The winner-takes-all syndrome in Nigeria's political system must be jettisoned if democracy is to be strengthened in this country, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations Chief Emeka Anyaoku said in Abuja Wednesday. "The idea that the winners have it all should be ignored," Anyaoku said at the 6th Annual Trust Dialogue, organised by Media Trust Limited with the theme 'Democracy: Restoring Faith in Politics.' Anyaoku, who was chairman of the occasion, said politics should be a means for mobilising people rather than a means for satisfying selfish interests. "Politics should be for the service of the citizens and in seeking to serve the citizens, politics should be about determining the aspiration of the people, needs of the people and trying to serve them," he said. Anyaoku said this will help the citizens to have faith in democracy and also help them to know that their votes count in determining who will govern them. He said transparency, accountability and inclusive government were still lacking in Nigerian democracy, stressing that those were very important for deepening democracy. "The recent free and fair election in Ghana has given us hope that Nigeria will one day witness free and fair, non- controversial and non-violent election," Anyaoku said. Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido caused uproar at the dialogue when he disagreed with the position of Chief Anyaoku and the other speakers, saying Nigeria has nothing to learn from the recent Ghanaian or the previous Sierra Leone elections. He said instead,” we need to believe in our system. Nigeria is not Ghana, Nigeria is not Sierra Leone. We cannot be like Ghana." Lamido, a former Foreign Affairs minister, said whatever Sierra Leone achieves today is because of Nigeria, because Nigerian blood was shed in order to preserve the country and free it from the clutches of rebels. He added: "There can't be an ideal democracy. If you want one wait until you reach heaven. The religion of Islam says there would be crisis in the world. If you want a situation with no crisis, then you are asking for the world to become Heaven." His remarks elicited a mixture of applause and jeers. Governor Muhammadu Danjuma Goje of Gombe State said it would not be correct to say that Nigerians have lost faith in the system, but added that there is the need to strengthen the belief in the institutions. "I believe there is faith in politics in Nigeria. What we need to do is to strengthen it so as to have an enduring democracy," he said. In his opening remarks, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Media Trust Malam Kabiru Yusuf said the aim of the annual dialogue was to help in providing ways for the growing Nigerian democracy. Yusuf said Nigeria's democracy must guarantee the voters "the right to choose their leaders and the freedom to change them at will." He added: "The struggle to build a successful country is a collective one. Unless the ordinary man feels that his voice and vote matters, he cannot care about the future of his country. And it is frightening to live a country whose citizens are indifferent about the defence of the general wellbeing." Source: Daily Trust