Western-style Democracy Not Suitable For Africa — Obasanjo

Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Western liberal democracy is unsuitable for Africa and seems not to be working for Nigeria and other African countries.

Lifestyle Nigeria reports that Obasanjo spoke at the high-level consultation on Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Africa held at the Green Resort Legacy, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta on Monday.

According to the former president, western democracy as it is being practiced in Nigeria and other African countries, should be re-examined or moderated because it has not delivered on good governance and progressive development for the continent.

Obasanjo said that the time has come to be brutal with the truth and face the reality that Western democracy is not delivering on expectations and should therefore be tinkered with in such a way that it will be able to take care of our peculiarities as Africans.

He described Western Liberal Democracy as a “government of a few people over all the people or population, and these few people are representatives of only some of the people and not full representatives of all the people. Invariably, the majority of the people are wittingly or unwittingly kept out.”

He advocated for what he termed “Afro democracy” in place of Western liberal democracy.

According to him, African countries have no business operating a system of government in which they have no hands in its “definition and design.

Obasanjo said, “The weakness and failure of liberal democracy as it is practised stem from its history, content, context, and practice.