Nigeria practices Military Democracy - Atiku

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said that despite the end of military rule more than a decade ago, the culture of political intolerance and impunity still pervades the country.

The former vice-president, who was speaking in Switzerland as a guest speaker of the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations on Monday, regretted that in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, opposition members were treated as enemies of the state.

In his paper entitled, ‘Deepening Democracy in Nigeria: Implications for Africa,’ Abubakar said as a result of such lip service to democratic principles, “disregard for rules and regulations and the utter impunity with which they are committed,” have led to what he called “the militarisation of democracy.”

According to him, many retired military chiefs, who came into power as politicians entered the democratic arena without being able to shed their military mindsets, thereby exacerbating the culture of intolerance and entrenching impunity, which characterised today’s political reality in Nigeria.

He, however, admitted that despite these democratic challenges, the freedom of speech, of association, of the right to organise politically and the liberty to criticise the government were restored with the return of democratic rule. http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/news/item/10743-atiku-decries-militarisation-of-democracy