“There
is no more important a task than the development of an informed effective and
responsible citizenry; democracies are only sustained by citizens who have the
requisite knowledge skills and dispositions”
The
political awareness of the citizens, in any community is the central condition
that makes certain the emergence of credible leaders in such a community, who
then, in collaboration with the citizens improve their lives and their economy
Civic awareness is a term used to describe the knowledge that a citizen of a
country needs to have to be able to fully participate in the affairs of the
nation or community,
civic
awareness means that a citizen has the required knowledge about the structure
processes and activities of his nation and knows exactly how he or she can
contribute to the running of the nation, civic awareness is that knowledge that
gives a citizen a sense of belonging so that he or she does not just exist in a
community and take whatever happens in the community, but contributes in
directing his nation or community. A citizen who has civic awareness knows his
rights and his responsibilities to his nation, he or she knows the processes
that make up the government and he also knows that he is a part and parcel of
his nation.
The role
of civic awareness to the nation and its development is very enormous, its
importance and usefulness to every single citizen cannot be overemphasized;
civic awareness is knowledge that gives a citizen the ability and will to
participate in the activities of his or her society or nation. In a democratic
nation, civic awareness makes sure that every citizen does not just passively
observe the and accept all the dictates of others but participate fully in the
running of his or her government civic education includes knowledge about
politics, laws, policies, legislature, economics of the nation, structure of
government, procedures etc. for a citizen to fully benefit from democracy he or
she must have the necessary knowledge to enable them participate in the process
of democracy.
A
democracy is the government of the people by the people for the people, but
many people do not participate in this process because they do not have the
required civic knowledge to do so, some don’t even know that they have a role
to play, or that they are part and parcel of the government, a lot of people do
not know how the laws they live by are made, they do not know that they can
also participate in the making of such laws,
The
ignorance of the people about the running of their government has caused a lot
setbacks in Nigeria, it has made it easy for public servants to embezzle
ridiculous amounts of founds over a long period of time thus leaving the nation
in a very sad state, it has caused the emergence of very poor and incompetent
leaders . The lack of civic awareness has caused simple national problems to
linger and become tragedies; civic ignorance has created citizens who do not
even know that they have a role or power to make positive change.
Many
people in Nigeria today ignorantly shy away from politics not knowing that it
affects every aspect of their lives including the price of food and quality of
roads and health. A people who have sound civic awareness can contribute better
towards the development of their nation.
It is by
being aware that people are able to elect sound and credible leaders based on
qualities so that they can bring about development to their nation, it is also
by civic awareness that citizens know how to address issues that affect their
nation in civilised ways to foster unity and progress,. A people that have
sound civic awareness usually demand dividends of democracy from those whom
they have elected because they know it is their right,
When
citizens possess sound civic awareness it is very difficult for politicians to
short change them or showcase poor leadership or involve in corruption, people
who are aware usually follow the processes of leadership and demand information
about the running of their nation. Civic awareness gives all citizens a sense
of belonging, a sense of usefulness to their nation, by being aware, a citizen
tends to participate more in the activities that define his government or
nation. Civic awareness creates a platform for citizens to resolve issues
peacefully and enhance unity. By understanding the laws and practices of the
society one is more equipped to proffer solutions to the problems affecting his
society.
Civic
awareness creates a spirit of volunteering and public service in citizens, it
teaches citizens their responsibilities and rights, it teaches citizens that
all power belongs to the people and is derived from the people, each and every
citizen. It teaches citizens that they hold a stake in their societies and that
stake should be used to achieve peace, unity and progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment