Nigeria should give up the concept of Western democracy in favor of its own traditions, the former President Olusegun Obasanjo said during the valedictory service in honor of Prof. Chinedum Babalola, the outgoing Vice-Chancellor of Chrisland University in Abeokuta in the southwest of Nigeria.
"I have always been talking about Western liberal democracy. It is not working for us; it is not even working for those who gave it to us. The British were complaining. We must rethink democracy," the former president said, as quoted by local media.
Obasanjo added that African traditions are connected with communalism, when citizens of one country do everything together instead of opposition. He noted that there are prominent Nigerians who could contribute to changes in the country.
Earlier, Dr. Abdulkareem Alhassan, Director of the Center for General Studies at the Federal University of Lafia in central Nigeria, told Sputnik Africa that Abuja should join the growing trend of trading in local currencies, particularly with Russia.
In an interview, Dr. Alhassan emphasized the numerous benefits of this shift. He argued that using local currencies would conserve Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves, alleviate pressure on the naira, and enhance the country's economic sovereignty.