This is the third and concluding installment of a paper delivered by Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR, speaker of the House of Representatives at the Council on Foreign Relatons, Washington DC, USA.
IT is now 14 years since Nigeria bade final farewell to military dictatorship and embraced civilian democratic governance. The forthcoming general elections of 2015 will be the fifth general elections in Nigeria since our return to democracy.

This is a momentous achievement in Nigeria’s history, considering that previous attempts at democracy did not endure for more than a few years.

File Photo: Tambuwal, Mark, Jonathan

The journey has not been smooth, but we have persevered. We have already overcome some major obstacles and we have no doubt there are further bumps ahead. However, when we look back on the road we have travelled we cannot fail to be confident that we will overcome whatever challenges may lie ahead.

We also take solace in the fact that the developed democracies went through similar or even worse bumps on their way to where they are today, and that even today, the most advanced democracies still contend with the ever evolving complexities of democratic practice.

The longer Nigeria stays on the path of democratic progress, the better our people will become in choosing the right calibre of leadership to serve as custodians of the nation’s destiny.

The world must, therefore, be patient with Nigeria. Our problems are many but not insurmountable. And our potentials are immense; some would say limitless.

The value of a stable Nigeria to global peace and stability is undeniable. Nigeria’s democracy experiment must succeed. We in the Nigerian legislature are determined to ensure that democracy succeeds and endures in Nigeria, and that the people’s expectations from the democratic system of government are not betrayed.

Duty of developed democracies to emerging democracies: The burden of the consolidation of democracy cannot be carried by the emerging democracies alone. The developed democracies also have a role to play. They have a duty to ensure the success of the democracy experiment in emerging democracies. It is a duty they owe to the concept of democracy itself.

They must understand that the success of democracy anywhere is good for democracy everywhere, and that the failure of democracy anywhere gives a general black eye to democracy as system of governance.

Importance of leadership

Considering the importance of leadership to the success of democracy, and the importance of democracy to the emancipation of the world’s peoples from the shackles of fear, oppression, poverty, disease, ignorance and corruption, the developed nations must continue to find ways to assist developing nations to select the right leaders.

They must not be weary of investing in the continuing training and improvement of leadership capabilities in emerging democracies. No development assistance is more crucial for emerging democracies than assistance targeted at nurturing of their future leaders. Developed nations must resist the temptation to retreat into their isolationist cocoon and abandon the developing nations to find their own path around the maze of democracy.

Conclusion: Some analysts have hinted, rather uncharitably, that certain regions or cultures in the developing world maybe naturally unreceptive to the ethos of democracy.

They tend to suggest that there is some nutrient in the soil of certain countries that makes democracy flourish there, while the soil of other nations lacks this vital nutrient and is therefore inherently hostile to democracy. This is a completely false prognosis. When all is said and done, it all comes down to leadership. With the right leadership, democracy will develop in the developing democracies.

May I once again thank the Council of Foreign Relations for affording me this unique opportunity to share my thoughts on this crucial issue. I eagerly look forward to gaining further insight on this subject from the contributions of other participants at this seminar.