Dr. Sawyer Addresses Nigeria’s 2016 Annual National Political Summit

Dr. Amos Sawyer, on Monday January 25, 2016 addressed Nigeria’s 2016 Annual National Political Summit, discussing the theme “Building Positive Political Culture for Sustaining Democracy in Africa: The Case of Nigeria”. The Summit was graced by three West African Presidents including that of Nigeria - Muhammad Buhari, President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana and Chair of the Summit, and President Allassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire as Special Guest of Honor. Other Summit attendees include Nigeria’s former Presidents Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, former Nigerian Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo, President of the Senate- Senator Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Keynote Speaker Yakubu Dogara among others. The Summit was held in Abuja Nigeria.

Dr. Sawyer observed that Nigeria has made remarkable progress in democratic consolidation and development since its return to democratic rule in May 1999, and commended that country for making significant strides in electoral reforms, including the management of its elections.

The holding of free and fair democratic elections and the strengthening of democratic institutions are crucial to assuring good governance and sustained culture of democracy. Nigeria in 2015 (between March 28 – April 11), held its general elections in the midst of terrorism attacks and abductions of peaceful citizens by Boko Haram yet it defied predictions of post-election violence.
Speaking as one who observed the general elections, Dr. Sawyer described it as historic and a “game changer” in that it rekindled good prospects for entrenching a culture of democracy in that country.

He observed that after a frenzied period of campaigning and fears of a possible outbreak of massive electoral violence, Nigerians went to the polls, cast their votes in the general elections and consolidated their democracy. Another historic Nigerian development was when former President Good-Luck Jonathan conceded defeat in the Presidential election, and called to congratulate the winner Muhammad Buhari (the incumbent) even before the formal results were announced. Nigeria is among the leading countries in Africa in the quest to entrench a culture of democratic governance, sustain peace, and enhance development in West Africa.

Touching on the importance of the Annual National Political Summit, Dr. Sawyer said the 2016 Annual National Political Summit of Nigeria, provides a platform for continuous dialogue among the political class on strategies for stabilizing and enhancing democracy in Nigeria.

According to him, the paths to democratic consolidation in Nigeria, though fraught with complex crises, portray the gradual deepening of the democratization process and the unlikelihood of democratic reversal or regression into authoritarian rule. He was quick to note the need for “cautious optimism” as there is a mixed picture in the consolidation of Nigeria’s democracy”.

It can be recalled that Dr. Sawyer led the African Union Election Mission to monitor Nigeria’s 2015 general elections. He believes that the elections results demonstrated an entrenched culture of democracy, and inclusive participation that contributes to peace and security, despite the presence of active terrorism, for many years now, in that country.

He congratulated the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC leadership for delivering credible elections. Nigeria has also experienced the most military regimes within Africa since the past fifty years.

Dr. Sawyer stressed that much remains to be done in Nigeria to advance and strengthen gender equity in that country. In terms of the number of women in parliament, Nigeria is currently ranked 134 out of 144 countries by the International Parliamentary Union, IPU. After the 2015 elections, the proportion of women in the lower house was 5.6 % (20 out of 360) and 6.5 % in the Senate (7 out of 106). He encouraged Nigeria’s leadership to advance gender equity advocacy at home and abroad.

Still on the Summit, Dr. Sawyer said the Political Summit provides a platform for continuous dialogue among the political class on strategies for stabilizing and enhancing democracy in Nigeria. According to him, the Summit is ideally situated for dialogues among Nigerians to enhance understandings of diverse points of view, reduce suspicions and strengthen trust and confidence among political leaders on various national issues.

He said the forums can also become mechanisms for reducing legislative gridlock and overcome barriers even before the pressure of “partisanship demands” come to bear in legislative chambers. Dr. Sawyer said “quite often in African governance, we rush to legislate even before or without broad-based discussions, especially discussions in which the opposite views are fully understood and appreciated by all.”

Among other things Dr. Sawyer pointed out that Nigeria is blessed with what he described as “highly altruistic and respected” former leaders of thought, culture, religion and the academy, who together contribute invaluably to peace, reconciliation and the entrenchment of democratic governance both at home and around Africa—especially West Africa.
The Economy
One of Nigeria’s major exports is crude oil. Price of this commodity, for more than a decade continues to either fluctuate or outrightly drop on the international market. This global economic catastrophe coupled with acts of terrorism have affected the Nigerian economy (Africa’s largest), an economy which has overtime enjoyed sustained economic growth of around 7%.Dr. Sawyer also spoke on both issues at the Summit noting that Nigeria’s economy is threatened by falling oil prices.

“We do well when we understand security in terms of human security such that the wellbeing of our citizens becomes the focus of our development policies and determine the priorities of our budgets. Here in Nigeria, His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari has assumed leadership when the economy is in a dire strait. Africa’s largest economy, which enjoyed sustained economic growth of around 7% in the last decade and a half, is threatened by falling global oil prices. Although the country is becoming more diversified and services-oriented, the oil sub-sector remains the major source of government revenues.”

Dr. Sawyer pointed out that collective efforts are encouraged to diversify Nigeria’s economy to reduce the country’s exposure to grave economic challenges, militate against social vices that come with such challenges, and strengthen our common sub-regional fight against terrorism.
Terrorism has become a regional menace but Nigeria’s leadership in this fight has been described as commendable. Sawyer urged ECOWAS to strengthen the sub-regional strategy and capabilities to fight terrorism, adding “our security strategy must always be couched within our overall sub-regional strategy for advancing human security through democratic governance and the socio-economic upliftment of our people.”

Political Culture of Africa
According to Dr. Sawyer, a dilemma to democracy in Africa is weak political institutions, and therefore the need to strengthen political institutions in Africa particularly political parties which he described as weak, inchoate, lack ideology, and internal and gender imbalanced. Ruling parties on the other hand, he observed, tend to rely on state resources to exact patronage in order to maintain party organization and management. He identified other weaknesses in African democracies to include “poor civil society participation; abuse of power by the incumbency and militarized physical violence by agencies of the state to cow the opposition.”These practices contribute to transforming the politics of some African countries into a zero-sum game.

Earlier, Dr. Sawyer defined political culture to mean the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments which give order and meaning to a political process, and provides underlying assumptions and rules that govern behavior in the political system. He noted that Political Culture is also the product of both the collective history of a political system and the life histories of members of that system thus rooted equally in public events and private experiences.
Democracy is the most popular form of governance in Africa today yet the continent is still struggling to ensure that leaders adhere to and abide by democratic tenets and principles needed to assure good governance in their respective countries. Issues such as free and fair elections, tenure of the presidency, media freedom, freedom of expression, equal justice (rule of law) for all irrespective of political ideology, political and participatory governance, respect for basic human rights, social class, gender, age, or disabilities, religious tolerance (freedom of worship), and other freedoms that support democracy are found wanting thereby giving cause for violence and, in many instances, civil unrest/war.