APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu
Buhari (rtd) delivered a speech at the Chatham
House, United Kingtom today February 26th. His
speech was titled ‘Prospects for democratic
consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s transition, his
full speech below
Permit me to start by thanking Chatham House
for the invitation to talk about this important
topic at this crucial time. When speaking about
Nigeria overseas, I normally prefer to be my
country’s public relations and marketing officer,
extolling her virtues and hoping to attract
investments and tourists. But as we all know,
Nigeria is now battling with many challenges, and
if I refer to them, I do so only to impress on
our friends in the United Kingdom that we are
quite aware of our shortcomings and are doing
our best to address them.
The 2015 general election in Nigeria is
generating a lot of interests within and outside
the country. This is understandable. Nigeria,
Africa’s most populous country and largest
economy, is at a defining moment, a moment
that has great implications beyond the
democratic project and beyond the borders of
my dear country.
So let me say upfront that the global interest in
Nigeria’s landmark election is not misplaced at
all and indeed should be commended; for this is
an election that has serious import for the
world. I urge the international community to
continue to focus on Nigeria at this very critical
moment. Given increasing global linkages, it is in
our collective interests that the postponed
elections should hold on the rescheduled dates;
that they should be free and fair; that their
outcomes should be respected by all parties; and
that any form of extension, under whichever
guise, is unconstitutional and will not be
tolerated.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the
dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the collapse of
communism and the end of the Cold War,
democracy became the dominant and most
preferred system of government across the
globe. That global transition has been aptly
captured as the triumph of democracy and the
‘most pre-eminent political idea of our time.’ On
a personal note, the phased end of the USSR
was a turning point for me. It convinced me that
change can be brought about without firing a
single shot.
As you all know, I had been a military head of
state in Nigeria for twenty months. We
intervened because we were unhappy with the
state of affairs in our country. We wanted to
arrest the drift. Driven by patriotism, influenced
by the prevalence and popularity of such drastic
measures all over Africa and elsewhere, we
fought our way to power. But the global triumph
of democracy has shown that another and a
preferable path to change is possible. It is an
important lesson I have carried with me since,
and a lesson that is not lost on the African
continent.
In the last two decades, democracy has grown
strong roots in Africa. Elections, once so rare,
are now so commonplace. As at the time I was a
military head of state between 1983 and 1985,
only four African countries held regular multi-
party elections. But the number of electoral
democracies in Africa, according to Freedom
House, jumped to 10 in 1992/1993 then to 18
in 1994/1995 and to 24 in 2005/2006.
According to the New York Times, 42 of the 48
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa conducted multi-
party elections between 1990 and 2002.
The newspaper also reported that between 2000
and 2002, ruling parties in four African countries
(Senegal, Mauritius, Ghana and Mali) peacefully
handed over power to victorious opposition
parties. In addition, the proportion of African
countries categorized as not free by Freedom
House declined from 59% in 1983 to 35% in
2003. Without doubt, Africa has been part of the
current global wave of democratisation.
But the growth of democracy on the continent
has been uneven. According to Freedom House,
the number of electoral democracies in Africa
slipped from 24 in 2007/2008 to 19 in
2011/2012; while the percentage of countries
categorised as ‘not free’ assuming for the sake
of argument that we accept their definition of
“free” increased from 35% in 2003 to 41% in
2013. Also, there have been some reversals at
different times in Burkina Faso, Central African
Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Lesotho, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania and Togo.
We can choose to look at the glass of
democracy in Africa as either half full or half
empty.
While you can’t have representative democracy
without elections, it is equally important to look
at the quality of the elections and to remember
that mere elections do not democracy make. It
is globally agreed that democracy is not an
event, but a journey. And that the destination of
that journey is democratic consolidation – that
state where democracy has become so rooted
and so routine and widely accepted by all actors.
