Don’t let our democracy collapse – Jonathan warns legislators

President Goodluck Jonathan Monday
urged members of the legislative arm of
government within the African continent
to do everything within their reach to
sustain their democracy. President Jonathan said this in Abuja
while declaring open the 1st Africa
Legislative Summit, 2013 as organised by
the National Assembly in collaboration
with the National Institute for Legislative
Studies. Speaking during the programme with the
theme, “Emerging Legislatures in Africa:
Challenges and Opportunities” Jonathan
noted that despite the progress made in
Africa; there were still threats to
democracy in some countries. He said, “In spite of the progress we have
made so far, we are still experiencing
threats to democracy in some African
countries, we should do everything
possible to resolve the challenges to
discourage a revert to military rule in the affected countries. “Parliament should
legislate against issues
and actions that could lead to the
collapse of the current democratic
arrangements in African countries.” According to him, “It is coming at a
critical period when the African nation is
in search of a means of strengthening
the various democratic institutions to
pave way for enduring democratic
structures. There is the need for strategy, for networking and capacity
building. The legislature has a critical role
to play in lawmaking, oversight function
to consolidate democratic practice and
norms.” He commended the Nigerian parliament
for extending legislative activities and
cooperation beyond the shores of the
country, stressing that it was a platform
for fostering legislative and executive
cooperation to engender development. “A few years ag,o African democratic
climate was taken over by the military
dictatorship. The development created a
wide gap between the roles of the
executive and the legislature. Hence, due
to frequent military change of government, Africa was denied quality
legislation that could lead to growth and
development.