Africa Has No Democracy, Only Colonial Liberal System That Has Failed People – Obasanjo

• Obasanjo Rejects Africa’s Democratic Model: Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says Africa does not practice genuine democracy but a Western liberal system imposed by colonial powers, arguing that the imported model has failed to deliver accountable governance and sustainable development across the continent.

• Ex-President Questions Judiciary’s Expanding Role: Obasanjo challenges the growing influence of courts in determining election outcomes, asking whether it is democratic for a handful of judges to overturn the electoral choices made by millions of citizens through the ballot box.

• Calls for Home-Grown Democratic Reforms: The former Nigerian leader urges African countries to rethink their governance structures and develop democratic systems rooted in African history, culture and political realities instead of relying on colonial-era political frameworks.

• Democracy Dialogue Rekindles Debate on Governance: Speaking at the 2026 Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Foundation Annual Democracy Dialogue in Bauchi, Obasanjo says the continent must move beyond elections and critically examine whether political parties and the judiciary can truly strengthen democracy or whether deeper institutional reforms are required.

August 12, () — Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has launched a scathing critique of Africa’s democratic system, declaring that what exists across the continent is not genuine democracy but a borrowed Western liberal model imposed by former colonial powers, which, according to him, has failed to meet Africa’s political realities and developmental needs.

Obasanjo made the remarks on Tuesday while chairing the 2026 Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) Foundation Annual Democracy Dialogue held at the Ahmadu Bello International Conference Centre (ICC) in Bauchi. The event was themed “Beyond Elections: Can Political Parties and the Judiciary Save African Democracy?”

Delivering his address, the former Nigerian leader argued that Africa has continued to operate under a political system inherited from Europe without critically assessing whether it truly serves the interests of African societies.

“There is nothing like African democracy. Let us not deceive ourselves. We were given Western liberal democracy by our colonial masters, and we accepted it hook, line and sinker”, Obasanjo declared.

According to him, the continent’s democratic experience has become increasingly disappointing, raising fundamental questions about whether the imported political model has delivered the expected dividends of governance, accountability and development.

Obasanjo noted that his concerns over the state of democracy in Africa had continued to deepen, adding that the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation’s decision to dedicate successive annual dialogues to the health of democracy reflected growing anxiety over the system’s performance.

He recalled that the foundation’s previous conference had focused on what he described as the “death of democracy”, stressing that the debate primarily concerned Western liberal democracy rather than other governance models practised elsewhere.

“The Chinese, for instance, will not agree that their democracy is dying, while the Swiss have practised their own version of direct democracy. So when we speak about democracy in crisis, we are referring specifically to Western liberal democracy”, he said.

The former President argued that Europe exported its own political template to Africa during the colonial era because it had no alternative to offer, but questioned whether the system had truly delivered meaningful governance on the continent.

“Has it delivered? Is it delivering? Will it deliver? These are the questions we must honestly ask ourselves”, he stated.

Obasanjo also turned his attention to the role of the judiciary in democratic governance, questioning whether courts should possess the authority to overturn electoral outcomes after citizens have cast their votes.

He argued that allowing a handful of judges to determine the fate of elections decided by millions of voters raises serious concerns about the credibility and legitimacy of democratic governance.

“What purpose does it serve that when millions of people have voted, five people will sit somewhere and decide either in favour of or against the decision of millions? If that happens, can we truly call it democracy? If not, then what exactly should be the role of the judiciary in democracy?” he asked

While acknowledging the importance of political parties and judicial institutions, Obasanjo insisted that neither could rescue democracy unless Africa first confronted what he described as the structural flaws embedded in the liberal democratic system inherited from colonial rule.

To illustrate his point, the former President recounted a political anecdote involving the late Western Region Premier, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, using it as a metaphor to question what he described as the judiciary’s increasing intrusion into democratic governance.

He maintained that Africa must begin an honest conversation about designing democratic institutions rooted in its own history, culture and political realities rather than continuing to rely on imported frameworks that have, in his view, produced limited results.

The annual Democracy Dialogue organised by the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Foundation brings together former leaders, policymakers, academics, jurists, civil society groups and governance experts to examine the state of democracy and propose reforms to strengthen political institutions across Africa.

Background

Obasanjo has consistently advocated reforms to Africa’s governance architecture, arguing that democratic success should be measured not merely by the conduct of elections but by the quality of leadership, accountability, justice and socioeconomic development. His latest intervention adds to ongoing debates over judicial involvement in electoral disputes, the effectiveness of political parties and whether Africa requires governance models that better reflect its unique historical and social realities.