Former presidential candidate, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has cautioned that democracy in Africa risks slipping back into dictatorship unless political leaders build governance around social welfare and economic justice.
Speaking in Abuja at the National Conference on the Future of Democracy in Nigeria, organised by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), Olawepo-Hashim stressed that democracy must go beyond periodic elections to provide prosperity, jobs, and hope for citizens.
He recalled the words of a former Head of State who once said, “people will not eat democracy,” warning that when governance fails to improve people’s lives, it loses moral legitimacy.
“When democracy ceases to offer opportunity or hope, despair breeds nostalgia for authoritarianism,” he cautioned.
Drawing parallels between Africa’s democratic challenges and post–World War I Europe, Olawepo-Hashim noted that poverty and social unrest once gave rise to dictators such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco.
“If African democracies continue to produce hunger and insecurity, relapse to autocracy is inevitable,” he warned.
He further argued that constitutional reforms alone cannot safeguard democracy, asserting that institutions are only as strong as the integrity of those who manage them.
“Even under military rule, some judges upheld justice. Many African countries once came to Nigeria to ‘export judges’ because of our integrity,” he said.
The former presidential candidate also lauded Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, former Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), for his courage in conducting the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election despite political pressure.
“Without Nwosu’s values, there would be no June 12 to remember. His conduct remains legendary,” he said.
Olawepo-Hashim urged Nigerian leaders to renew public confidence in democracy through fairness, accountability, and real impact on citizens’ welfare.
“Our democracy must deliver, must make sense, and must endure. Like our youths would say, ‘make it make sense.’ We must make our democracy make sense,” he concluded.
