Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has described African leaders as haters of democracy, saying that they lacks basic economics knowledge to push the continent forward.
Obasanjo also blamed Presidents of African nations over deficiency for underdevelopment, corruption, and dependency on foreign aid.
The former Nigeria president led this out on Thursday, during a panel session at the 32nd Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja.
Obasanjo called for a re-evaluation of Africa’s governance systems, saying that Western liberal democracy, inherited from colonial powers, no longer serves the continent’s best interests.
He said: “How many of our leaders even understand basic economics to be able to run the affairs of their country?
“Look at how we go about borrowing and wasting money. Waste and corruption, they are strange bedfellows of development. And that is what most of our leaders engage in.
“In most African languages, opposition is the enemy. Where do you talk of a loyal enemy?
“Our democracy is not a democracy, it is a monocracy. You buy everyone; you become treasurer, and the money goes into your pocket.
“In the African system, we never talk of opposition. We sit down, argue, and get a consensus. Not government versus opposition. Now is the time to say it is not working for us. Even for them, it’s not working.
“If we have knowledge, we will get the right policies from the community level to the national, sub-regional, and continental levels. And those policies will reflect the world we live in.”