Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo says he is increasingly worried about the state of democracy in Nigeria and across Africa, arguing that Africans are “caged” by the form of democracy practiced on the continent. He made the remarks as a panellist at the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue 2026 in Bauchi State.
Obasanjo says the democracy model in Africa is borrowed from colonial masters and is forced into place rather than rooted in African political realities. He adds that he is referring specifically to Western liberal democracy, contrasting it with other forms of governance in different countries and regions. He also points to the foundation’s prior focus on themes about the “death of democracy.”
Across both outlets, the reporting centers on Obasanjo’s criticism that there is “no democracy in Africa” in the sense people commonly describe, and on his view that the system does not reflect an indigenous democratic tradition.
