Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

A retired Colonel in the Nigerian Army, Abdulwahab Ademola Lawal, has decried the absence of internal democracy within the country’s political parties, saying that most of them are dictatorial.

Lawal, who disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, opined that lack of democratic culture in parties is antithetical to democracy, while identifying the nation’s form of democracy as “hybrid with fusion of dictatorship”.

Describing democracy as the best option for Nigeria as it fosters inclusiveness, he cautioned Nigerian leaders from straying into dictatorship.

“Democracy itself simply means
inclusion, where whatever affects you, you must be consulted in the decision making, you must be carried along, not a system where decisions are imposed on people.

“Democracy goes even beyond
government, even in your family, you can practice democracy. Because whatever decision you want to take, if you consult those who will be affected by it, that becomes democracy.

“But in our country, I think our variant is more of hybridity, which means hybrid democracy. It is a democracy which in a way means that there is too much dictatorship in it.

“Our political parties should be managed in a democratic manner. But as it is today, even our political parties are not very democratic. They are dictatorial, and it is an aberration to democracy.

“When we talk about real democracy, it must be free and there must be no imposition and you must engage in good governance, and this simply refers to transparency, openness, integrity, accountability, the rule of law”, he added.

Lawal, who is the Director of Research at Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, said the lingering insurgency in parts of the country would be solved through optimisation of good governance rather than solely relying on force.

He urged the government to prioritise solving the basic needs of the people which includes food security, stressing that the application of force only cannot end insecurity in the country.

The retired military officer said: “The armed forces, the police, and security agencies, name it. They can apply force, weapons, and all the rest of it. That is the kinetic aspect of it.

“The non-kinetic aspect that comes with good governance is another aspect. For example, we always say that a hungry man is an angry man. If he has access to guns as is free flowing in our society now, he is hungry and he is angry, how do you subdue such a person? You subdue him by providing him with food.

“You feed him, give him employment. Let him be human, let him feel proud of himself and let him know that this government sees him as a human being with integrity.

“So, the approach to security is both kinetic and non-kinetic. The non-kinetic aspect should be overwhelming and outweighing, and that is why in security, there is what we call a ‘whole of a society’ approach to security. This means me and you can contribute to solving security problems if we do things right and these are some of the things that we think we should be doing. Family role in security is crucial. We must mentor and model our family well and this impacts on the larger society.”

The retired colonel also blamed globalisation as a contributing factor preventing the military from easily winning the protracted battle against insurgency in the country.

“Globalisation has expanded so much that no nation is an island to itself. No nation is in isolation. In fact, these days, we see that there is no custom or immigration barrier that can stop and block cross-border ideas. Just as public health is globalized so is free flow of ideas without barriers. These pose national challenges.

“Because of this globalization, ideas and funds flow freely without restraint and control. The funding and financing of insurgency is much more easier, and this is one of the challenges that we have in terms of security. Second is culture. Globalization has obliterated cherished traditional values and norms. In the African tradition, your child is your child no matter the age and is accountable to you and you can summon the child. No more today. In our tradition community responsibility is pivital. No more today. Similarly is the impact of technology

“You know, the system is completely wide open in a way that restriction is quite difficult and challenging. Wherever you are in your remotest area, you can connect to anybody around the world. These are some of the challenges that security agencies have”, he said.