Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja 

Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, has said the multi-party system of governance is the panacea to deepening democracy on the African continent, calling for total integration of the continent. 

Akufo-Addo gave the submission while delivering the inaugural flagship lecture of the Kukah Center titled ‘How to make democracy work for Africa.’

The event had in attendance Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, represented by Senator Monsura Sunmonu, Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Atiku Bagudu, former speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, among others.

The Ghanaian president used Ghana as a case study and said having tried everything else, Ghanaians finally reached a consensus that a multi-party system of governance is the best way to go.

He said the Ghanaian Fourth Republic has lasted for 25 years, under a multi-party Constitution, and added that the Ghanaian political landscape has been stable and there havebeen three peaceful changes of government, from a ruling party to the opposition party during the Fourth Republic.

“…Indeed, we celebrated the silver jubilee of the fourth republic on January 7. We are stable…I must also encourage African Union (AU) member countries to demonstrate a commitment to strengthening and protecting the institutions and cultures of democratic governance; respecting human rights, religious freedom, the empowerment of women, and the rights of the individual and minorities, building strong market economies and facilitating the free movements of people, knowledge, goods and services across member states,” Akufo-Addo said. 

The Ghanaian president added that African small countries will continue to struggle except there is the acceleration of economic integration of committed nations which he said will bring new life into the AU to deliver the benefits of African integration to the doorsteps of the African people. 

He said it was high time for Africans to move on, even further, to deepen democracy on the continent, and that separation of powers among the different arms of government will deepen democracy on the continent.

“It is time to make sure that we have a genuine separation of powers between the various arms of governments. Our parliaments, the legislative arms of government must grow into their proper roles as effective machineries for accountability and oversight of their executives.

“Our judiciaries must also inspire confidence in the citizens so that we can all see the cause as ultimate, impartial arbiters when disputes arise as they would. It is only when our public institutions are working as they should that we would be able to confront and deal effectively with the cancer of corruption which has been the bane of our development,” the Ghanaian president added.  He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for making systematic targeting of corruption a centre feature of his administration, and added that he deserves the support of all well-meaning Nigerians and Africans. 

On the economic development of Africa, Akufo-Addo made reference to the developmental strides of the Peoples Republic of China, which he said was not a force to reckon with in 20, 30 years ago, but noted that today, China no longer asks for respect from other nations.

“If we work at it, if we stop being beggars, galvanise ourselves intelligently and honestly in freedom and spend Africa’s money inside the continent, Africa will not need to ask for respect,” he stated. 

Speaking earlier, Akufo-Addo said no one will sort out things in Africa, except by Africans themselves.

“We must master those who come to do business with us in all the skills they possess. We must have our own set of bright and sharp lawyers, our own set of bright and sharp accountants to keep us abreast with the sharp and bright lawyers and accountants that are our trade partners are. 

“In the same way, we need to have our own bright and sharp technologies to keep us abreast with our competitors,” Akufo-Addo also said.

In his remarks, Osinbajo said African elites where making democracy difficult to practise on the continent by whittling down its practise on the continent.

Osinbajo said there is no question that democracy and democratization are challenged everywhere, even in the oldest democracies, adding that democracy is still a work-in-progress. 

“That is one of the biggest lessons of recent years as elections and referendums throw up new and unprecedented scenarios across the world.

“The narrowness of the Brexit vote and the way it has subsequently divided the United Kingdom, and the electoral rise of populist right wing and even extremist tendencies, are all examples of the grave threats to democracy.

“Indeed, recently the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which publishes an annual democracy index, the 2017 Index ‘records the worst decline in global democracy in years. Not a single region recorded an improvement in its average score since 2016, as countless countries grapple with increasingly divided electorates.’  It is clear that democracy is in somewhat, a turbulent trajectory.

“But for Africa, challenges to democracy pose a graver threat because of a historical failure to invest sufficiently in nation building and state building. Many of the ethnic and other parochial tensions that have tended to create insecurity and outright conflict time and time again are on account of failure to deliberately undertake nation – building efforts.

“The elite, it appears, prefer the status quo which sets the lowest possible bar for political advancement that is identity politics; where do you come from? Or to which religion do you belong? And it is through that paradigm that most issues are analyzed. 

“So the real issues that concern our people are often diminished – good governance, jobs for a growing population of young people, poverty alleviation, peace and security, etc. Those are never properly analyzed, or even allowed to take their prominence in public debates especially in debates leading to elections,” Osinbajo said.

Osinbajo further said the forging of a national identity and purpose, built around agreed values and principles, is crucial for engendering commitment to national goals and sustaining peace and security. 

On his part, the founder of the Kukah Center and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Revd (Dr) Matthew Hassan Kukah, said he established the center to espoused issues regarding the State and the Church.

Kukah added that all he had been trying to do had been to let people see what Nigeria, a great country is all about.