The Director, Abuja school of Social and Political Thought, Dr Sam Amadi, has advised Africa leaders to always respect principles of democracy, especially the tenure of office.
Amadi gave the advice at a discussion on “Tenure Elongation and the Crisis of Democracy in West Africa- A reflection on Sen. Ken Nnamani’s (book titled) Stand Strong’’ organized by the school on Friday in Abuja.
The Abuja School is a collection of scholars, public intellectuals, policy experts and enthusiast and generally, ideas men and women committed to the rediscovery of the reflective life in the classical Socratic sense.
He said that the principles of democracy required leaders to keep to the rules.
“If you come to power with a limited tenure, do not try to change it because you feel that you knew well, you are patriotic, or you have the capacity to change the country. No country exists longer than individuals.
“So, once you are elected, after your first tenure, you can seek for re-election. At the end of the tenure, then leave power so that other people can serve.
“You can still play a role in stabilizing, mobilize and advising. There is no person who is indispensable.
“That is why we say we need strong institutions, not just strong men, who will dominate their political environment and cause their countries to descend into chaos and conflict, as we see in Mali, Guinea and some other African countries,’’ he said.
Amadi added that “constitutional limit on tenure is the best way to guarantee a smooth transition and sharing of power among diverse ethnic groups’’ in countries such as West Africa.
He said that oftentimes time tenure allegation was being driven by the sense that “a particular leader is indispensable’’ because they were strong men.
“Democracy is not about strong leader, it is about strong institutions. Democracy does not mean a particular person is only person that can achieved success. Democracy requires that we build strong institutions.
“If a tenure is four years or five years, you should focus on allowing succession so that when a leader tries his best, other leaders will come and build on that foundation.
“We are a multi ethnic society largely in West Africa, because we have fragile society, with high level of poverty and conflicts (resource conflicts, ethnic conflicts).
“Any attempt to elongate tenure, can lead to ethnic conflicts or warfare. That is what you have seen in Mali and Guinea,’’ Amadi said.
The director of the school the policy dialogue was to reflect on the Nnamani’s book, launched on Thursday in Abuja, which looked at his tenure, particularly issues around the third term for the former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He said that the event was about lessons learnt from Nnamani conduct in the National Assembly and it could be used to protect democracy in the West African sub region.
He said that Nnamani’s book encouraged political leaders occupying important positions in the judiciary, the Legislature and the executive to conduct themselves with courage and ethical behaviour to protect democracy.
A lecturer who was among the panelist at the event, Prof. Udenta O. Udenta, also urged leader to respect democracy and its structure.
Udenta defined democracy as what worked for the people and what response to their inner most yearnings and aspirations.
He said that “the wellbeing of the people is the first criteria of democratic governance, which include jobs shelter and food before others.’’
Another panelist, Princess Hamman-Obels, said that democracy should not been seen as just as a type of government, but must be viewed holistically including the factors that made up the system.
Hamman-Obels , who is the Executive Director of the Electoral Hub listed the factors to include freedom of speech, credible elections and others.
Another panelist, Dr Law Mefor, expressed support for single six years tenure for elected officers and rotation of presidency between the northern and southern parts of Nigeria
“If six years single tenure is done an incumbent elected officials will not be worried about re-election but working for the people,” Mefor said.
A participant at the discussion, Hon. Declan Emelumba, stressed the need for the legislative arm of government at all level to exercise the legal power to checkmate the executive.
“This is what Nnamani did and in his book is challenging his colleagues still serving to do,” Emelumba said.
Another participant of the discussion, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, who was a former Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, stressed the need to look into the recruitment process of the Nigeria leadership.
“I also want us to begin to look at how possible it is to change the general perception that politics is a deity game.
“If we all see politics as a deity game and run away from it, who clean it?’’ Emelumba asked.