Headline

Democracy Was Forced On Africa — Obasanjo

Published

6 months ago

November 20, 2023

Editor

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, said democracy has not been working as a system of government in Africa because it was “forced” on the continent.

Obasanjo stated this in his address at a high-level consultation on “Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy for Africa”.

The former president said the Western style of democracy failed in Africa because it did not take into consideration the views of the majority of the people.

Obasanjo described Western Liberal Democracy as a “government of a few people over all the people or population”.

”These few people are representatives of only some of the people and not full representatives of all the people.

“Invariably, the majority of the people were wittingly or unwittingly kept out. This is why we should have ‘Afro Democracy’ in place of Western Liberal Democracy.”

Obasanjo said African countries have no business operating a system of government in which they have no hands in its definition and design.

“The weakness and failure of liberal democracy as it is practised stem from its history, content, context and its practice.

“Once you move from all the people to representatives of the people, you start to encounter troubles and problems.

“For those who define it as the rule of the majority, should the minority be ignored, neglected and excluded?

“In short, we have a system of government in which we have no hands to define and design and we continue with it, even when we know that it is not working for us.

“Those who brought it to us are now questioning the rightness of their invention, its deliverability and its relevance today without reform,” he said.

Obasanjo explained that the essence of any system of government should be the welfare and well-being of the people.

“Here, we must interrogate the performance of democracy in the West — where it originated from — and with us the inheritors of what we are left with by our colonial powers.

“We are here to stop being foolish and stupid. Can we look inward and outward to see what in our country, culture, tradition, practice and living over the years that we can learn from?

“Something) that we can adopt and adapt with practices everywhere for a changed system of government that will service our purpose better and deliver.

“We have to think out of the box and, after, act with our new thinking.

“You are invited here to examine clinically the practice of liberal democracy, identify its shortcomings for our society and bring forth ideas and recommendations that can serve our purpose better,” he said.

In his remarks, a former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, noted that liberal democracy in Africa was confronted with many challenges.

Fayemi said the improvement of the welfare of the people remained important, saying that democracy faced challenges of delivery in Africa.

“Non-delivery of development outcomes for the people must be adequately addressed so that democracy can deliver,” he said. (NAN)

Headline

List Of Persons On Board Iranian President’s Missing Helicopter

Published

4 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Editor

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was involved in a hard landing while visiting a northern region and his condition is currently unknown.

There were three helicopters in this convoy, two of which were carrying ministers and officials, and they arrived at their destination safely.

According to reports, different rescue groups are moving towards the area to locate the missing helicopter.

DAILY POST reported that it was unclear if Raisi and others on board with him survived the crash.

However, given the unsuitable weather conditions, it may take some time for the rescue team to find the helicopter.

According to World of Statistics, those onboard the helicopter when the incident occurred include Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, representative of Iranian Supreme Leader to East Azerbaijan.

Headline

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Azerbaijan Offer Help To Search President Raisi’s Helicopter

Published

4 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Editor

Iranian search and rescue teams were scouring a fog-shrouded mountainside after a helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi went missing in an “accident” on Sunday, state media said.

Fears grew for the 63-year-old ultraconservative after contact was lost with the helicopter carrying him as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in East Azerbaijan province, reports said.

“An accident happened to the helicopter carrying the president” in the Jolfa region of the western province, state television said, while some officials described the incident as a “hard landing”.

“The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have made it difficult for the rescue teams to reach the accident site,” said one state broadcaster.

More than 40 rescue teams using search dogs and drones were sent to the site, reported the IRNA news agency.

Raisi was visiting the province where he inaugurated a dam project together with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, on the border between the two countries.

Raisi’s convoy included three helicopters, and the other two had “reached their destination safely,” according to Tasnim news agency.

Foreign countries were closely following the search effort at a time of high regional tensions over the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas since October 7 that has drawn in other armed groups in the Middle East.

A US State Department spokesman said: “We are closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister.

“We have no further comment at this time.”

An Iranian Red Crescent team was seen walking up a slope in thick fog and drizzling rain, while other live footage showed worshippers reciting prayers in the holy city of Mashhad, Raisi’s hometown.

In neighbouring Iraq, Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani “instructed the interior ministry and the Iraqi Red Crescent and other relevant authorities to offer available resources… to aid in the search”.

Azeri President Aliyev said in a post on X that “we were profoundly troubled by the news of a helicopter carrying the top delegation crash-landing in Iran”.

“Our prayers to Allah Almighty are with President Ebrahim Raisi and the accompanying delegation,” he said, noting that his country “stands ready to offer any assistance needed”.

The accident happened in the mountainous protected forest area of Dizmar near the town of Varzaghan, said the official IRNA news agency.

Military personnel along with the Revolutionary Guards and police had also deployed teams to the area, said army chief-of-staff Mohammad Bagheri.

Iran’s Health Minister Bahram Eynollahi said medical resources had been dispatched.

The reformist Shargh daily also reported that “the helicopter carrying the president crashed” while two other helicopters had landed safely.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said one of the helicopters “made a hard landing due to bad weather conditions” and that it was “difficult to establish communication” with the aircraft.

Raisi has been president of the Islamic Republic since 2021 when he succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani, for a term during which Iran has faced crisis and conflict.

He took the reins of a country in the grip of a deep social crisis and an economy strained by US sanctions against Tehran over its contested nuclear programme.

Iran saw a wave of mass protests triggered by the death in custody of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022 after her arrest for allegedly flouting dress rules for women.

In March 2023, regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia signed a surprise deal that restored diplomatic relations.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday voiced “great concern” after Sunday incident, offering to help with the response.

“We affirm that the Kingdom stands by the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran in these difficult circumstances and its readiness to provide any assistance that the Iranian agencies need,” the foreign ministry of the Gulf kingdom, a longtime rival of Iran, said in a statement.

The war in Gaza that broke out on October 7 sent regional tensions soaring again and a series of tit-for-tat escalations led to Tehran launching hundreds of missiles and rockets directly at Israel in April 2024.

In a speech following Sunday’s dam inauguration, Raisi emphasised Iran’s support for Palestinians, a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“We believe that Palestine is the first issue of the Muslim world, and we are convinced that the people of Iran and Azerbaijan always support the people of Palestine and Gaza and hate the Zionist regime,” said Raisi.

Raisi, born in 1960 in northeast Iran’s holy city of Mashhad, served as Tehran’s prosecutor-general from 1989 to 1994, deputy chief of the Judicial Authority for a decade from 2004, and then national prosecutor-general in 2014.

His black turban signifies direct descent from the Prophet Mohammed, and state media has referred to him by the senior title of ayatollah in the Shiite clerical hierarchy.

Headline

Iranian President: Hamas Raises ‘Great Concern’ Over Helicopter Crash

Published

4 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Editor

Hamas has issued a statement voicing “great concern” after a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other Iranian officials crashed on Sunday, CNN reports.

Recall that a helicopter carrying Raisi was involved in a hard landing while visiting a northern region and his condition is currently unknown.

Details about the crash are still unclear, as rescue groups are moving towards the area to locate the missing helicopter.

However, Hamas has expressed “solidarity” towards the president and the “brotherly Iranian people.”

The Hamas statement reads partly: “In this painful incident, we express our full solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran, its leadership, government, and people, and we ask Allah Almighty to protect and ensure the safety of the Iranian President and his accompanying delegation, and to keep all harm away from the brotherly Iranian people.”