Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, on Saturday, said a virile opposition within the country’s political system would help to develop the nation’s democracy, stressing that it would enhance good governance.
Akeredolu who stated this Saturday during the 2021 Democracy Day Celebration held at the Dome, Igbatoro Road, Akure, said a one-party system is dangerous for a democratic sitting, saying there must be room for criticism.
Akeredolu maintained that only democracy as a system of government cannot guarantee good governance but said the “institutions of any country which espouses this liberal concept must reflect its principles in practice.”
He noted that the current happenings in the country implied that the lessons derivable from the June 12 experience had been cast aside for parochialism which finds expression in “prebendal politics.”
Akeredolu said “I will encourage good opposition. A one-party system is not good. There must be room for criticism.
“The people’s ability to choose is severely limited by their material circumstances. Representative democracy thus casts a doubt on its effectiveness, nay usefulness, when the majority of the people wallow in abject privation.
“A beneficial system must take, seriously, the issue of mobilising the mass of the people to create wealth. Deliberative governance, structured for service, must reflect the yearnings and aspirations of the people in its policies. The welfare of the people must be at the centre of all governmental activities.”
While delivering a lecture titled ‘Democracy and Insecurity: Challenges & Way forward’, the Guest Speaker, Femi Aborisade stated that for the country to move forward, there must be a paradigm shift in the philosophy of governance.
Aborisade said, “it involves a shift of orientation from giving primacy of attention to so-called national development measured mainly in the number and size of infrastructural projects through the private sector, attracting foreign investors to the economy.”
He said the need to restructure Nigeria had long been overdue and called for constitutional provisions for the protection of the right of sub nations to secede or remain in the federation.
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