Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and erstwhile governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, yesterday, had a very concerning take on democracy in Africa and Nigeria, respectively.
While Obasanjo declared that democracy in Africa was not just failing, but actually dying, attributing the decline to a lack of alignment with African values and realities, Obi concluded that democracy was already collapsing in Nigeria, as successive governments knocked down preceding efforts.
But Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, and former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, differed slightly, saying democracy is work-in-progress.
Former Secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, warned that democracy would be in danger in Africa in view of military putsch in some sub-Saharan African countries.
They all spoke at the 60th birthday colloquium for former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, in Abuja.
Obasanjo questioned whether Africa was truly practising democracy or merely adopting a flawed version of Western liberal democracy.
According to the former president, who was the chairman of the occasion, “If you are talking about democracy failing in Africa, democracy in Africa has failed.
“And why has it failed? Because in context and in content, it is not African. It does not have any aspect of our culture, our way of life, what we stand for, what we believe,
“Are we talking of democracy or are we talking of Western liberal democracy? When we talk of democracy, we should remember that in Africa, before the colonial rule and the colonial power, we had a form of government, which attended to the needs of our people.
“And whatever you call it, to me, it is democracy. Because what is democracy about? The American President Abraham Lincoln defined it as government of the people, by the people, for the people.
“Democracy is meant to be a system of government that delivers and delivers to all the people, not just a section of the people, not just a few. But what do we have today?
“I believe since we’ve gone past the Greek democracy, which brought everybody to the square and everybody has a say in the decision making, which affected everybody, democracy has now become representative democracy and representative democracy has not taken care of everybody.”
Obasanjo argued that Africa had its own governance systems before colonial rule, which better served its people.
He criticised the current system, saying it enables leaders to “grab everything illegally and corruptly” while telling the people to “go to court,” even when justice is unattainable.
Obasanjo advocated an “Afro Democracy” for Africans, saying the Western style is not working.
He stated, “Today, we have democracy, which is government of small number of people, by small number of people over large number of people, who are deprived of what they need to have in life. That is not democracy that will endure.
“It is, I am because I can grab. What sort of democracy brings you and you grab everything and then illegally, corruptly and you say, go to court? When you know that even in the court, you cannot get justice.
“It’s not that democracy is failing, democracy is dying and if we are going to make democracy not to die, we have to look at democracy in the context and in the content of Africa. I hope that we will get to that stage so that democracy, which will deliver, will be the democracy that we will have in Africa.”
Advancing a similar position, but tailored to the Nigerian context, Obi concluded that democracy in Nigeria had begun to collapse because successive governments knocked down efforts of the previous administrations.
He stated, “Well, if you look at what Bishop Kukah said, he said it’s work-in-progress. Let me follow what my brother (Tambuwal) said about 1999.
“If you looked at where we are today, it’s like, they (the PDP) started in 1999, laid the foundation. Some people came and took it to decking, and some people were trying to take it to the first floor, when some people came and knocked everything down.
“That is the situation we are now. Everything has been knocked down and nothing works. I am somebody who can say this, exemplarily. I became a governor through the courts, when President Obasanjo and Atiku were in government.
“I did not pay the court one naira. I was sitting in my office and the court declared me winner, when a governor was not seeing them. This cannot happen in Nigeria, today.
“When I was being impeached, the president sent people to come and intervene on my behalf. Ken Nnamani came, begging the house people not to impeach me. Today, the president impeaches the person. So, that is the thing. It has collapsed. It has failed.
“They were begging my house not to impeach me. And they were in the PDP and I was in AGPA and they were begging. President Obasanjo was calling and said, Peter, are you okay? Are you safe?
“When I got back from the court, and the court eventually declared me, under Andy Ubah. President Yar’Adua called my phone in London and said congrats. I said I can’t come back, because you know if I come back, these people…
“He said, tell me the flight in which you’re coming and I told him. When I came, it was the first time the military people came to receive me at the airport. I couldn’t believe it, and took me straight to him.
“Now, the president will ask me not to come back here again! So, it has failed. Let’s talk about how we are going to rebuild it. It is collapsing!”
Meanwhile, the Obi, faulted the release of withheld federation allocations to Ibok-Ete Ibas, the sole administrator of Rivers.
In a post published via X yesterday, Obi said the move raised “serious moral questions”, adding that the decision to release the withheld funds to the sole administrator did not align with the judgment of the supreme court.
The ex-presidential candidate said the supreme court ruled that the withheld funds should be released to the state after a properly constituted house of assembly passed the appropriation bill.
“What we are witnessing in Rivers State is a brazen disobedience and disregard for the rule of law and our democratic principles.
“The decision to release statutory allocations to an appointed Sole Administrator, despite a standing order of the Supreme Court, is not just unlawful — it is a direct challenge to the authority of the highest court of our country.
“The Supreme Court had explicitly barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) from releasing these funds until a properly constituted House of Assembly passes a valid Appropriation Act.
