Democracy Not Best Form Of Government For Nigeria – Bankole

• Chief Alani Bankole suggests democracy may not be the best government form for Nigeria, advocating for a unique system
• He emphasizes the need for strong institutions and considers alternatives to democracy while rejecting autocracy

Chief Alani Bankole, father of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Egba, has stated that democracy is not the best form of government for Nigeria.

Bankole, on the other hand, believes Nigeria needs a different type of government than military rule.

He said this shortly after being crowned Apena of Egbaland by the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, at Ake Palace in Abeokuta, Ogun State’s capital.

He contended that such a government system must take into account the peculiarities of the Nigerian people and be best suited to resolving the country’s challenges, adding that Nigeria must build strong institutions to support governance.

He said;

I do not agree that democracy is the best for Nigeria. In Saudi Arabia, there is no democracy. The people there are very happy; they are making progress, they are satisfied, their resources are properly distributed.

However, military government is not an alternative to democracy, but I think as the world is changing, I think people should start thinking about the best system of government other than democracy, but definitely not autocracy.

The only good thing about democracy is that the leaders can never be there forever. The way they practice democracy in America is different from the way they practice democracy in UK and the two are quite different from the way we practice it in Africa because there are institutions of checks and balances, which are always in the constitutions of those countries. But in a place like Nigeria, we have not developed enough to be able to build such institutions.

Alake in his remarks restated the call for constitutional roles for traditional rulers, saying monarchs cannot afford to be onlookers in the country’s affairs.

If traditional rulers become onlookers, there will be a lot of chaos all over the country. We are part and parcel of maintaining peace in the country and we must be seen to be performing that role, Alake said.