Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently emphasized at an event that democracy is meant to be a system of government that delivers and delivers to all the people, not just a section of the people, not just a few. “But what do we have today?” he questioned. “I believe since we have gone past the Greek democracy, which brought everybody to the square and everybody has a say in the decision-making that affects everybody, democracy has now become representative democracy. Representative democracy is not taking care of everybody.” because democracy is Foreign to African Culture it is bound to fail.
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He continued, “Today we have democracy which is government of the small number of people by a small number of people over a large number of people who are deprived of what they need to have in life. Now, that is not democracy that will endure. So, if you are talking about democracy failing in Africa, democracy in Africa is dying.”
Obasanjo explained the reasons for this failure: “It didn’t have any context, and in content, it is not African. It does not have any aspect of our culture, our way of life, our values—what we stand for. I am because we are. It is I am because I can grab. What sort of democracy brings you to grab everything, and then illegally corrupt you, and you say go to court? When you know that even in court, you cannot get justice.”
He concluded, “So if democracy is not a democracy, it is failing; democracy is dying. And if we are going to make democracy not die, we have to look at democracy in the context and content of Africa.”
