Storm around Obasanjo's position "rethinking democracy"

By Olalekan Bilesanmi

The return of coups in some African countries has created global nervousness on the grounds that the epidemic of military intervention on the continent could spread further and ultimately endanger democracy.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is no less worried about this disastrous development and shared his concerns in an interview with TheCable. When asked what kind of democracy would work for us in Africa, Obasanjo replied: “I don’t know. But we have seen that liberal democracy as practiced in the West will not work for us.

We have to think together”. Former Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the federal ruling party, addressed Obasanjo, saying: “Today I I read the interview with former President Olusegun Obasanjo saying that our liberal democracy is not working and we need to revisit it, and I agree with him. We must abandon political alternatives. I think we are almost at an impasse.

“What we need is alternative politics, and my own idea of ​​alternative politics is that you can't have 35% of the vote and get 100%. It will not work ! Proportional representation must be considered so that the party which would have won 21% can win. 100 of the votes has 21 p. 100 from the government. Adversarial policies breed division and enmity.” In this file, the professor of international law and jurisprudence, Akin Oyebode; Bola Akinterinwa, professor of international relations at Achievers University, Owo; public policy expert, Faculty Member, Lagos Business School and Director, Center for Applied Economics, Pan African University, Dr. Austin Nweze; and Nigeria's former career ambassador to Thailand, Olufunso Olumoko, react to the former president's stance. Excerpts from Obasanjo's interview:

Increasingly, we are once again witnessing an era of military coups in Africa. What do you think is happening?In 2021, when Colonel Mamady Doumbouya overthrew President Alpha Condé of Guinea, I remember traveling to Conakry. I stayed there for two nights. The putschist did not want to meet me because he did not know what I would say. They said he was out of town, which wasn't true. But I met all the other important government officials.

I met his number 2 and his caseworker. I listened to them and concluded that we had a new phenomenon on our hands. I realized that they had the support of the youth and that they did not plan to stay in power for four or five years. They are there for a generation. When I noticed this, I went to Addis Ababa to meet the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.

I told him that maybe he hadn't seen what I saw. That I saw that in Guinea Conakry. He said I was talking about Guinea Conakry, what about his own country, Chad? He said Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea Conakry and Chad thought the same way and were linked.

I said that this was a new phenomenon in Africa. I said I was the one who in 1999 advocated that if you are not a constitutionally supported government, you should be suspended from the African Union, and these guys don't even mind a suspension.

I told him that all the instruments we had used in the past would not work and asked him what he would do about it. He spoke to me about his challenges, particularly with his country.

So we find ourselves in a situation where we have a continent where we have to rethink democracy. The liberal democracy that we copy from Western sedentary societies will not work for us.

Related News What type of democracy would work for us?

I don't know. But we have seen that liberal democracy as practiced in the West will not work for us. We need to think together.

Some will say that it works in Nigeria, that it has survived 24 years... I won't answer you (laughs).

But what can work?

You have to think together to shape it. You can give it any name. But we have seen that it does not work. Of the six countries that have experienced coups, three of them came directly from elections. Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry and Gabon that we have just had are the direct result of the elections. The other three are indirect, if you prefer.

Would you say that ECOWAS could have handled the coup in Niger differently?

What I said about Niger is now what we did with Gabon, not a threat of force. Tinubu said “we are watching”. In Niger, ECOWAS beat the drum and found that it was not working. The problem is this: where in Africa have people benefited from the dividends of democracy? Tell me.

Maybe Botswana…

You...