Lessons From Mali and Senegal By Peter Claver Oparah

Two significant events happened in
Africa last week that should force
Nigerians; both the government and
the governed to create a health
check on the democracy we have in
place presently. The military coup in
Mali and the defeat of incumbent
President Abdulaye Wade in
Senegal are two significant events
that bring direct relevance to the
Nigerian situation. On the local
scene, the PDP, the ruling party in
Nigeria had its national convention
the same week. We shall re-visit this
convention, vis-à-vis its nexus with
the state and condition of Nigerian
democracy in the course of this
report but our primary concern
remains the events in Mali and
Senegal.
The military struck and seized
power from civilians in Mali. A group
of armed men led by Ahmadou
Sanogo struk and seized power from
President Amadou Touare. Citing
the menace of Tuareg armed gangs
in the North of the country, the
coupists blamed the ousted
president for tolerating the
gangsters who have visited
bloodletting and chaos especially in
Northern Mali. In Senegal, the
people defied 85 years old Wade’s
amendment of the constitution to
allow him more terms, to stand
solidly against his continued stay in
office after twelve years. The
campaign to unseat Wade had been
acrimonious, bloody and violent. In
the first ballot, Wade scrapped
through a narrow lead over his main
challenger and estranged Prime
Minister, Macky Sall but fell short of
the mandatory 50 per cent that
would have given him victory at the
first ballot. He therefore entered into
a run off with his main challenger,
who was buoyed by massive
support by the people. Wade lost
and quickly conceded victory in a
rare display of sportsmanship, his
deft attempt to commit himself in
office notwithstanding.
Nigeria has condemned and
applauded. It condemned the coup
plotters in Mali and commended the
free democratic vote that prevailed
in Senegal. For a serious country, it
should not stop there as both
events should provide Nigeria a
tremendous window of opportunity
to make a thorough health check on
the democracy we had been
struggling with for the past thirteen
years. What happened in the two
African countries should have
offered Nigeria the opportunity to do
a thorough audit of the state of the
nation and the democracy we have
in place to see if the system can
withstand the type of event in Mali
and if the system is capable of
generating the kind of event
witnessed in Senegal where an
incumbent was defeated in a
contest he supervised. We need to
verify if democracy has worked to
suppress the wishes and desires of
Nigerians for a just, fair and
egalitarian state where no man is
oppressed. We need to know if
democracy, as we have it in Nigeria,
rhymes with the universal concept
of democracy. Is the current
Nigerian democracy founded on
open, fair and credible electoral
process? Is it strengthened by a just
and impartial judiciary that watches
over the interests of the masses? Is
it guarded by a credible legislature
that waits to catch the excesses of
the executive at any given time? Is
Nigerian democracy rooted on
accountability to the people; the
ultimate sovereign in a democracy?
Is the process founded on
transparency, rule of law, checks
and balances, which guarantee
every member of the
commonwealth equal access to
available opportunities?
When we try to investigate further,
we would ask the factors that
inform, encourage and ensure the
presence of the military in African
politics. Has Nigeria, as a country,
taken care of these factors as to be
assured the army will never seek
another adventure in our body
politics? Are the citizenry so
satisfied with the output from our
democracy in the last thirteen years
as to build a mass movement
against the military should they
make another attempt to step in?
We would find out whether all we
have experienced in the last
thirteen years are parts and parcel
of democracy. We would try to
match our record against the
universal concept of democracy, the
practice and all to see if we are
being well served by the current
democracy and if this tally with the
universal idea of democracy.
It is after we had done these audits
that we would come to a better
understanding of what we genuinely
need as a nation. Do we want this
sort of democracy or we need
something else? How do we come to
achieve what we want as a nation
without inflicting much damage on
the interests and well being of the
masses that remain the paramount
concern of any system of
government? How do we get a
desirable omelet for our citizens
while ensuring minimal cost to the
egg? How can we achieve the
democratic opening of our dream
that is in sync with the age old
democratic idea? How do we
guarantee our democracy is
strengthened and sustained
through proper governance, in line
with the
The event in Mali remains an
anomaly as military coups are out of
sync with desirable means of
effecting changes in government,
but a democracy that operates
outside the ground norms of
democracy is as appalling as
military governments. But this is not
enough to prevent such adventures
or even prevent these adventurers
from being welcomed by the people
when they strike. The reality of
doing a health check on Nigerian
democracy is to ensure that it does
not deviate from the well-known
canons of universal democracy for
once democracy departs from these
sacred ethos, it tantamount to salt
that has lost its flavor. The people of
Senegal must be commended for
their resilience and perseverance in
the face of the resolve of Wade to
hold unto power, but then, Wade,
despite his bilious traits deserves
praise for knowing when to stop the
scourge that has led astray many
an African leaders and pseudo
democrats.
The lesson Nigeria must not miss is
that the leader, and indeed, the
entire concept of democracy exists
for the people and once the citizens
express their preferences, every
other thing gives to let the people
have their way. If the people and
their interests are removed from
democracy, it turns out worse than
military rule. It is doubtful if Nigerian
leaders will even have the courage
to let the people have their way in a
similar situation and that
constitutes one of the greatest
banes of democracy in Nigeria.
When will Nigerian leaders allow the
form of democratic system that will
see them losing elections they
manage when people do not want
them? That is the biggest dilemma
our democracy faces as we falter
through what has been dubbed a
precarious and dysfunctional
democracy.
So, the events in Senegal should
instead work to strengthen Nigerian
democracy. It should re-orient the
leaders on the need to establish
democracy, founded on the
immutable canons of free choice,
accountability, checks and balance,
work for the Nigerian people. That
remains the only way Nigeria could
keep soldiers out of our politics and
avoid the kind of situation in Mali.
And this brings us to the convention
of the PDP, which has in its
moments of glee, seen itself as the
only viable party in Nigeria. PDP has
been ruling Nigeria and the majority
of the states since 1999. It is to its
shame that in this period, Nigeria
has just excelled in churning out
horrible and harrowing tales of
corruption, insecurity, political
persecution, electoral roguery,
impunity, infrastructural decay,
increasing poverty in the midst of
unfailing oil boom, etc.
Nowhere is PDP’s unraveling
complete as in its inclination to
foster electoral fraud as the basis of
its existence and as the ruling
party, they have negotiated Nigeria
to a loop where it is sunk in the
quagmire of electoral roguery.
Thirteen years after a harrowing
rule, PDP signifies the failure of
Nigeria and its failure to meet even
the least ideal of free and fair
electoral process signifies a
willingness to ensure the country
remains stranded in the pit of
electoral infamy. Last week, it held
its so called national convention,
which was merely the handpicking
of the cronies of the president and
their usual coronation through an
complex and unproductive system
of waste. That the PDP cannot
conduct a credible election of its
officers after thirteen years in power
shows the dim and hopeless
electoral future Nigeria faces. It
shows that the event in Senegal
may not be possible in Nigeria in
the foreseeable future. It sends a
warning signal that the event in Mali
may be possible in Nigeria if our so
called politicians continue to abuse
and make nonsense the precise first
and most prominent tenet of
democracy which is the conduct of
free and fair elections where every
participant stands equal chances. It
is a strong signal Nigeria, especially
those that flatter themselves as the
personification of the present
troubled democracy, have to take
serious or perish.

Peter Claver Oparah
Ikeja, Lagos.
E-mail: peterclaver2000@yahoo.com