Aboriginal democracy, the only way forward — Okotie

BY LADI AYODEJI

Nigeria has to evolve its own democracy if it is to enjoy stability, according to Rev Chris Okotie. The reverend was speaking as a guest on the Thisday live interview programme hosted last Sunday by Reuben Abati, former presidential spokesman, and renowned journalist.

For Nigeria to survive, he declared, the presidential system must be changed. Okotie recommended “Aboriginal democracy” as clearly enunciated in his widely published proposition on restructuring based on the inauguration of an interim government.

In this interview, Okotie told Abati that, for the sake of the unity and stability of Nigeria, the system must change otherwise, the present transition programme is a journey in futility, adding that the “country would just implode”.

He argued that this is not a federalist constitution we are operating and he blamed the diverse problems facing the nation on the constant interplay of the centrifugal and centripetal forces. Moving forward, Okotie insisted that aboriginal democracy would circumvent all the existential problems facing the nation because it would restructure the federation and create a level playing field for everyone.

He said the constitution does not meet the standard and that because America created the presidential system of government does not mean that it must be adopted worldwide.

Asked how aboriginal democracy would function, given Nigeria’s complex problems. Okotie said the new system would run without the legislature, political parties, and ministers which constitute the biggest constraints on the presidential system currently in operation. Professional associations like the Nigerian Bar Association, the Medical Association, and others, would assume legislative functions because they are best suited to perform such duties because of their knowledge of the basic demands of their individual professions, which our present lawmakers do not have.

Okotie posits that once political parties and ministers are eliminated, the bureaucratic bottlenecks that frustrate service delivery by the government would have been dealt with and the government would be truly run by the people, not parties or politicians who seek power for personal aggrandizement.

Defending his call for all the nominated presidential candidates to step down and allow the restructuring of the polity, Okotie said the final outcome of the 2023 general election would not bode well for Nigeria because the new president would realise that our situation is not about a change of personnel at the state house.

However, Okotie expressed delight at the enthusiasm shown by youth who get their PVC but warned that beyond the present youthful exuberance, at the end of the day, people will demand real change which only Aboriginal Democracy can bring.