Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, has said Nigeria’s democracy is failing and called for a new system that reflects the country’s reality rather than the Western model.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television on Monday, May 19, Agbakoba criticised the nation’s current political structure and expressed disappointment that things had not significantly improved despite over two decades of democratic governance.
“I thought that things would have been a lot better than what we have today. And I’ve looked at it very carefully, and I say something must be wrong, that after, not even 25, let’s go to 1960: so we have had military coups in and out, then finally democracy for over 25 years. Something is fundamentally wrong in a process that is not delivering,” Agbakoba said.
He argued that Nigeria needs to break away from foreign political systems that do not align with its social and cultural landscape.
“In my reflections, and I’ve reflected quite a lot, I just came to a conclusion that it’s time to shed ourselves of this Western model – the Oyibo model, the model that the Europeans and the Americans have foisted on us – it’s not working,” he said.
Agbakoba maintained that what matters most to Nigerians is not the model of democracy or who occupies the presidency, but whether their leaders can deliver the basic needs of life.
“If you ask Nigerians, broadly speaking, right now: ‘Who would you want to vote for?’ They will just tell you we want to vote for food in our tummies, good schools, good roads, pay us our salaries on time, housing, the things that make them comfortable,” he said, pointing to China’s development despite its non-democratic system.
“Nigerians are not really interested in who the president is. They’re interested in a president who will deliver. That’s why it’s necessary to also be sure that you have a good president.”
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He urged a national rethink on governance models, noting that ethnic, religious, and linguistic divides make the current system ineffective.
“So I want the conversation to start by asking the question. Is this thing working for us?
“My own answer is that the Western model of democracy, maybe it’s working in Europe, but it’s certainly not working here. So, what is it that we can put on the table that will work?
“I think that the first thing to do is to recognize that this country is very divided along ethnic, religious, and linguistic lines,” Agbakoba said.
His comments also addressed the rising defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress, warning that the opposition’s collapse into the APC spells danger for democracy.
“If the opposition thinks that they’re making any sense, I’d better tell them tonight they’re not. And if they think they have a chance for 2027, they have two years to wake up,” the former Nigerian Bar Association president said.
“But if the answer is to keep defecting, that’s not going to help Nigerians because it will not strengthen democracy. It would rather weaken it, and that’s the big shame.
“So, in reality, the real challenge is, ‘Where are those people who are prepared to sacrifice to be in the opposition and make it work?’ That is the challenge. That is the only way that Nigeria can work.”