TOWARDS A VIOLENCE-FREE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

At the Presidential Retreat on Electoral Process and Violence

Abuja, 7 February, 2002

I am indeed pleased to welcome such distinguished participants to this unique Retreat. I am particularly pleased to welcome two former Heads of State.

The impressive response to this Retreat must surely be a good indication that we have struck a chord in the political sensitivity of most Nigerians, namely the deep and persistent concern about the threat which violence poses to our electoral process, and indeed to the survival of the democratic system in general and to our unity and oneness.

Let me particularly acknowledge the participation of all our political parties and their elected officials at all levels of government, whose presence here underscores the need not only to openly and frankly discuss the problem of endemic presence of violence in our political system, but also that this problem is a national issue, and not defined by partisan interests.

I note with satisfaction the impressive turnout of prominent Nigerians, politicians and statesmen, elders and intellectuals who share with us the pressing need to find solutions to this specter that has in the past aborted democracy in Nigeria, and still has the potential of de-railing the current effort. Furthermore, the presence of every stakeholder and all major players in our political process makes this Retreat a forum for re-affirming our commitment to preserving and aiming for those democratic ideals without which our political activities and ambitions would be hollow and pointless, if not fraudulent.

Distinguished participants, you will recall that the Special Retreat on National Security last year, recommended a forum of politicians, political office holders and other Nigerians who have major roles to play in determining the nature and operations of our electoral system. The concern of that Retreat was anchored on the observation of trends, developments and tendencies in our political practices, which are clearly negating critical elements of democratic values and which, unless effectively checked, could widen the scope for violence as the only avenue through which political issues are determined.

The recommendation was also rightly based on the belief that political stakeholders would not voluntarily pull down the roof of democracy on their own heads. In other words, all participants in the electoral process could - and should - through dialogue, find common grounds to remove the uncertainties surrounding the future of democracy in the country. The fact that the Retreat found the problem of violence in our political process deserving of a forum of this nature was sobering enough, if one considers the standing and experience of the participants of that Special Retreat on National Security.

There is hardly an observer of our political scene who is not worried that our political environment is becoming increasingly hostage to non-democratic practices and values. There is no Nigerian who is not profoundly worried over the social environment that will be generated by 2003 Elections. This Retreat is therefore being convened out of the sincere desire to involve everyone in understanding why, as politicians, leaders and statesmen, we appear to be steadily losing ground to the suffocating influences of violence and lawlessness in the conduct of our political affairs.

The theme of the Electoral Process and Violence was chosen in order to emphasize the fact of the electoral process being the heart and soul of the democratic system. Let us face it, as politicians and statesmen, we may posture as much as we like, we can argue and try to outwit each other in many other areas of the political terrain, but the electoral process must be sacrosanct. We all have a duty to shield the electoral process from the corrosive influence of violence, otherwise the entire democratic system will founder and eventually collapse.

When people only vote without choosing because elections are rigged, and when politicians employ coercion instead of persuasion, such that fear and intimidation nullify free choice, then we have no reasons to expect that the populace will respect elected leaders and their offices. And, of course, a leader who is not respected, is a leader who is not trusted, and any such person has no moral right whatsoever to regard himself as a leader, let alone expect others to see him as one.

We all can predict the behaviour of a person who gets into an elected office through manipulation of the electoral process and related democratic rules: he will proceed to dig himself into office with further manipulation of the political system through the instruments of power at his disposal. The scenario rapidly deteriorates when we remember that anyone who abuses the rules encourages everyone else to do the same, and, with political violence in particular, no one person can claim exclusivity or monopoly.

We refer to violence here in its widest sense to include:

►          the violence in the subtle manipulation of rules and regulations to acquire an advantage;

►          the violence in the elaborate organizations of terror that are designed to intimidate both political opponents and the electorate;

►          the violence in the attitude of winning at all costs, and not accepting that when there are winners there have to be losers, and, not the least,

►          the violence in the behaviour by which opponents are verbally abused with such coarse language that makes all decent onlookers wonder if Nigerian politics is so dehumansing.

This Retreat must start with absolute condemnation of all manifestations of violence.

Let me digress a little bit. The disturbances and killings in Lagos in the last four or five days are senseless and absolutely unacceptable. In our meeting in Kuru on peace and conflict resolution, we condemned the actions of militia and hoodlums. The police has been instructed to leave no stone unturned in dealing with these renegade and destructive elements within the society. And I hope this Retreat will join me in condemning the anti-social and the outright criminal behaviour of those who, for whatever reason, may have supported or intend to ever give succour to militia and hoodlums. No sane or decent person should ever be in support of crimes and criminals.

