Arguably, democracy remains the most suitable and probably the best form of government as seen around the world, particularly in many advanced countries. There are good examples of civilised countries practicing democracy globally, such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The number of democratic countries in the world is estimated between 90 and 110 (out of 193 independent countries – member states of the United Nations). About 40 percent of the countries in the world are democratic republics.
Canada is a representative democracy and a parliamentary monarchy. Its political system follows the British model.
The head of government is the prime minister responsible to the parliament while the head of state is the monarch (the same as the British monarch). Canada shares the head of state with the UK.
In all modern democracies, the government is divided into the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Depending on how power is organised between the branches, one can distinguish presidential, parliamentary, and semi-presidential democracies.
The word “democracy” comes from a Greek word meaning “rule by the people”. There are two forms of democracy: direct democracy and representative democracy. Direct democracy was practiced in ancient Greece, such as in the city-state of Athens. Under this system, a citizens’ assembly makes decisions directly, while executive officials are usually selected by lot. Direct democracy cannot be applied in large countries inhabited by millions of people. Hence, nowadays all democracies are representative democracies, meaning that they are ruled by representatives elected in free and fair elections under universal suffrage.
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Nigeria is among countries practicing democracy and the nation has experienced 25 years of uninterrupted democratic governance. The quest to further enhance and strengthen democratic governance in the country warrants various interventions culminating into reforms.
Over the past eight years, between 2016 and 2024, Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn, a UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office programme, has been in the forefront, supporting efforts geared towards governance reforms in Nigeria.
PERL supported the civil society organisations in Nigeria and government through its Engaged Citizen Pillar with training to build their capacity towards service delivery to the people. For instance, the efforts of PERL to ensure an effective and efficient Local Government system eventually led to the attainment of local government autonomy in Nigeria. PERL also supported the state legislators to achieve financial and administrative autonomy which State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria currently enjoy.
Prominent Civil Society organisations in the country, citizen groups and other stakeholders including the Nigeria Labour Congress, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, and Nigeria Union of Teachers, Local Government Health workers in Nigeria commended efforts of PERL on attainment of Local Government autonomy in the country.
At a One-Day Reflection Session for Speakers and Clerks of State Houses of Assembly, organised by the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria with support from PERL, while affirming their commitment to ensuring good governance at the grassroots level across the country, the Speakers acknowledged the role of PERL in achieving reforms that enhanced their functionality and strengthened the legislature at the state level n Nigeria.
The Chairman of Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, in his keynote address with the theme: “Legislative Reforms at the State Level: The Journey so far,” said contributions of Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) towards ensuring good governance at the subnational level cannot be qualified. According to Ogundoyin: “We appreciate the efforts of PERL. We are thankful for the efforts of PERL for focusing on the subnational government, especially, the legislative arm.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Speaker of Sokoto State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Tukur Bala, lauded PERL for its efforts so far in ensuring good governance and service delivery to the people.
Similarly, the Nigeria Majority Leaders Forum noted the huge contributions of PERL to attainment of financial and administrative autonomy for the state Legislature. The Chairman of Nigeria Majority Leaders Forum and Majority Leader of Delta State House of Assembly, Honourable Emeka Nwaobi, said this has enabled the lawmakers at the state level to function effectively and efficiently.
The Majority Leaders of Kaduna and Plateau State Houses of Assembly, Munira Suleiman-Tanimu and Joseph Bukar, on behalf not other state legislators, expressed gratitude to PERL for supporting reforms aimed at enhancing good governance at the state level which has made positive impacts on the lives of their constituents. As a token of appreciation, the Nigeria Majority Leaders Forum presented the PERL Team Leader, Dr. John Mutu, with an Award of Excellence in recognition of his unquantifiable contributions to governance reforms in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, as PERL closed out, stakeholders are expected to sustain the programme’s accomplishments by reflecting on previous engagements and lessons learnt, to inform future plans.
. Oyegbade, a public affairs analyst ,writes from Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
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