With this important destination in mind, it is
clear that though many African countries now
hold regular elections, very few of them have
consolidated the practice of democracy. It is
important to also state at this point that just as
with elections, a consolidated democracy cannot
be an end by itself. I will argue that it is not
enough to hold a series of elections or even to
peacefully alternate power among parties.
It is much more important that the promise of
democracy goes beyond just allowing people to
freely choose their leaders. It is much more
important that democracy should deliver on the
promise of choice, of freedoms, of security of
lives and property, of transparency and
accountability, of rule of law, of good
governance and of shared prosperity. It is very
important that the promise embedded in the
concept of democracy, the promise of a better
life for the generality of the people, is not
delivered in the breach.
Now, let me quickly turn to Nigeria. As you all
know, Nigeria’s fourth republic is in its 16th year
and this general election will be the fifth in a
row. This is a major sign of progress for us,
given that our first republic lasted five years and
three months, the second republic ended after
four years and two months and the third republic
was a still-birth. However, longevity is not the
only reason why everyone is so interested in this
election.
The major difference this time around is that for
the very first time since transition to civil rule in
1999, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
is facing its stiffest opposition so far from our
party the All Progressives Congress (APC). We
once had about 50 political parties, but with no
real competition. Now Nigeria is transitioning
from a dominant party system to a competitive
electoral polity, which is a major marker on the
road to democratic consolidation. As you know,
peaceful alternation of power through
competitive elections have happened in Ghana,
Senegal, Malawi and Mauritius in recent times.
The prospects of democratic consolidation in
Africa will be further brightened when that
eventually happens in Nigeria.
But there are other reasons why Nigerians and
the whole world are intensely focussed on this
year’s elections, chief of which is that the
elections are holding in the shadow of huge
security, economic and social uncertainties in
Africa’s most populous country and largest
economy. On insecurity, there is a genuine
cause for worry, both within and outside Nigeria.
Apart from the civil war era, at no other time in
our history has Nigeria been this insecure.
Boko Haram has sadly put Nigeria on the
terrorism map, killing more than 13,000 of our
nationals, displacing millions internally and
externally, and at a time holding on to portions
of our territory the size of Belgium. What has
been consistently lacking is the required
leadership in our battle against insurgency. I, as
a retired general and a former head of state,
have always known about our soldiers: they are
capable, well trained, patriotic, brave and always
ready to do their duty in the service of our
country.
You all can bear witness to the gallant role of
our military in Burma, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur and in
many other peacekeeping operations in several
parts of the world. But in the matter of this
insurgency, our soldiers have neither received
the necessary support nor the required
incentives to tackle this problem. The
government has also failed in any effort towards
a multi-dimensional response to this problem
leading to a situation in which we have now
become dependent on our neighbours to come
to our rescue.
Let me assure you that if I am elected president,
the world will have no cause to worry about
Nigeria as it has had to recently; that Nigeria will
return to its stabilising role in West Africa; and
that no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be
lost to the enemy because we will pay special
attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and
out of service, we will give them adequate and
modern arms and ammunitions to work with, we
will improve intelligence gathering and border
controls to choke Boko Haram’s financial and
equipment channels, we will be tough on
terrorism and tough on its root causes by
initiating a comprehensive economic
development plan promoting infrastructural
development, job creation, agriculture and
industry in the affected areas. We will always act
on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly
fester, and I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always
lead from the front and return Nigeria to its
leadership role in regional and international
efforts to combat terrorism.
On the economy, the fall in prices of oil has
brought our economic and social stress into full
relief. After the rebasing exercise in April 2014,
Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa’s largest
economy. Our GDP is now valued at $510 billion
and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also
on the bright side, inflation has been kept at
single digit for a while and our economy has
grown at an average of 7% for about a decade.
But it is more of paper growth, a growth that,
on account of mismanagement, profligacy and
corruption, has not translated to human
development or shared prosperity. A
development economist once said three
questions should be asked about a country’s
development: one, what is happening to
poverty? Two, what is happening to
unemployment? And three, what is happening to
inequality?
