Nigeria’s former President, Goodluck Jonathan has warned that the country’s democracy was in grave danger of spiralling out of control due to the high level of disillusionment amongst Nigerians, especially the youths.
Jonathan who spoke at the 70th birthday of Mathew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, in Abuja, on Wednesday, called for tact and commitment in handling the threat before it explodes into uncontrollable crisis or slide towards dictatorship.
According to the former president, accommodation of different views remained crucial in pulling the country from the brinks. His words: “Obviously many people, especially our youths, are becoming increasingly disillusioned about our politics and democracy. However, we must remain on the democratic path because it is the only practical way of effectively managing our diversity, developing sustainably, and recording progress as a nation.
“The task before all of us is not to lower our guards lest the democracy we cherish today succumbs to threats and recedes into fascism tomorrow because there are signs. Looking at the states and so on, we are derailing towards quasi-fascist form of government, but democracy is not only about winning elections alone, it is about accommodation. We, as leaders at the centre and at the state levels, especially at this time when elections are coming, must accommodate different views.
“Towards this goal, we are again faced with a good opportunity of choosing our leaders as the nation prepares to go to the polls next year. Let us choose those that will take us to the desired destination and the promised land.
“Nigeria may not be where we want it to and should be, but we should not give up or lose hope by focusing on only the negative. Judging from where we are coming from since independence in 1960, we may have been moving slowly in our journey of nationhood, but it is a journey of progress, all the same.
“We must remain on the democratic path because it is the only practical way of effectively managing our diversity, developing sustainably, and recording progress as a nation. The task before all of us is not to lower our guards lest the democracy we cherish today succumbs to threats and recedes into fascism tomorrow because there are signs, looking across the states, that we are derailing into some quasi fascism.”
Jonathan also spoke about the six-month-old industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and how his government resolved one of the industrial disputes in one night, saying: “The society we are managing is quite complex. Now, we are talking about ASUU strike. During my time too, ASUU had four months of strike. Different committees were meeting but nothing was working. I said ‘How can our children stay out of school for four months?
“So, I had to call a meeting of all the leadership of ASUU. I presided over the meeting with my Vice President. The Attorney General was there. I said that that night we must solve the problem. The Attorney General was there; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation was there; the ministers of education were there; the labour ministers were there; the finance minister and everybody that had to do with it [strike]. And I thought that my being there would help us to do things quickly. But we spent the whole night. We finished like 5:30 am and the strike was called off. So, there were issues.”
