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Events >> The Democracy Award >> 1999 Democracy Award
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Remarks of Representative Benjamin Gilman, Chairman of the Committee on International Relations, on the Presentation
of the 1999 Democracy Award by the National Endowment for Democracy to the Transition Monitoring Group of Nigeria:
May 25, 1999 I am deeply honored to be on hand to witness the presentation of the 1999 Democracy Award to the Transition Monitoring Group of Nigeria. This award has several meanings. It is, first, a deserving testament to the Monitoring Group's extraordinary efforts during the past year. Second, it is a symbol for those everywhere who struggle against oppression and persecution. Finally, this award represents America's continuing commitment to bolster freedom, hope and dignity with material and moral support. Next month will mark the seventeenth anniversary of a speech in which President Ronald Reagan articulated his vision for the National Endowment for Democracy and its institutional offspring. During a tense period in the Cold War, President Reagan promised that We in America now intend to take additional steps, as many of our allies have already done, toward realizing [peaceful, democratic progress]. . . . While we must be cautious about forcing the pace of change, we must not hesitate to declare our ultimate objectives and to take concrete actions to move toward them. We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings. The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy -- the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities -- which allows a people to choose their own way, to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means.Nigeria has languished for years under a series of military dictatorships, one more corrupt and repressive than the last, where freedom was the prerogative of but a lucky and calculating few. A short time ago, not even the most optimistic Nigeria-watcher would have predicted a voluntary transition to civilian rule, the rapid release of political prisoners, and a peaceful series of local and national elections. But when that opportunity for change arrived, however unexpected it may have been, NED and its counterparts were ready to respond. The mark of a true vision is its ability to adapt and apply to changing times. Reagan's vision accommodates a broad and evolving appreciation for what it takes, as he said, "to foster the infrastructure of democracy." We must guard against defining ourselves as the auditors of democracy, where our efforts end with a narrow standard of what constitutes a proper election or an adequate constitution. Rather, we must be practitioners of democratic government, in all its varied forms, champions of the ageless conviction that government is meant to serve the governed - and not the other way around. As practitioners of democracy, we must have a diverse set of tools and a steady hand. We must judge when active support for democracy may require that we support not only the free press, political parties, and trade unions that Reagan mentioned, but also, perhaps, that we help make a police force more effective, an army more professional, a ministry less corrupt, or a state enterprise less bloated. During the long twilight of the Cold War, the stakes were very high, but the enemy was more obvious. Today we know that oppression need not come wrapped in the form of a totalitarian state for it to be devastating to the human spirit. I congratulate the members of Nigeria's Transition Monitoring Group for their outstanding contribution. I salute the officers and directors of the National Endowment for Democracy for their far-reaching impact. And, in the words of President Reagan a decade and a half ago, I invoke the vision and the duty that this award embodies: "For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny." |
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