The State of Democracy in West Africa with Idayat Hassan

Rules of the Game – discussing democratic institutions

With Idayat Hassan I discuss the state of democracies in West Africa. She is the Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), an organization that is advocating for democratic reforms across the West African Region, and based in Abuja, Nigeria. The organization was founded in 1997 in London by Nigerians in Exile when Nigeria was still under military rule. But it relocated to Lagos when Nigeria made the important transition to a democratic regime in 1999. It has remained a bridge building institution between policymakers, civil society activists, and academics in West Africa ever since.

If Idayat Hassan could change one institution in her home country Nigeria, it would be to strengthen the whole system of Federalism, to give local governments more autonomy, and more decision making power. What currently worries her is the reemergence of coups d’etat across Western Africa that make politics less predictable, and destroy democratic principles. She elaborates how the situation has been developing in recent times.

An institution that the CDD is advocating for is the proportional representation electoral system that would get rid of the zero-sum politics, and allow emerging political parties to gain fair representation in parliament. Yet, proportional representation has received very little attention in the region so far.

Idayat Hassan is a lawyer and has held fellowships in universities across Europe and the United States. Idayat received her bachelor’s degree in law from the Lagos State University, and she holds an LL.M. in legal theory from the European Academy of Legal Theory, based in Brussels. Her interests span democracy, peace and security, transitional justice, and information and communications technology for development in West Africa. Idayat frequently appears in international and local media as an expert on the region and is regularly quoted in the BBC, Washington Post, The Economist, Radio France Internationale,, Deutsche Welle and many more.

Show notes with a full transcript and links to all material discussed: https://rulesofthegame.blog/the-state-of-democracy-in-west-africa/

Schedule: 00:00 Introduction / 04:10 Personal questions / 07:06 Main discussion / 36:50 Recommendations by Idayat Hassan.

Follow Idayat on Twitter (https://twitter.com/HassanIdayat) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassan-idayat-60939824/).

Check out the website of Centre for Democracy and Development: https://cddwestafrica.org/

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Many thanks to Ana Margarida Santos who edited the episode.

Please enjoy this wide ranging conversation with Idayat Hassan.