The answers to these questions in Nigeria show
that the current administration has created two
economies in one country, a sorry tale of two
nations: one economy for a few who have so
much in their tiny island of prosperity; and the
other economy for the many who have so little
in their vast ocean of misery.
Even by official figures, 33.1% of Nigerians live
in extreme poverty. That’s at almost 60 million,
almost the population of the United Kingdom.
There is also the unemployment crisis
simmering beneath the surface, ready to explode
at the slightest stress, with officially 23.9% of
our adult population and almost 60% of our
youth unemployed. We also have one of the
highest rates of inequalities in the world.
With all these, it is not surprising that our
performance on most governance and
development indicators (like Mo Ibrahim Index on
African Governance and UNDP’s Human
Development Index.) are unflattering. With fall in
the prices of oil, which accounts for more than
70% of government revenues, and lack of
savings from more than a decade of oil boom,
the poor will be disproportionately impacted.
In the face of dwindling revenues, a good place
to start the repositioning of Nigeria’s economy
is to swiftly tackle two ills that have ballooned
under the present administration: waste and
corruption. And in doing this, I will, if elected,
lead the way, with the force of personal
example.
On corruption, there will be no confusion as to
where I stand. Corruption will have no place and
the corrupt will not be appointed into my
administration. First and foremost, we will plug
the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue
producing entities such as NNPC and Customs
and Excise will have one set of books only. Their
revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly
audited. The institutions of state dedicated to
fighting corruption will be given independence
and prosecutorial authority without political
interference.
But I must emphasise that any war waged on
corruption should not be misconstrued as
settling old scores or a witch-hunt. I’m running
for President to lead Nigeria to prosperity and
not adversity.
In reforming the economy, we will use savings
that arise from blocking these leakages and the
proceeds recovered from corruption to fund our
party’s social investments programmes in
education, health, and safety nets such as free
school meals for children, emergency public
works for unemployed youth and pensions for
the elderly.
As a progressive party, we must reform our
political economy to unleash the pent-up
ingenuity and productivity of the Nigerian people
thus freeing them from the curse of poverty. We
will run a private sector-led economy but
maintain an active role for government through
strong regulatory oversight and deliberate
interventions and incentives to diversify the
base of our economy, strengthen productive
sectors, improve the productive capacities of
our people and create jobs for our teeming
youths.
In short, we will run a functional economy driven
by a worldview that sees growth not as an end
by itself, but as a tool to create a society that
works for all, rich and poor alike. On March 28,
Nigeria has a decision to make. To vote for the
continuity of failure or to elect progressive
change. I believe the people will choose wisely.
In sum, I think that given its strategic
importance, Nigeria can trigger a wave of
democratic consolidation in Africa. But as a
starting point we need to get this critical
election right by ensuring that they go ahead,
and depriving those who want to scuttle it the
benefit of derailing our fledgling democracy.
That way, we will all see democracy and
democratic consolidation as tools for solving
pressing problems in a sustainable way, not as
ends in themselves.
Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in
Africa: Nigeria’s Transition
Permit me to close this discussion on a personal
note. I have heard and read references to me as
a former dictator in many respected British
newspapers including the well regarded
Economist. Let me say without sounding
defensive that dictatorship goes with military
rule, though some might be less dictatorial than
others. I take responsibility for whatever
happened under my watch.
I cannot change the past. But I can change the
present and the future. So before you is a
former military ruler and a converted democrat
who is ready to operate under democratic
norms and is subjecting himself to the rigours of
democratic elections for the fourth time.
You may ask: why is he doing this? This is a
question I ask myself all the time too. And here
is my humble answer: because the work of
making Nigeria great is not yet done, because I
still believe that change is possible, this time
through the ballot, and most importantly,
because I still have the capacity and the passion
to dream and work for a Nigeria that will be
respected again in the comity of nations and that
all Nigerians will be proud of.
I thank you for listening.

.

