For democracy to thrive, Africa needs strong institutions rather than strong men. This was the position of speakers at the 2019 AELEX law firm annual lecture.
However, they emphasised that where there are strong men and women, they must be subject to the rule of law.
The lecture had the theme: Strong men vs Strong institutions –strengthening democracy in Africa.
The keynote speaker, Prof Patrice Lumumba, traced the origin of strong men in Africa to its colonial history.
According to him, the colonial masters did whatever they had in mind, not minding whether or not such actions had negative effects on those they colonised.
The result, he said, was that the founding fathers inherited alien institutions, not harmonised with the peculiarity of the people, which led to the emergence of strong men.
He added that the typical African leader during the post-colonial era was strong because he had the backing of the colonial masters.
“The danger with strong men is that they forget themselves; they eventually become rough.
“They usually start well, have a clear vision, clarity of purpose, which is why a strong institution is important to checkmate them when they go rough.
“There may be tendencies of dictatorship but the strong man is what we need,” he said.
According to Lumumba, a strong man, who has become too strong will likely prevent the establishment of strong institutions because he does not want his excesses checked.
He added that some strong men have made their strong institutions weak or subordinate to themselves.
For Lumumba, Africa needs strong men and women as they are useful, but also needs strong institutions.
“These strong men and women must be subjected to the law so there is need for strong institutions to put them in check,” he said.
The respected orator believed that African societies have not defined democracy to suit them.
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“We define democracy the way Abraham Lincoln defined it, but in the African society, where are the people? The people are nowhere to be found because we have not defined democracy to suit our own way.
“There is no one-size-fits-all meaning of democracy for the African continent. It should be practiced in a manner that suits the people of that region so each country must define theirs.
“When we have strong men and weak or no institutions, it eventually leads to a collapse just like the Soviet Union,” he added.
Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, who chaired the event, noted that only very few strong men in Africa were subjected to the rule of law, adding that a great number of them were not.
Dr. Joe Abah said Africa should stop blaming the colonial masters for its failures, stressing that they are not the cause of corruption or looting of treasury.
According to him, Southeast Asia was also colonised by the British, but they have moved on since then.
Former Lagos State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, agreed with Lumumba that Africa needs strong men and strong institutions.
“But we still have serious issues to deal with, such as crisis of trust in the men and the institutions because some institutions have also missed it as a result of how powerful they are. There is the crisis of the fact that democracy as we have it today since 1999, has not delivered its dividends to the people as expected,” he said.
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