Democracy Remains Best System Of Government For Nigeria- Rtd Colonel

A Retired Colonel in the Nigerian Army, Abdulwahab Lawal, has described democracy as the best system of government for Nigeria.

According to him, democracy fosters inclusiveness but however, advised leaders from straying into dictatorship.

He also lamented absence of internal democracy within political parties in the country, saying that most of the parties are dictatorial.

He explained that lack of democratic culture in parties was an aberration to democracy itself.

Lawal, in an interview with Journalists in Ilorin, identified the nation’s form of democracy as hybrid with fusion of dictatorship.

“Democracy itself simply means inclusion, where whatever affects you, you must be consulted in the decision making, you must be carried along, not a system where decisions are imposed on people. 

“Democracy goes even beyond government, even in your family, you can practice democracy. Because whatever decision you want to take, if you consult those who will be affected by it, that becomes democracy.

“But in our country, I think our variant is more of hybridity, hybrid democracy. Democracy in a way that there is too much dictatorship in it.

“Our political parties should be managed in a democratic manner. But as it is today, even our political parties are not very democratic. They are dictatorial, and it is an aberration to democracy.

“When we talk about real democracy, it must be free and there must be no imposition and you must engage in good governance, and this  simply refers to transparency, openness, integrity, accountability, the rule of law,” he explained.

Lawal, who is the Director of Research at Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, Abuja said the lingering insurgency in part of the country would be solved through optimisation of good governance rather than through force.

Solving Basic Needs

He urged the government to prioritise solving the basic needs of the people which include food security, stressing that the application of force only cannot end insecurity in the country.

The retired military officer said, “The armed forces, the police, and security agencies, name it. They can apply force, weapons, and all the rest of it. That is the kinetic aspect of it.

“The non-kinetic aspect that comes with good governance is another aspect. For example, we always say that a hungry man is an angry man. If he has access to guns as is free flowing in our society now, he is hungry and he is angry, how do you subdue such a person? You subdue him by  providing him with food. 

“You feed him, give him employment. Let him be human, let him feel proud of himself and let him know that this government sees him as a human being with integrity. 

“So, the approach to security is both kinetic and non-kinetic. The non-kinetic aspect should be overwhelming and outweighing, and that is why in security, there is what we call a ‘whole of a society’ approach to security. This means me and you can contribute to solving security problems if we do things right and these are some of the things that we think we should be doing. Family role in security is crucial. We must mentor and model our family well and this impacts on the larger society.”

Globalisation

also blamed globalisation as a contributing factor preventing the Military from easily winning the protracted battle against insurgency in the country.

“Globalisation has expanded so much that no nation is an island to itself. No nation is in isolation. In fact, these days, we see that there is no custom or immigration barrier that can stop and block cross-border ideas. Just as public health is globalized so is free flow of ideas without barriers. These pose national challenges.

“Because of this Globalisation, ideas and funds flow freely without restraint and control. The funding and financing of  insurgency is much more easier, and this is one of the challenges that we have in terms of security. Second is culture. Globalisation has obliterated cherished traditional values and norms. In the African tradition, your child is your child no matter the age and is accountable to you and you can summon the child. No more today. In our tradition community responsibility is pivotal. No more today. Similarly is the impact of technology,” he said.

Lawal described democracy as the best option for Nigeria as it fosters inclusiveness, advising leaders from straying into dictatorship.

Recalling his foray into the Nigerian Army, Lawal spoke on the importance of good leadership.

Lawal, who is the Director of Research at Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy, and Development, disclosed that the Centre was part of an advocacy at the United Nations to secure two permanent seats at the Security Council

“We are talking about the reform of the United Nations. For example, recently we were at the United Nations at the  Summit of the Future where Savannah Centre presented a strong case for reforms including Africa having a seat. In fact, two seats, at the United Nations Security Council.

“You know, that is our demand and it is gaining ground and everybody is buying into it so that the future United Nations will have Africans seated on the Security Council. Not one, but two but the contention we are in now is whether we will also be given the veto power”, he said.

He stated that the Centre was also into training youths on diplomacy and mentorship, saying that “ So many universities are running courses on diplomacy and they come to our centre for internships and discussions on how to deepen their knowledge in diplomacy.”

The retired military officer, who is the Chairman of Kwara State Education Trust Fund (KwaraETF), said the focus of the Fund was to generate funds to assist the government in achieving its goals in the education sector.

“We assist the government in achieving the educational dreams and goals of the state across all levels of education, right from the Primary School, Secondary School, University as well as Adult education. All strata of education is where we can assist in supporting the government”, he said.

The Chairman said he was making consultation with education stakeholders in the state as well as drawing a 5-year action plan that would give direction to the activities of the Education Trust Fund.

He said ,“I’m already in touch with the relevant stakeholders, people who I would say are respectable stakeholders who have a lot of experience to shed light and explain some of the things that need to be done as quickly as possible, and one of the things that came on board very quickly was for me to draw a plan, a development plan.

“We call it a five-year development plan to cover the areas of need after we have done needs assessment.” 

He also noted that he was focusing on generating more funds through advocacy for grants within and outside the country rather than placing burden on the people.

Lawal, however, revealed that the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has given N100million as a take-off fund for KwaraETF, describing the donation as a “kind and good gesture”.

He is optimistic that he would take the level of education in Kwara State higher in ranking among other states of the country and he calls on the good people of the state to join him in this journey.

 

Confidence Okwuchi