hamzazayyad1:
APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu
Buhari (rtd) delivered a speech at the Chatham
House, United Kingtom today February 26th. His
speech was titled ‘Prospects for democratic
consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s transition, his
full speech below
Permit me to start by thanking Chatham House
for the invitation to talk about this important
topic at this crucial time. When speaking about
Nigeria overseas, I normally prefer to be my
country’s public relations and marketing officer,
extolling her virtues and hoping to attract
investments and tourists. But as we all know,
Nigeria is now battling with many challenges, and
if I refer to them, I do so only to impress on
our friends in the United Kingdom that we are
quite aware of our shortcomings and are doing
our best to address them.
The 2015 general election in Nigeria is
generating a lot of interests within and outside
the country. This is understandable. Nigeria,
Africa’s most populous country and largest
economy, is at a defining moment, a moment
that has great implications beyond the
democratic project and beyond the borders of
my dear country.
So let me say upfront that the global interest in
Nigeria’s landmark election is not misplaced at
all and indeed should be commended; for this is
an election that has serious import for the
world. I urge the international community to
continue to focus on Nigeria at this very critical
moment. Given increasing global linkages, it is in
our collective interests that the postponed
elections should hold on the rescheduled dates;
that they should be free and fair; that their
outcomes should be respected by all parties; and
that any form of extension, under whichever
guise, is unconstitutional and will not be
tolerated.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the
dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the collapse of
communism and the end of the Cold War,
democracy became the dominant and most
preferred system of government across the
globe. That global transition has been aptly
captured as the triumph of democracy and the
‘most pre-eminent political idea of our time.’ On
a personal note, the phased end of the USSR
was a turning point for me. It convinced me that
change can be brought about without firing a
single shot.
As you all know, I had been a military head of
state in Nigeria for twenty months. We
intervened because we were unhappy with the
state of affairs in our country. We wanted to
arrest the drift. Driven by patriotism, influenced
by the prevalence and popularity of such drastic
measures all over Africa and elsewhere, we
fought our way to power. But the global triumph
of democracy has shown that another and a
preferable path to change is possible. It is an
important lesson I have carried with me since,
and a lesson that is not lost on the African
continent.
In the last two decades, democracy has grown
strong roots in Africa. Elections, once so rare,
are now so commonplace. As at the time I was a
military head of state between 1983 and 1985,
only four African countries held regular multi-
party elections. But the number of electoral
democracies in Africa, according to Freedom
House, jumped to 10 in 1992/1993 then to 18
in 1994/1995 and to 24 in 2005/2006.
According to the New York Times, 42 of the 48
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa conducted multi-
party elections between 1990 and 2002.
The newspaper also reported that between 2000
and 2002, ruling parties in four African countries
(Senegal, Mauritius, Ghana and Mali) peacefully
handed over power to victorious opposition
parties. In addition, the proportion of African
countries categorized as not free by Freedom
House declined from 59% in 1983 to 35% in
2003. Without doubt, Africa has been part of the
current global wave of democratisation.
But the growth of democracy on the continent
has been uneven. According to Freedom House,
the number of electoral democracies in Africa
slipped from 24 in 2007/2008 to 19 in
2011/2012; while the percentage of countries
categorised as ‘not free’ assuming for the sake
of argument that we accept their definition of
“free” increased from 35% in 2003 to 41% in
2013. Also, there have been some reversals at
different times in Burkina Faso, Central African
Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Lesotho, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania and Togo.
We can choose to look at the glass of
democracy in Africa as either half full or half
empty.
While you can’t have representative democracy
without elections, it is equally important to look
at the quality of the elections and to remember
that mere elections do not democracy make. It
is globally agreed that democracy is not an
event, but a journey. And that the destination of
that journey is democratic consolidation – that
state where democracy has become so rooted
and so routine and widely accepted by all actors.
