The Romans practiced democracy on political structure so complex and idiosyncratic that later democratic leaders chose not to emulate, they used not only an extremely powerful senate but also four assemblies and was composed of 30 curiae, or local groups, drawn from three tribes. Not until the 17th century democratic theorist and political leaderships largely ignored the possibility that a legislature might consist neither of the entire body of citizens, as in Greece and Rome, nor of representative chosen by and from a tiny Oligarchy of hereditary aristocracy. Even in the middle ages local assemblies developed into self-governing cantons, leading eventually to the founding of the Swiss Confederation in the 13th century by the local assemblies of the Vikings were meetings were held in many areas of Scandinavia. Eventually the Vikings realized that to deal with certain larger problems they needed more-inclusive associations, and in the icy regions of the Scandinavia, assemblies developed and they created the example of what today would be called a national assembly, Legislature or Parliament “The Althing’.
As of today in most nations of the globe, most especially Africa, Democracy in its true sense has been bastardized to mean a thing of ridicule of which was supposed to be an aristocratic institution with honorable men, men of competence. Today it is a game of inter-switching political parties when the populist is no longer favoured. There can be a pinched of a case study from the present political quagmire plaguing the Nigerian state, whereby the incumbent leadership of the Nigerian Ship has become very docile and ineffective to the populace and members of the opposition have resorted to defection from the ruling national political party in the believe that it was going to be rosy all through the dispensation but the reverse has been the case and they have been stuck between the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea with no feasible plan forthcoming other than feed back from their vomit. The mass defection has swopped through like a Tsunami that no one seems to have a definite agenda to the future of Nigeria as a nation. the present political dispensation in all sense have failed to enact majority of its campaign manifestos, even the basic amenities of life that was specifically hammered-on before election cannot even live up to its billings, the Power supply have gone from epileptic to a state of nihilism, the spate of insecurity and pockets of restiveness in the country has gone through the roof, were macro-economic policies cannot work, were there’s always a clamour for separatism, these are some of the paradigms of leadership failure.
The fundamental objectives and directive principle of the state policy of the Nigerian Constitution should be given a candid review and not made to favour the aristocrats but the common populace, The Great Roman Empire survived more than four hundred years of stronghold rule with transparency, steadfastness and a political will that made its immortality second to none and a model for the present day governance, “An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep”
