DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIA
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DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIA
CHAPITRE ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Following the demise of the country’s authoritarian administration in 1999, the Nigerian state gained a new governance position. Military dictatorship was replaced with representative democracy,
with considerably higher hopes and objectives for effective administration than what the ostensibly collapsible democratic institutions could fulfil. The origins and character of the 1999 transition were later discovered to be a threat to the foundation of democracy, obliterating present efforts to consolidate democracy.
The reality of attempts to undermine the concept of democracy in order to suit the interests of a few rather than a larger majority looms large. The developing democracy was artificial and reacted to outside imposition.
It is a weak democracy that rejects its genuine identity’s intrinsic ethos. Democracy and political engagement are interconnected and complementary, but appear to be contradictory in Nigeria. Democracy is foreign to Nigeria, and its implementation has been tough.
When democratic institutions are exploited, good governance becomes elusive and illusive. Darl (1989) refers to this as “virtual democracy,” or democracy that resembles actual democracy but lacks key democratic foundations. Nigerian democracy is distinguished by three characteristics:
the isolation of economic problems from public engagement, the manipulation and monopolisation of democratic processes, including the use of violence and electoral fraud to achieve legitimacy, and the peripheral participation of citizens. Surface-level participation has little impact on the outcome of policy decisions.
According to Oke (2010), democracy entails the ability to participate in political decision-making. It is opposed to arbitrariness and authoritarianism. It defends human personality and values while extolling the consent of the governed (Ake, 1991).
Egalitarianism, whether liberal, African, or modern, entails equal opportunity for all, fundamental recognition of popular sovereignty, representativeness, majority rule, minority rights, popular consultation,
the right to choose between alternative programmes, consensus on fundamental issues, and essentially periodic elections (Oke, 2005). Everyone has the right to participate in decision making under the concept of democracy.
Democracy here extends beyond the ability to vote. Although the importance of elections to the democratic process cannot be overstated, democracy is not entirely centred on elections. To evolve into excellent governance, democracy must be liberal and participatory.
In this view, liberal democracy necessitates not only free and fair elections in terms of voting administration, but also a broader fairness of political rivalry expressed in the concept of just and open competition. The election arena in a liberal democracy is open, and the playing field is reasonably level.
Good governance can be realised only in a free society that allows for free involvement and respects citizens’ rights. True democracy values liberty and open competition, popular and meaningful engagement, responsiveness, openness, and accountability. Freedom to organise, protest anti-people policies, and demand and assert citizens’ rights and interests;
freedom of the press to publish, investigate, and expose government policies and activities without fear or favour. In the words of Diamond (2005), “Only in a climate of true political and civil freedom can a country achieve the absolute fundamental condition for development:
responsible government—that is government that is committed to the advancement of the public good, rather than the private interests of its own officials and their families and their cronies” .
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Citizens’ participation in electoral politics in Nigeria, in general, and in Delta state in particular, has not been encouraging. Even when developing local participation is an important instrument for rural development and political education in mass participation is a major component of the development plan, programmes have failed to foster genuine engagement and responsibility among the people.
People have become beneficiaries of development as if growth is something outside of their experience and right. Political engagement is hampered by political, socio-cultural, and bureaucratic limitations.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The primary goal of this project effort is to explore the nature and scope of people’s political participation in a democratic society. As previously stated, this would be accomplished by analysing public participation in the electoral process in Asaba, Delta State.
Furthermore, this study endeavour intends to achieve additional significant goals that are similarly critical to the effective operation of governance in a democratic setting. The following are the other goals:
To establish any possible relationship between political education and political participation in order to clearly state the crucial component of political participation;
To examine the legal framework of Nigeria’s electoral system and election administration in order to spot inadequacies and provide possible amendments; To propose a number of strategies to mobilise citizens for increased political participation and effectiveness in the country as a whole
1.4 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is important because it aims to explain political engagement in the context of good governance. This would allow us to recognise that the development of a national agenda through discourse among all stakeholders is a prerequisite for political engagement.
Participation must be integrated into a broader understanding of development, with a greater emphasis on organisational structures and links. However, for those in charge of development, participation has become a cliché; its values have been overstated while little has been done to make it a reality.
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research will examine the concept of political participation, concentrating on what it is and is not in the African setting. Nigeria’s political history will be traced from the colonial era to the present.
The gathering of opinions on electoral politics shall be limited to Asaba Delta State, with reference to the state’s general elections in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015, encompassing gubernatorial, house of assembly, and local government elections.
1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
The study hypothesis that will be used to administer the questionnaire will be based on the theoretical premise that political education is essential for political engagement. As a result, the research hypotheses are as follows:
H0: That people’s political participation in electoral politics is unrelated to their political education.
H1: The amount to which people participate in electoral politics is connected to their political education.
Where H0 represents the Hull Hypothesis and H1 represents the Alternative Hypothesis.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
DEMOCRACY; A form of governance in which the people exercise power directly or through freely elected representatives.
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; Political participation can be described as private persons’ acts to influence or support government and politics.
ELECTION; An election is a formal decision-making process in which a population choose a person to serve in public office.
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