With this important destination in mind, it is
clear that though many African countries now
hold regular elections, very few of them have
consolidated the practice of democracy. It is
important to also state at this point that just as
with elections, a consolidated democracy cannot
be an end by itself. I will argue that it is not
enough to hold a series of elections or even to
peacefully alternate power among parties.
It is much more important that the promise of
democracy goes beyond just allowing people to
freely choose their leaders. It is much more
important that democracy should deliver on the
promise of choice, of freedoms, of security of
lives and property, of transparency and
accountability, of rule of law, of good
governance and of shared prosperity. It is very
important that the promise embedded in the
concept of democracy, the promise of a better
life for the generality of the people, is not
delivered in the breach.
Now, let me quickly turn to Nigeria. As you all
know, Nigeria’s fourth republic is in its 16th year
and this general election will be the fifth in a
row. This is a major sign of progress for us,
given that our first republic lasted five years and
three months, the second republic ended after
four years and two months and the third republic
was a still-birth. However, longevity is not the
only reason why everyone is so interested in this
election.
The major difference this time around is that for
the very first time since transition to civil rule in
1999, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
is facing its stiffest opposition so far from our
party the All Progressives Congress (APC). We
once had about 50 political parties, but with no
real competition. Now Nigeria is transitioning
from a dominant party system to a competitive
electoral polity, which is a major marker on the
road to democratic consolidation. As you know,
peaceful alternation of power through
competitive elections have happened in Ghana,
Senegal, Malawi and Mauritius in recent times.
The prospects of democratic consolidation in
Africa will be further brightened when that
eventually happens in Nigeria.
But there are other reasons why Nigerians and
the whole world are intensely focussed on this
year’s elections, chief of which is that the
elections are holding in the shadow of huge
security, economic and social uncertainties in
Africa’s most populous country and largest
economy. On insecurity, there is a genuine
cause for worry, both within and outside Nigeria.
Apart from the civil war era, at no other time in
our history has Nigeria been this insecure.
Boko Haram has sadly put Nigeria on the
terrorism map, killing more than 13,000 of our
nationals, displacing millions internally and
externally, and at a time holding on to portions
of our territory the size of Belgium. What has
been consistently lacking is the required
leadership in our battle against insurgency. I, as
a retired general and a former head of state,
have always known about our soldiers: they are
capable, well trained, patriotic, brave and always
ready to do their duty in the service of our
country.
You all can bear witness to the gallant role of
our military in Burma, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur and in
many other peacekeeping operations in several
parts of the world. But in the matter of this
insurgency, our soldiers have neither received
the necessary support nor the required
incentives to tackle this problem. The
government has also failed in any effort towards
a multi-dimensional response to this problem
leading to a situation in which we have now
become dependent on our neighbours to come
to our rescue.
Let me assure you that if I am elected president,
the world will have no cause to worry about
Nigeria as it has had to recently; that Nigeria will
return to its stabilising role in West Africa; and
that no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be
lost to the enemy because we will pay special
attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and
out of service, we will give them adequate and
modern arms and ammunitions to work with, we
will improve intelligence gathering and border
controls to choke Boko Haram’s financial and
equipment channels, we will be tough on
terrorism and tough on its root causes by
initiating a comprehensive economic
development plan promoting infrastructural
development, job creation, agriculture and
industry in the affected areas. We will always act
on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly
fester, and I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always
lead from the front and return Nigeria to its
leadership role in regional and international
efforts to combat terrorism.
On the economy, the fall in prices of oil has
brought our economic and social stress into full
relief. After the rebasing exercise in April 2014,
Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa’s largest
economy. Our GDP is now valued at $510 billion
and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also
on the bright side, inflation has been kept at
single digit for a while and our economy has
grown at an average of 7% for about a decade.
But it is more of paper growth, a growth that,
on account of mismanagement, profligacy and
corruption, has not translated to human
development or shared prosperity. A
development economist once said three
questions should be asked about a country’s
development: one, what is happening to
poverty? Two, what is happening to
unemployment? And three, what is happening to
inequality?
