Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has warned that the African continent must work against all anti-democratic forces if sustainable development will be attained.
He, however, assured that the Regional Partnership for Democracy (RPD) will address some of the challenges facing the African subregion.
The minister made the submission at the Inaugural Regional Partnership Development Stakeholder Engagement Strategy programme in Abuja.
Proper Democratisation and the Rule of Law in the African continent has been a subject of debate among scholars. While the majority believe that Democracy is flawed in the continent, others believe that the pre-colonial form of governance remains a big influence in the evolution of Democratic practice in the continent.
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Several attempts are being made to put good governance in a proper stead. One of such move is the Regional Partnership for Democracy (RPD) which Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar says is not merely a policy framework but a bold assertion that democracy in West Africa must be sustained, strengthened, and most importantly, shaped by the sub-region.
He identified factors that have placed democracy in the region under pressure to include the failure to address poor governance at the local level and the lack of effective representation, particularly at the grassroots leve
Earlier , UNDP Nigeria Resident Representative Elsie Attafuah commended Nigeria for the initiative.
She highlighted three pillars of RPD anchored on institutional resilience by enhancing the integrity and capacity of electoral commissions, focusing on citizen engagement, and knowledge exchange across West Africa.
Chairman House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Oluwole Oke, described RPD as timely,
(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)
