Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says that Western Liberal Democracy has not functioned as a suitable government system in Africa, as it was imposed on the continent by colonialists.
Delivering a keynote address in Abeokuta at a high-level consultation on “Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy for Africa,” held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, he asserted that Western democracy failed in Africa because it disregards the perspectives of the majority.
The event, attended by former Governors Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), and Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun), along with former Minister of State for Defence Olusola Obada, drew distinguished personalities.
Obasanjo contended that Western Liberal Democracy essentially represents a government of a few individuals over the entire population, with these few being representatives of only certain people, not the complete population.
He advocated for what he termed “Afro-centred democracy,” emphasizing that African countries should not operate a government system they had no involvement in defining and designing.
“The weakness and failure of liberal democracy as it is practised stem from its history, content and context and its practice,” he said.
“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 performance of democracy in the West where 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 service our purpose better and deliver.
“We have to think out of 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 experiences of others.
“We are here to think as leaders of thought in the academia and leaders of thought with some experience in politics.”
