27 March 2006
editorial
Lagos — In a presidential election that indicates the relative political maturity of the Republic of Benin, independent candidate and international technocrat, Yayi Boni, 58, has defeated ex-prime minister and career politician, Adrien Houngbedji, polling 75 per cent of the votes. Coming from the African continent where democracy is yet to make any genuine meaning to the bulk of its leadership and populations, other countries do not have to seek inspiration on electoral politics from the more advanced nations of the West.
Both the setting and operation of the rules of that electoral exercise are worth emulating. The authorities, political class and electorate took turns to demonstrate their political sophistication and understanding of the need to play by the rules. Aspirants above 70 years of age were barred by the constitution from contesting, and none did. Not even incumbent President Matthieu Kerekou, 73, and his predecessor, Nicephore Soglo, 72, did anything to bend the rules to pave the way for their entry into the race.
The campaigns were devoid of personality attacks, scare-mongering and appeals to primordial sentiments. Instead, they focused on issues. The 26 candidates who ran for the top job on March 5 concentrated on how to improve governance, tackle unemployment and boost cotton production, the country's main export. Proceedings were also reported to have been inducement-free. In addition to these wholesome practices, Boni and Houngbedji who scored the highest votes (36% and 24% respectively) during the first round, went into the run-off without rancour. While casting his own vote, Houngbedji declared, "I'm proud of what's happening in Benin today, in keeping with our democratic plans."
Also, Kerekou demonstrated an uncommon respect for the democratic process as he ordered the announcement of the result of the run-off even when it did not favour his protege, Houngbedji. For a man who became head of state via a coup d'etat in 1972 but willingly handed over to Soglo in 1991 in West Africa's first peaceful power transfer through the ballot, and then, regained the position twice consecutively, Kerekou is, no doubt, a champion of democracy meriting imitation.
This high level of political development in Benin should humble better-endowed African countries. At the moment, the United Nations ranking shows that in terms of quality-of-life index, Benin stands at 161st out of 177 nations. With a $3 per capita income and 40 per cent adult literacy, it is truly economically and socially backward. Yet, the Beninoise have continued to show a resolve to institutionalise an acceptable democracy. Their preference for Boni, a former boss of West African Development Bank, exhibits a quest for pragmatic solutions to their challenging economic circumstances.
Lesson: a country does not have to be rich to possess a system that functions properly. And Nigeria, a country lavishly endowed with natural resources, needs to imbibe that precept urgently. At present, the polity is at the point of implosion, on account of political succession in 2007. Unlike what obtainsed in the neighbouring Benin, incumbency is being used in Africa's largest democracy apparently as an instrument of subjugation and perpetuation, rather than strengthening democratic norms and virtues.
This irony - a supposedly weaker country leading the way while the mightier one trudges on - should make the leaders of this nation to have a rethink. Until one elected president hands over the reins of power to another elected president in a free and fair election, then democracy cannot be said to be taking root in any country. From Kenya to Zambia, through Senegal to Ghana, and now, Benin, various African countries have mustered the political savvy to pass this democratic test. The continent looks up to Nigeria in 2007.
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