Obasanjo praises continuity and criticises those who seek to transform Nigeria overnight

If the nation’s political steps are not reversed to the proper direction, he believes the current process will either fail to produce the right leaders or will leave so many broken blocks in the way of governance.

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, asserts that holding political office does not give its holders the authority to renege on the principles and programmes of their forebears.

No matter what party a predecessor belongs to, he stated, future leaders should continue the policies and projects of those leaders inasmuch as those initiatives serve the needs of the general populace.

In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Obasanjo delivered a speech on Thursday at the international conference on “Deepening Democratic Culture and Institutions for Sustainable Development and Security in Nigeria.”

The general elections for 2023 will be held on February 25 and March 11, and Obasanjo’s address will be just a few weeks before those dates. Obasanjo was democratically elected president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007.

During his lecture on “Respecting The Principles Of Democracy,” he stated that “in Nigeria, each new government behaves as though Nigeria is a newly discovered country.”

In fact, some politicians make it seem as though they want to instantly create new Nigerians and reinvent the country during elections. They neglect the democratic component that promotes continuity, stability, and predictability, which is the reason for this.

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“While one regime can lay the groundwork, it takes multiple regimes to continue to build on it in a positive and constructive manner.”

“It is largely due to the fact that we frequently ignore and forget the fundamentals of democracy.” We somehow fail to recognise the harm we cause to the fabric of the country, both personally and collectively.

Despite changes in leadership, the former president emphasised that democracy is not a one-day phenomenon and that there must be consistency and predictability in policy.

Election Lawsuits: Try Your Luck Now

Obasanjo bemoaned the fact that because political actors don’t follow the laws, electoral disputes have turned into an issue of luck.

“We don’t realise that democracy is a long-term endeavor.” It evolves through time, and it takes time to firmly establish the habit. It is not intended to be a hasty shift, and if we followed the rules, we would all be aware that while governments or regimes may change, the fundamental principles do not.

“We wouldn’t be so upset about the outcome of the election or fill the courts with cases that are essentially “try your luck” in nature.

Ascension to office does not give incumbents the authority to veto all initiatives and programmes started by their predecessors, he said. “When we learn to play by the rules and respect the values of democracy,” he remarked,

Obasanjo cautioned that the current process would either fail to produce the proper leaders or would leave so many broken blocks in the way of government if the country’s political actions weren’t reversed in the right direction.

According to him, the outcome would be a democratic mess marked by growing corruption, instability, and the survival of the fittest, wealthiest, and best-connected, with little to no appreciation of merit.

Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, and Peter Odili, a former governor of Ekiti, were also present at the occasion (in Rivers).