Democracy & Governance

Introduction

In a couple of weeks Nigeria will begin another round of general elections. This coming round of the four-yearly ritual, re-started by Nigeria’s ruling class in 1999 to herald the Fourth Republic, will be different in at least two respects from earlier ones.

Talking politics means talking good because politics is about the goodness of society. That is why political philosophers devoted all their lives in looking for the good of the state. 

The chairperson of the SADC parliamentary forum’s standing committee on democratisation, governance and human rights Wavel Ramkalawan from Seychelles, moved for the adoption.

In a matter of a few months the ruling African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa will test its political support through national elections.

For this category of Nigerians, it was their belief in Nigeria and hope for an inclusive country and new ways of doing things that made them take that chance.

The most important factor in the coming elections is that Muhammadu Buhari, the incumbent President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a powerful chief executive of state, is a candidate. He is seeking re-election into the office of President.

It had been predicted that the House of Representatives would be lost by the Republicans to the Democrats. This was the outcome of the elections where Democrats could pick up approximately 40 seats outperforming the party of President Donald Trump.

In his victory speech, Bolsonaro tried to appear conciliatory, or at least more careful and “presidential” and not just a flamethrower whose only setting is full throttle.

On my way to a conference on Africa and Asia in Tanzania last month I stopped in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was keen to make sense of the fast-paced change that has been taking place in Ethiopia after a young man, Abiy Ahmed, was appointed by the ruling party as Prime Minister in April this year.