The InfoStride Forum

Leading African historian, Prof. Ali Mazrui and Nigeria's Ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye, say the advancement of democratic expectations portends well for the good of Africa.

Both spoke over the weekend in New York where the Friends of Africa International, at its 4th Annual Africa Day Benefit Dinner, honoured them on Thursday.

Adefuye, also a professor of history, and who received the African Vision Award, particularly praised the recent Nigerian elections as encouraging.

He said Nigeria would continue to provide democratic leadership on the continent, something the country ensured even while going through its own democratic trial.

"Now, with the successful elections that we have conducted, we shall ensure that the government of the people, for the people and by the people shall be strengthened in Africa," he submitted.

For Mazrui, the progress of democratic elections in Nigeria, as seen in the recent polls, has become "more encouraging than before."

Although he expressed concern about the violent outcomes in parts of the country, the Kenyan-born scholar stated that the elections went well, urging Africans to avoid civil war.

In a short detour on Nigeria, where he observed that the country was making democratic progress, Mazrui's comments featured mainly on his call on Africans to try "our best not to let protests lead to civil war."

This was in reference to the political turmoil started in Tunisia and Egypt and now causing unrest and violence in Libya and other places in the Middle East.

Mazrui traced the growth of popular protests in Africa since the Soweto uprising in South Africa to date and then made a distinction between what happened in Tunisia and Egypt and what is happening in Libya.

According to him, the unrest and protests in Libya had unfortunately become a civil war.

"The Libyan opposition turned to arms causing a civil war, but Egypt protested repression," he said, adding that while the people protested in Egypt, it was rebellion in Libya due to the use of arms by the opposition.

"The big difference between what happened in Egypt and Tunisia is that they settled for protests and succeeded in ousting their rulers," Mazrui explained, praising the Africans in those countries for ousting unpopular leaders peacefully.

In Libya, however, he said the situation developed too fast into a civil war "and once it became a civil war, the government was killing fellow citizens," he lamented.

But he defended the Libyan leader, Muamer Gadhafi against charges of killing citizens, saying that is what happens whenever there is a civil war.

Directing his criticism at the West, Mazrui stated that during the American civil war, the US government killed about 600,000 of its own citizens as well.

He urged Africans to avoid civil war, saying, "let's try our best not to let protests lead to civil war, where brothers will be killing brothers and sisters killing sisters."

But even in Egypt and Tunisia, the Kenyan scholar wondered if the protests would lead to democratic order, recalling that in Kenya after several elections "and when we thought we had made progress," things started to change in 2008 when incumbent ministers started losing parliamentary elections, later leading to violence.

Responding to Mazrui, who had expressed concern about the post-election violence in parts of the country, Adefuye said the violence (in Nigeria) was caused by "desperate elements," which had been contained and controlled as the country is transitioning to another regime after a good and successful election.

He added that Nigeria's mandate is to lead and strengthen democracy in Africa, assuring that, "we shall deliver that mandate; we shall strengthen our democracy so we can develop the continent; that is our mandate and we shall deliver it."

As part of that mandate, the Ambassador said Nigeria takes care of about 75 per cent of ECOWAS budget, arguing that when the country's democracy was under trial, "we still supported Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea Conakry and Ivory Coast (to conduct elections)."

Indeed, he said Nigeria would go beyond ECOWAS to create, support and strengthen democracy in Africa.

Africa has so much in terms of potential, Adefuye observed, saying, "we are so blessed, and we are making progress even if incrementally we shall get there.

"African people cannot be suppressed," and that "democracy is natural to our traditional system of government. So, from Soweto to Benghazi, there is a dying need for democracy and popular participation," he said.

Apart from Adefuye, the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Dr. Francis Deng, a Sudanese, was also honoured with the African Vision Award.

Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Prof. Joy Ogwu, who was said to be out of New York, and Mazrui were given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Friends of Africa International, a New York-based international agency that provides research-oriented policy advice, advocacy, training and resources to regional and international bodies in Africa.

Source: What Nigeria's Polls Mean For Africa, By Mazrui, Adefuye (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48836:what-nigerias-polls-mean-for-africa-by-mazrui-adefuye-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)