly in Nigeria where democracy has widened the gap between those who have access to power and public funds, and those who do not. It is generally assumed that democracy is the most suitable form of government, leading to the pursuit of the welfare of the generality of the people. While this may be so in some democracies, the reverse is the case in others. While democracy is synonymous with holistic development and aggregated growth in some jurisdictions, it is the representation of betrayal and inhuman deprivation in others. While some countries aspire to and do indeed, practice democracy for the socio-economic welfare and ultimate benefit of the generality of the people, or at least as many people as possible, others make their own brand of democracy government of the few (Oligarchy) by the few and for the socio-economic benefit of the few. Some variants of democracy are photocracy and corporatocracy.