Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that democracy has failed in Africa, arguing that the system has not delivered meaningful progress for the continent’s people.
He made this assertion on Monday in Abuja during the 60th birthday colloquium of former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha.
Obasanjo attributed the failure of democracy in Africa to its foreign origins, insisting that it lacks the cultural and traditional foundations necessary for effective governance on the continent.
“If you are talking about democracy failing in Africa, democracy in Africa has failed. And why has it failed? Because in context and content, it is not African. It does not reflect our culture, our way of life, what we stand for, or what we believe,” he stated.
The former president questioned whether Africa was practicing true democracy or merely adopting Western liberal democracy. He pointed out that before colonial rule, African societies had governance structures that effectively addressed the needs of their people.
“Whatever you call it, to me, it is democracy,” he said, referencing former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s definition of democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
According to Obasanjo, democracy should be a system that benefits all citizens rather than an elite few. He noted that while ancient Greek democracy allowed direct participation in decision-making, modern representative democracy has often failed to serve the interests of the majority.
“Democracy is meant to be a system of government that delivers to all the people, not just a section of the people, not just a few. But what do we have today? Representative democracy has not taken care of everybody,” he lamented.
Obasanjo criticized the current political structure in Africa, accusing it of enabling leaders to exploit power for personal gain while dismissing citizens’ concerns.
“The system today allows leaders to grab everything illegally and corruptly and then tell the people to ‘go to court,’” he said, highlighting a growing culture of impunity.