The answers to these questions in Nigeria show
that the current administration has created two
economies in one country, a sorry tale of two
nations: one economy for a few who have so
much in their tiny island of prosperity; and the
other economy for the many who have so little
in their vast ocean of misery.
Even by official figures, 33.1% of Nigerians live
in extreme poverty. That’s at almost 60 million,
almost the population of the United Kingdom.
There is also the unemployment crisis
simmering beneath the surface, ready to explode
at the slightest stress, with officially 23.9% of
our adult population and almost 60% of our
youth unemployed. We also have one of the
highest rates of inequalities in the world.
With all these, it is not surprising that our
performance on most governance and
development indicators (like Mo Ibrahim Index on
African Governance and UNDP’s Human
Development Index.) are unflattering. With fall in
the prices of oil, which accounts for more than
70% of government revenues, and lack of
savings from more than a decade of oil boom,
the poor will be disproportionately impacted.
In the face of dwindling revenues, a good place
to start the repositioning of Nigeria’s economy
is to swiftly tackle two ills that have ballooned
under the present administration: waste and
corruption. And in doing this, I will, if elected,
lead the way, with the force of personal
example.
On corruption, there will be no confusion as to
where I stand. Corruption will have no place and
the corrupt will not be appointed into my
administration. First and foremost, we will plug
the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue
producing entities such as NNPC and Customs
and Excise will have one set of books only. Their
revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly
audited. The institutions of state dedicated to
fighting corruption will be given independence
and prosecutorial authority without political
interference.
But I must emphasise that any war waged on
corruption should not be misconstrued as
settling old scores or a witch-hunt. I’m running
for President to lead Nigeria to prosperity and
not adversity.
In reforming the economy, we will use savings
that arise from blocking these leakages and the
proceeds recovered from corruption to fund our
party’s social investments programmes in
education, health, and safety nets such as free
school meals for children, emergency public
works for unemployed youth and pensions for
the elderly.
As a progressive party, we must reform our
political economy to unleash the pent-up
ingenuity and productivity of the Nigerian people
thus freeing them from the curse of poverty. We
will run a private sector-led economy but
maintain an active role for government through
strong regulatory oversight and deliberate
interventions and incentives to diversify the
base of our economy, strengthen productive
sectors, improve the productive capacities of
our people and create jobs for our teeming
youths.
In short, we will run a functional economy driven
by a worldview that sees growth not as an end
by itself, but as a tool to create a society that
works for all, rich and poor alike. On March 28,
Nigeria has a decision to make. To vote for the
continuity of failure or to elect progressive
change. I believe the people will choose wisely.
In sum, I think that given its strategic
importance, Nigeria can trigger a wave of
democratic consolidation in Africa. But as a
starting point we need to get this critical
election right by ensuring that they go ahead,
and depriving those who want to scuttle it the
benefit of derailing our fledgling democracy.
That way, we will all see democracy and
democratic consolidation as tools for solving
pressing problems in a sustainable way, not as
ends in themselves.
Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in
Africa: Nigeria’s Transition
Permit me to close this discussion on a personal
note. I have heard and read references to me as
a former dictator in many respected British
newspapers including the well regarded
Economist. Let me say without sounding
defensive that dictatorship goes with military
rule, though some might be less dictatorial than
others. I take responsibility for whatever
happened under my watch.
I cannot change the past. But I can change the
present and the future. So before you is a
former military ruler and a converted democrat
who is ready to operate under democratic
norms and is subjecting himself to the rigours of
democratic elections for the fourth time.
You may ask: why is he doing this? This is a
question I ask myself all the time too. And here
is my humble answer: because the work of
making Nigeria great is not yet done, because I
still believe that change is possible, this time
through the ballot, and most importantly,
because I still have the capacity and the passion
to dream and work for a Nigeria that will be
respected again in the comity of nations and that
all Nigerians will be proud of.
I thank you for listening.

United kingdom please not kingtom