Admin I Friday, May 09, 2025
ACCRA, Ghana – Human right activist, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN has called on radical and revolutionary youths, civil societies, trade unions and progressive leaders to return to barricades and reclaim democracy from both civilian autocrats and military usurpers.
Falana who was speaking in Ghana on the subject STATE OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN ECOWAS MEMBER STATES: TRENDS, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS said “The time has come for radical and revolutionary forces youth, civil society, trade unions, and progressive leaders—to return to the barricades and reclaim democracy from both civilian autocrats and military usurpers”.
He said youth agency is not a token but that it is the soul of democracy.
_ But it must be consciously organized, politically educated, and institutionally embedded.
” Let us dismantle the autocratic strongholds that have turned democracies into monarchies and militaries into messiahs”, he said.
Falana said decades after independence, African economies remain captive to foreign capital.
He said the crisis of underdevelopment is not merely economic, but that it is structural, rooted in the denial of people’s sovereignty over their resources.
“Another deeply troubling trend in the region is the growing disregard for the rule of law.
“Most ECOWAS member states routinely disobey judgments of both domestic and regional courts. This undermines judicial authority and erodes public confidence in democratic institutions”, he said.
For change, he called on ECOWAS to the following:
1. Enforce constitutional term limits and penalize manipulations of the democratic process.
2. Lower age barriers and institute youth quotas in legislatures and party politics.
3. Resist imperialist control, whether from East or West, and demand national control of resources.
4. Support youth civic education, digital engagement, and institutional access to governance.
5. Build transnational youth coalitions to protect democracy and defend human rights.
