By Perpetua Onuegbu
Auwal Rafsanjani, the Executive Director of CISLAC and Head, Transparency
International, Nigeria, has cautioned Nigerians against the demarketing of the
country abroad.
Rafsanjani, in Abuja on Sunday, urged Nigerians to distinguish between criticism
of the country’s leadership and actions capable of undermining national interest.
According to him, while citizens have constitutional rights to criticise government
policies or leaders, campaigns portraying the country negatively on the
international stage can have unintended consequences for ordinary Nigerians.
“There is a difference between disagreeing with leaders and attacking your country.
When you destroy your country’s image, you are invariably injuring yourself,” he
said.
The CISLAC chief warned that calls for international sanctions against Nigeria,
often driven by dissatisfaction with governance or perceived injustice, tend to hurt
citizens more than political leaders.
“When economic sanctions are imposed, they affect ordinary people, not
necessarily the leaders who often have alternatives outside the country,” he added.
Rafsanjani argued that transparent and credible elections remained the most
effective way for citizens to remove unpopular leaders at the local, state and
national levels rather than seeking external punitive measures.
He, therefore, called for stronger collaboration among civil society, the media and
democratic institutions to promote voter education, responsible public discourse
and peaceful participation in elections as pathways to strengthening Nigeria’s
democracy.
Rafsanjani identified civil society organisations (CSOs) and the media as critical
stakeholders in strengthening citizens’ participation in the country’s electoral
process through sustained voter education, civic sensitisation and responsible
public communication.
He noted that since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, CSOs had
consistently worked to educate and mobilise voters in spite of operating with
limited financial and human resources.
According to him, CSOs have played leading roles in promoting civic education
aimed at helping Nigerians understand the importance of democratic participation,
adding that they had also been at the forefront of educating citizens about the
dangers of electoral violence and fraud, and the need to follow due electoral
processes before, during and after elections.
The CISLAC executive director, however, expressed concern that political parties,
which are expected to educate their supporters on democratic processes, often fell
short of this responsibility, leaving civil society organisations to fill the gap.
