Democracy Is A Marathon Not A Sprint, Tinubu

The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu has described democracy as a marathon and not a sprint.

According to him, Nigerians should not be deceived by individuals promising to come and correct the ills of democracy.

Tinubu at the public presentation and launch of a book written by Adesina Adetola titled ” Nigeria and Democratic Governance: The seats, battles and the prospects”, noted that Nigerians will continue to experiment with the nation’s democracy until they get it right.

It was gathered that the APC presidential aspirant who was represented by a former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Femi Pedro, explained that democracy is an experiment that will transcend several lifetimes, adding that “democracy is a marathon, is not a sprint. We make mistakes, we correct ourselves and we move on.”

Tinubu told Nigerians that the country’s democracy would have been stronger by now if there had not been a coup in 1966, “so let nobody come and deceive us to tell us that they are coming in to correct the ills of democracy.”

He recalled that in 1983 when Ajasin and Omoboriowo’s matter started, and there was a riot and pandemonium in Ondo State. It was not strong enough to result in a military takeover but that was what we saw.

The former Lagos state governor advanced that the same with the Afolabi and Bola Ige incident and that since 1999 till date, Nigerians have had several contentious relationships between governors and their deputies, which has strengthened our democracy.

He retreated that Nigerians should not listen to any unrealistic promises and that “they will create worse things when they are in power. We will continue to experiment with our democracy until we get it right.”