ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has emphasized the urgent need to confront the challenges facing democracy across the continent.
Reflecting on the legacy of General Yar’Adua, Tinubu noted his commitment to democracy, even at the cost of imprisonment and ultimately his life.
He stated this while addressing the Summit on the State of Democracy in Africa at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
“We are not taking contemporary challenges confronting the continent with complacency,” Tinubu declared, pointing to the recent coups in several African countries as a significant crisis undermining democracy.
He recalled the era of military interventions that began in the 1960s, which constricted civic space and civil liberties, leading to pro-democracy movements and civil society activism in the 1990s.
Tinubu highlighted Nigeria’s tumultuous journey to democracy, marked by the annulment of the 1993 presidential election and subsequent military rule.
READ ALSO: Call For Coup: Armed Forces Are Here To Protect Democracy – Military
“We have learnt through bitter experience that the worst form of democracy is far better than the best form of military autocracy,” he asserted.
He underscored the belief that the solution to poor democratic governance is “more democracy,” echoing the words of the late Professor Claude Ake that “the people must learn to become their own political messiahs from bad governance.”
The president outlined the troubling pattern of military coups in West Africa, including two coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021, a coup in Guinea in 2021, and two coups in Burkina Faso in 2022.
He also noted the recent coups and attempted coups in Niger, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Gabon, and Senegal.
As the current Chairman of ECOWAS, Tinubu emphasized the regional body’s efforts to restore democracy through sanctions and diplomatic pressure.
However, he acknowledged the difficulty when “large numbers of people had thronged the streets to welcome military officers, the democracy disruptors, who they perceived, nay wrongly, as liberators from their elected leaders.”
Despite these setbacks, Tinubu expressed hope, citing successful elections in Liberia, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Senegal, and Nigeria.
“It is only through continuous practice of democracy, through repeated elections, that such standards can be institutionalized,” he stated, emphasizing the responsibility of elected leaders to provide good governance.
READ ALSO: It’s Now Masses’ Turn To Enjoy Democracy – Otti
He warned against the dangers of corruption, nepotism, inefficiency, and socio-economic difficulties that erode trust in democracy, making military dictatorship seem attractive.
“The superior merit of democracy over authoritarian regimes is that it offers the mechanism for peaceful change through the ballot box,” Tinubu said.
The president called for rigorous interrogation of the state of democracy in Africa and urged for better integration and collaboration among sub-regional organizations like ECOWAS to promote regional security, economic integration, and adherence to democratic principles.
Tinubu stressed the need to utilize the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to uphold democratic standards, prevent unconstitutional term extensions by incumbents, and ensure the integrity of judicial and legislative institutions.
Concluding his speech, Tinubu invoked the words of Walter Rodney: “Every generation must out of relative obscurity discover its mission and having done so, betray it or fulfill it.”
He called on African leaders to work towards realizing the continent’s potential, declaring, “Africa can no longer afford to be the doormat of the world… It is time for Africa to truly come of age and begin to fulfill her historic destiny for the good of her people and the benefit of humanity.”
“I wish you fruitful deliberations. And I thank you for listening,” Tinubu concluded.