Western democracy not working for us – African state’s former leader
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged his country to consider adopting a government system based on African cultural principles, claiming that Western democracy has failed, local media reported on Wednesday.
Obasanjo made the statement at a farewell ceremony for Chrisland University’s outgoing vice-chancellor, Chinedum Babalola, in the southwestern Ogun State, according to the local daily Punch.
“I have always been talking about Western liberal democracy. It is not working for us. It is not even working for those who gave it to us. The British were complaining. We must rethink democracy,” Obasanjo was quoted as saying.
“We must bring our own culture into democracy. African culture does not talk about opposition; it talks about communalism; you come together, reason together, iron it out, and then you work together,” he added.
Last November, the former president made a similar call at a conference on ‘Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy for Africa’, stating that the political structure was imposed by colonial powers and thus fails to function effectively in Africa. He described Western liberal democracy as “government of a few people over all the people or population” that had been designed without regard for African history and multicultural complexities.
The continent has been gripped by political instability in recent years, fueled by military coups in response to the alleged failures of democratic leaders to perform. Eight overthrows have taken place in West and Central Africa in the last four years, with Nigeria’s West African neighbors Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Niger all currently under military rule.
Nigeria transitioned from military rule in 1999, ushering in the country’s longest period of uninterrupted democratic government since its independence from Britain in 1960.
Obasanjo first served as the military head of state of Africa’s most populous nation from 1976–1979, before becoming president of the civilian administration from 1999–2007. Officials from the present Nigerian government have accused him of directly influencing the country’s adoption of the current administrative model, which he is warning against.