Every occurrence of violence erodes the legitimacy of the state and the leaders, leaving democracy to stand alone and exposed to those who want to subvert it further or destroy it altogether, because the people would not have cause to rise and defend it.

Let us begin by accepting that all types of violence to our political system abound through most of the length and breadth of our country today. It will not do any good in this Retreat to take comfort in trading blames over who is more violent or more guilty of violence. The fact that we are all here suggests that we all appreciate that something may go terribly wrong with our hopes and dreams if we all do not assume responsibility for fixing it.

There is clear indication that we are yet to hit the right mark in protecting the sources, the expectations and the strengths of the mandates that were freely and enthusiastically given to us by the Nigerian people. We seem to have burdened the political process with such limitations and encumbrances that we cannot, at this stage, in all honesty, claim with certainty that our electoral process will produce leaders from the outcome of free and fair competition, and the free exercise of popular will. What kind of future will those type of elections then hold for our nation?, we should ask.

Nigerians are worrying about 2003 for very good reasons:

►          Nigerians are seeing how we violently compete for offices, from party ward elections to national offices, and they shudder at the specter of general elections;

►          Nigerians are asking whether we can break the jinx of successful civilian to civilian transition;

►          Nigerians are praying that our preparations today, which suggest that we are going to war, does not tear our nation apart;

►          Nigerians notice how private armies are being raised and unbelievable amounts of money are being set aside by those who plan to muscle their way into elective offices;

►          Nigerians are wondering just what is at stake in these offices to justify this fight-to-finish preparation; and

►          Nigerians are puzzled about declarations of parts of the country as no go areas for some political parties by other political parties, as a means of holding unto what they have: a very undemocratic and dangerous notion.

I personally share with Nigerians, the hope that this Retreat will come out with some concrete decisions and proposals to put an end to their fears and worries, and restore their confidence in the democratic process to produce leaders whom they freely choose and whom they can trust. Leaders who seek offices to serve and to sacrifice.

Your Excellencies, distinguished participants, this Retreat Programme, as you would have noticed, has been drawn in such a way as to allow major insights into the peculiarities of our political system, as well as its weaknesses and strengths. We have attempted to bring together panels and presenters who will shed light on our past experiences, as well as existing arrangements. We have also tried to allow as much room for Syndicate Group discussions as the Programme can allow, so that the views and opinions of everyone here can be expressed.

Our hopes are that this Retreat can produce a broad area of understanding on the dos and don’ts of political conduct and practices, to which we will all commit ourselves. I hope we can identify specific grounds and issues which feed violence, as well as how we can curtail these grounds and tendencies. I also hope that we will be very frank and honest in our contributions and resist the temptation merely to accuse each other. Let us not forget that violence begets violence, so also is subversion of the electoral process, and it will culminate in a self-propagation and self-defeating process of a downward spiral into nothing but a farce. And any leaders and government so produced, can expect nothing but absolute contempt from the people. I do not need to spell out the fate of that kind of Government.

Let me conclude this address with a personal pledge. I pledge that I, Olusegun Obasanjo, will abide by any stipulations, rules and regulations, which, in addition to the laws of the nation, this Retreat will propose in order to ensure the survival of our democratic system with its integrity intact. I further pledge that for the duration of my political career, in whatever capacity I find myself, I will respect the rules of fair competition, abide by the laws of the land, and prevent the subversion of the ideals and values of the democratic system. If I or my party win an election, it will be a fair victory, and I appeal to my opponents to be fair as well. I know that God will hold me responsible and I will not go without His sanction, and so will all of us, if by my words and actions I wilfully cause harm to the person, property or life of any competitor or opponent. If I cannot make a difference, I need not be here.

Now let me challenge our registered political parties, and those that may be registered in future, that they shoulder heavy and grave responsibility to sanitise the electoral environment, to ensure that no apostle or practitioner of violence in any form whatsoever is ever allowed to participate in the electoral process, let alone be given mandate by the people. Let all parties and political organisations resolve to cleanly, clearly and effectively dissociate from every manner of violence and interference with electoral process. In short, we must agree to fully and faithfully abide by the rules that underpin our democratic system.

The political parties should form a joint vanguard against violence. We must all be pro-active to make our democracy endure. If we fail, we may not have any political parties!

I would also like to throw a challenge to our media establishments. Your readers and your consumers who depend on you for accurate information, are by nature peace loving people. So why do you sensationalise and glamourise news such that they are either provoked or frightened? To match the degree of trust the public has in the media, you must remain permanently conscious of the special responsibility to transmit the message that violence never pays, and that anyone who engages in violence is a loser as much as his or her victims. This message is eternally valid and sacrosanct, and must never be compromised by style or content of reporting.

I wish you all a most productive Retreat.

I thank you. And may God bless you all.