By Emmanuel Igbo
As democratic nations in Africa face challenges of governance and development, with very checkered history of experiences in terms of success and failure, there are growing worries among many Africans about the prospects of democracy as a governance system on the continent. There is a wide range of concerns associated with its adoption and application. While some people opine that democracy is culturally alien to the continent, others think it is too ideal to be realistic or that it is weak and easily manipulable. However, some others see it as a workable system that requires full commitment to its principles and values.
The frustration about democracy in certain quarters partly occasions the growing support accorded the option for other forms of governance in Africa, surprisingly including dictatorship, even with its baggage of uncertainties and abuses. Over many decades, pockets of Africa’s democratic run have witnessed truncations by military regimes, some of whose advent appeared angelic until horns began to sprout from the same entities. On the other hand, there have been African leaders who had got on their marks in a democratic race for a tenured regime, which was subsequently perpetuated by those supposed democrats, at all costs.
No doubt, there is a considerable gap between the promises of democracy and actual results in most nations where it has been adopted in Africa, begging the question whether democracy is the problem of governance on the continent or not. To answer this objectively, one must view democracy as what it is, no matter where it is adopted or practised: a vehicle for the delivery of governance; an ideology premised on principles of majority rule, popular opinion, citizen participation, freedom, equity, fairness, justice, etc; a mode of popular interaction that respects and upholds rule of law; an absolute configuration for public good; a direct opposite of dictatorship!
African nations, leaders and citizens must therefore evaluate their democratic system within the context of the basal meaning, properties and essence of democracy in order to ascertain the level of alignment or deviation between principle and practice. It is about asking such pertinent questions as: how well have democratic principles, values and ideals permeated democratic institutions expressively in structure, operations and output? Have selfish or group interests subdued or overshadowed national or public ones? Is the process of legal or policy formulation coercive rather than persuasive? Are civil rights and freedom being suppressed, denied or upheld? Is there a substantial level of awareness or education required to effectively drive active citizen participation? Are there concerted efforts to progressively improve the democratic system or rather machinations and connivance to weaken or subvert it? Are all critical stakeholders working towards similar goals of governance? How transparent and accountable are democratic governments that pilot the affairs of these supposed democracies?
Literally, if democracy is adopted as a vehicle for delivering governance, those driving it must pay attention and adhere to its manual in order to operate it within its functionality and mechanisms for desired results. It must also be maintained within appropriate specifications and recommendations to ensure lasting performance and success. It should be noted that while the democratic system is open for modification to accommodate peculiarities and suitability, it should not be taken our of purpose. In other words, as malleable as it may appear, it must not be beaten into a perverted state, having substantially lost its major attributes. In that extreme anomaly, such a vehicle (of governance) would be lacking in capacity to reach democratic goals.
Apparently, while retaining their nomenclature, some democracies in Africa have slipped into civilian dictatorship; others have assumed the semblance of a familial or oligarchic enterprise; some have gone into unfavorable partnership with silhouetted interests. Some others have grown bald hiding behind nascency as an excuse for snailing or failing, while their counterparts continue to develop, closely integrating democratic principles with practice.
It is therefore important to make the distinction between democracy in action and the one that is highly marred by democratic deficits; between sustainable democracy and ‘part-time’ democracy whose operations and processes are suspended at intervals or prioritized to serve only the interests of the few who control, manipulate or benefit from it.
Perhaps, the most critical challenge of most African democracies is keeping faith with the provisions of democracy as an ideology and practicalizing them. To address that, the choice of democracy itself must be democratic. Its drivers and other stakeholders must be on the same page, heading in same direction and destination and having equal stakes. Such nations must assert themselves as a democracy by establishing and sustaining democratic institutions, laws and values, and alliances that genuinely support, promote and strengthen their democratic interests.
Achieving a successful democratic system would also require constantly monitoring, interrogating and evaluating it at the backdrop of its goals and objectives, righting anomalies and reinforcing strongholds. This is important to avoid the risks of a relapse, in which weak state, ‘people’ means ‘just a few’, corruption is adopted as the norm and democracy becomes a colorful cloak draped over autocracy, dictatorship or oligarchy.
•Igbo, a public affairs analyst, writes from Garki, Abuja