President George Weah of Liberia, will on February 6 be in Lagos as a guest speaker on the practice of democracy in Africa, at a conference organised by the Centre for Values in Leadership.

The Senior Vice President, CVL, Mr Rasheed Adegbenro, made the disclosure during a courtesy visit to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Lagos office on Thursday.

Bishop Hassan Kukah of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, will also be speaking on the practice of democracy in Africa at the conference, with the theme “Is Democracy Making Life Better in Africa?”

According to Adegbenro, the conference for the past 15 years was part of the organisation’s social service initiatives to enhance national development and make life better for the citizenry.

“One of our objectives is to make policy interventions.

“When we make policy interventions, the government is more likely to listen to us and make policy changes that will benefit the lives of the citizens.

“This year, we are taking a look at a very sensitive issue which borders on democracy.

“We are asking the big question: Is Democracy making life better for us in Africa?’’

“We were told by the Western World that democracy would ensure new investments and make life better for everybody in the developing world by attracting Foreign Direct Investment.

“We have been practising democracy for over 20 years now in Nigeria and we have not moved forward the way we ought to.

“Questions are arising and we really need to know if democracy is bringing us the desired development,” he said.

A panel of six discussants will talk extensively on the practice of democracy in Nigeria and Africa at the roundtable, Adegbenro saiid

They include Mr Femi Falana (SAN); a former Managing Director of Guardian Newspapers, Mr Emeka Izeze; and the proprietor of an NGO, Mrs Toyin Akerele.

He said CVL was providing a platform outside the normal intervention frameworks available to government to generate ideas.