Former President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Prof Patrick Lumumba have canvassed strong institutions to protect African democracy from recession and political instability.
They made the call in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State at the weekend, at the annual Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue, tagged, ‘Breaking New Grounds in the Democracy -Development Nexus in Africa’.
The leaders said the coup d’etat, poor election management, and poverty have derailed the continent’s democracy. They therefore, called for a re-jig of the continent’s democracy.
Jonathan, who was the chairman of the occasion, in his remarks, noted that adhering to the rule of law, respecting the rights of the people, and strengthening public institutions, are critical ingredients for the sustenance of democracy.
He stated: “The challenges of poverty and unemployment and non-attainment of basic economic rights have created a crisis of trust in the hearts of citizens on the role and impact of democracy in our society.
“The theme of the dialogue underscores the fact that we need to see democracy beyond elections and critically look at the nature of our elections and what happens after elections by way of governance”.
Dr Jonathan stressed the need to look beyond elections.
“Leadership should work towards ensuring that democracy translates into the economic wellbeing of the citizens.
“We need to look at the gap in our democratic systems and understand why democracy in many of our societies has been unable to guarantee peace and economic growth for the citizens”.
The former president said leaders owe society the duty to ensure democratic tenets are respected and upheld.
“As leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure that democracy endures by adhering to the rule of law, respecting the rights of the people, strengthening public institutions and ensuring that we implement policies that will impact positively on the lives of the citizens”.
In a goodwill message, president of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Alieu, the special guest of honour, noted that the negatives impact of military coups as well as the current growing dissatisfaction of the populace with democratic governments,
“The military coups have heightened insecurity, stagnated growth, increased poverty, inequality, and limited popular participation in governance.
“However, it is intriguing to observe popular disenchantment with democratic governments and seeming support for military takeovers. It is a testament to the citizens’ dissatisfaction with the delivery of democratic governments.
“Therefore, a dialogue on democracy becomes necessary. And there is no better way to deepen this dialogue on democracy than by Breaking New Grounds in the Democracy- Development Nexus in Africa.”
“The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government adopted the ECOWAS Vision 2050 in December 2020, to build on the accomplishments of the ECOWAS Vision 2020 and set a strong foundation for the realization of an ‘ECOWAS of Peoples, ’’ the ECOWAS boss added.
The keynote speaker, Prof Patrick Lumumba, said true democracy requires and demands the eternal vigilance of the people. He emphasised the role of strong institutions in advancing democracy in the continent.
He said: “Institutions are as strong as the men and women who occupy them. If you have the wrong men and women in office, no matter how strong, institutions will not perform because of the history of nature; it is garbage in, garbage out.”