“Yet, we see a situation where this order is being ignored. This raises serious moral intentions, and questions of what is happening in Rivers State. By disregarding the judgment of the Supreme Court, those involved are setting a dangerous precedent.
“The CBN and AGF, institutions meant to uphold the law, should not be complicit in this disregard for our judiciary. We cannot build a nation where those who swore oaths to uphold our constitution and obey the laws are doing the opposite.
“This is about more than just Rivers State; it is about protecting the very fabric of our democracy, and our existence as a nation.”
Taking a different position on the failure of democracy, however, Kukah said, “Democracy is work-in-progress. Democracy gives you the opportunity to try if you failed and gives you greater opportunity to correct the former mistakes.”
He explained that in Africa, the capacities and competencies of Africa leaders differed, but the good thing was that democracy gave one the ability to correct mistakes made.
He said the American constitution had several amendments because there was no perfection in life.
“The American constitution was first written in mind to protect the white property,” he said.
Kukah said that was why there were several amendments of the American constitution.
He maintained that democracy was quarrelsome in nature, but said how the quarrels were managed mattered, stressing, “Democracy is for the good of the people, as it has helped to destroy feudal system of government all over the world.”
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto urged people to understand the background of writings of famous Englishman, John Locke, in his various thesis on democracy.
He said, “John Locke wrote his thesis stemming from the background of fear as was in those days.”
Supporting him, Tambuwal stated that democracy was not failing in Africa, as it was an ongoing process
“When we play by the rules, democracy works. Democracy is work-in-progress,” he said.
Commenting on the senate resolution on the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State, he said due process was not followed because the required two-thirds majority of the senate was not achieved.
“Under President Olusegun Obasanjo, state of emergency was declared in some states and the National Assembly did the necessary affirmation of the processes with the required two-thirds majority, with members voting to affirm the process,” he said.
In his comments, Chairman of THISDAY Editorial Board, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, said democracy was a process meant to serve the people, but the problem was with the operators.
“The challenge is how do we ensure that the operators of democratic processes play by the rule?” he stated.
Warning that the recent military coups in some sub-Saharan Africa countries should be a source of worry to all democracy enthusiasts, Anyaoku said such military coups were bound to take Africa back to the days of the 1960s, where military rule were the other of the day.
He took time to explain how he used his office as Secretary-general of the Commonwealth to ensure the return of multi-party democracy in some African countries, like Kenya and South Africa.
Anyaoku called for the review of the 1999 Constitution to ensure proper management of diversity and true federalism in Nigeria.
“There is the need to amend the 1999 Constitution to guarantee the management of diversity in Nigeria,” he said.
But a former presidential spokesperson, Reno Omokri, declined submissions that democracy had collapsed or died in Nigeria. Rather, he said, it was Peter Obi’s presidential ambition that died.
He said, “Peter Obi should be careful making claims that democracy has collapsed in Nigeria. That is a most irresponsible statement. Peter Obi lost the #NigerianElections2023 fairly and squarely.
“He lost at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and all the way to the Supreme Court. The state of emergency declared on Rivers and Governor Simi Fubara’s suspension is not anti-democratic.”
Reno, a big supporter of the President Bola Tinubu administration, added, “Peter Obi is from Anambra. We remember when the governor of Anambra was undemocratically removed even after swearing an oath to his godfather at the Okija shrine and locked up in a toilet. If democracy did not die then, why should it die now, Peter?
“Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa declared a State of Emergency in the Western Region on May 29, 1962, and suspended the Premier while appointing Dr. Moses Majekodunmi as the Administrator of the region.
“On May 18, 2004, President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a State of Emergency in Plateau State, suspended the Governor, his deputy, and the State House of Assembly, and appointed Major General (rtd) Chris Ali as the Administrator.
“On October 18, 2006, he did the same thing in Ekiti and appointed Brigadier General Tunde Olurin as the Administrator. Incidentally, Peter Obi was Governor of Anambra State at that time and did not raise any concerns or complaints.
“So, why has democracy suddenly died now that a State of Emergency has been declared in Rivers State and Governor Simi Fubara is suspended?
“The only difference is that now Peter Obi wants to be President. Since he can’t be President, seeing as he lost the 2023 elections and their so-called coalition is dead on arrival, that means that to him, democracy in Nigeria is dead.
“Interestingly, Peter Obi did not hold local government elections in Anambra for seven years, which was unconstitutional. He became Governor in 2006 and only held elections in 2014. Whereas LGA elections are to be held every four years.
“Yet, here he is today, saying democracy in Nigeria has died. This is about Peter Obi and his failed presidential ambition, which died the day his Yes Daddy audio threatening ‘Religious War’ on Muslims was leaked, not about Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and several others eulogised Ihedioha as a focused and determined politician.
The occasion was witnessed by former National Chairman of PDP, Chief Uche Secondus; former governors, like Chibuike Amaechi, Aminu Asari, Kayode Fayemi, and former Senate Presidents, like David Mark, Ken Nnamani, and Adolphus Wabara.
Former speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole and current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, among several other well-wishers, were also present.
