Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has alerted that democracy is at risk of collapsing if it continues in its current form without urgent reforms.
Obasanjo, who addressed the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation’s Democracy Dialogue in Accra, Ghana, on Wednesday, said democracy, which was supposed to be “government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” has lost its true meaning.
Democracy dies because democracy has fallen to be reformed,” he said. “If democracy will not die and be buried, then democracy should be reformed in context, in content, and in practice.”
Using a Filipino proverb, he likened the death of democracy to a vegetable that is killed by insects from within, pointing out that the system is being killed by its own corrupted practices.
“All the principles that should be part and parcel of democracy are being ignored or bastardised to the degree that democracy has not delivered. And democracy cannot deliver unless it is reformed,” Obasanjo warned.
Despite his misgivings, the former president maintained that democracy remains unbeatable. However, he blamed its manipulation into “government of some people, by some people, over all the people,” arguing that its interpretation as mere “government of the majority” ignores minority rights and erosions of inclusiveness.
His remarks come amid mounting global controversies surrounding the erosion of democratic ideals, fragile institutions, and the rise of authoritarianism across most regions of the world.
