Olusegun Obasanjo
Obasanjo and Ex-minister converses over western democracy. Nduese Essien, a former Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, stated that what has been implemented in Nigeria since 1999 is a modified kind of democracy by the system’s operators, rather than the presidential system of Western democracy.
He went on to say that while presidential Western-style democracy has not failed in Nigeria, it has not been practiced according to the norms.
Essien, a former member of the House of Representatives, spoke on Sunday in response to a statement attributed to former President Olusegun Obasanjo that Nigeria’s Western-style democracy is failing the country and Africa.
“Let us not blame Western democracy; rather, let us blame ourselves for introducing our own version of democracy with never-ending modifications to bring every institution under the control of the head of government in order to win the next election.”
“So let us find some other excuses for not doing well, and not be blaming Western democracy,” he went on to say.
According to the former minister, Obasanjo took his judgment of the situation out of context.
“Let me begin by saying that this was an interesting assessment by former President Oiusegun Obasanjo, but he took it out of context with reality on the ground,” he explained. Western-style democracy has not failed in Nigeria because we have not followed the rules.
“We inherited from the colonial masters the parliamentary system, which is a democratic government system in which the heads of government derive their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support of the Legislature.”
“This led to independence, which was overseen by colonial masters.” By 1966, the military had decided it was tainted by corruption and had abandoned it. However, by 1979, we had accepted the presidential system. That likewise worked for four years, until the military attacked again, citing petty corruption as a reason.
“By 1999, we had returned to the presidential system, which entails strict adherence to the separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary.” As a result, the system was delivered securely in 1999.
“However, the system’s operators decided to change the separation and put all organs of government under the control of the executive, dubbed ‘Guided Democracy.'” The executive began the process of selecting the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House, and National Assembly leadership.
“So we got to the point where the Executive decided to take full control of the National Assembly, selecting the Assembly’s leadership.” Following that, they chose and removed party leaders based on the President’s whims and caprices.
“Then the Executive took control of the Judiciary.” The Executive then took control of the electoral process. So, what we have been practicing since 1999 is a modified kind of Western democracy, which I agree with Obasanjo is known as Afro Democracy.
“Let us not blame Western democracy; rather, let us blame ourselves for introducing our own version of democracy with never-ending modifications to bring every institution under the control of the head of government in order to win the next election.” So let us find another reason to fail rather than blaming Western democracy,” he added.