Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Western liberal democracy has proven ineffective for Africa.
He made this known in his recent keynote address at a high-level consultation in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
Obasanjo argued that the democratic model fails to consider the continent’s rich history, diverse cultures, and deep-rooted traditions.
As the convener of the gathering, Obasanjo expressed his views on the limitations of Western-style democracy in the African context.
He described it as a system that caters to the interests of a select few, neglecting the broader population.
According to Obasanjo, the failure lies in the democratic structure that allows a minority to govern over the entire population without being comprehensive representatives of all citizens.
This critique raises questions about the applicability of Western liberal democracy in the African political landscape, sparking a broader conversation about rethinking governance models tailored to the unique needs and perspectives of the continent.
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”Invariably, the majority of the people are wittingly or unwittingly kept out, he said.”
Obasanjo said, “The weakness and failure of liberal democracy as it is practised stem from its history, content and context and its practice.
“Once you move from all the people to a representative of the people, you start to encounter troubles and problems. For those who define it as the rule of the majority, should the minority be ignored, neglected and excluded?
“In short, we have a system of government in which we have no hands to define and design and we continue with it even when we know that it is not working for us.
“Those who brought it to us are now questioning the rightness of their invention, its deliverability and its relevance today without reform.
“The essence of any system of government is the welfare and well-being of the people: all the people.
“Here, we must interrogate the performance of democracy in the West when it originated from and with us, the inheritors of what we are left with by our colonial powers.
“We are here to stop being foolish and stupid. Can we look inward and outward to see what in our country, culture, tradition, practice and living over the years that we can learn from, adopt and adapt with practices everywhere for a changed system of government that will serve our purpose better and deliver?
“We have to think outside the box and after, act with our new thinking. You are invited here to examine clinically the practice of liberal democracy, identify its shortcomings for our society, and bring forth ideas and recommendations that can serve our purpose better, knowing human beings for what we are and going by our experiences and the experiences of others.
“We are here to think as leaders of thought in academia and leaders of thought with some experience in politics.”