Oby Ezekwesili who is a former Minister of Education in Nigeria has called on Nigerians and other Africans to fight against a monopolistic style of democracy.
Ezekwesili made this call while speaking at the Office Of The Citizen (OOTC) inauguration by #FixPolitics, an organization she founded.
The ex-Vice President of the World Bank (Africa) noted that there has been a phenomenal shift in political engagement.
Ezekwesili, who defined monopolistic democracy as a situation similar to a marketplace monopoly and urged citizens to actively participate in governance.
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The pioneer Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) lamented that oligopoly exists in Nigeria and some African countries.
The activist said the apathy and less show of concern by the people are what made the political class to monopolise democracy.
‘The reason we have monopolistic democracy is because we have citizens that cannot engage.
‘What we are doing today is to further accentuate the quality of engagement citizens must have to break democracy from being a monopoly to truly competitive.
‘A competitive democracy is what leads to better quality governance. We now know that without quality governance, we are not going anywhere,’ Ezekwesili stressed.
In a related development, Chief David Edebiri, a Patrioteer and Esogban of Benin has claimed that Nigeria’s development was sabotaged in 1979 when the American Presidential System of government was adopted by leaders of that time – in his opinion, the practice has not been well implemented.
This was said when the elder statesman launched two of his most recent publications, ‘Tripod of Life –: Essence of Benin Tradition and Culture’ and ‘The Life and Times of Iyase N’Ohenmwen.’ to commemorate his 93rd birthday on Friday.
According to him, the heroes who conquered the fight for the freedom of Nigeria didn’t intervene with a biased mind or in their self-interest, but rather in the cause of the country’s unity.