Democracy in Nigeria Essay

By May 2009, Nigerias nascent commonwealth should develop been a decade. Thus, the squeeze of this paper is an in depth analysis of the possibility of fostering elective value beyond any sudden reversal. The. paper however, takes a cursory purport at the daunting challenges ahead and infers that unless the government increases social expenditure and truncate the current brazen corruption, the hope of egalitarian consolidation may lastly be a mirage.Key words res publica, nascent, corruption, bring up law and severaliseAs rightly collated by Decalo1, the events in Africa alsok scholars by surprise, since virtually doubted Africa could pretend towards land. Even in the mid-1980s, unmatchable argued that by reason of their exiguity or the violence of their politics, African defers were un worryly to move in a democratic direction. A nonher transmiting that to pass water expected majority rule to flourish would have been historical blindness3, since outside the core (industrialized states) body politic is a rarity, nourish for Tillys thesis why Europe will not occur again with a a few(prenominal) exceptions, the limits of democratic development in the world may well have been reached4. However, despite the doubts and skepticisms openly expressed by scholars, Nigeria, like several other African countries, became democratic. On May 29, 1999 Nigeria became a democratic state.Prior to 1999 policy-making transition, Nigeria was under firm armed services autarky and totalitarianism for close to 29 age (since 1966), when the legions made their origin incursion into Nigerias government and politics, following the collapse of the first republic5. It is vital to promissory note that authoritarian governments were interrupted only by a brief outcome of civilian rule in the Second Republic (1979-1983)6. Thus, Nigerias present to constitutional country was a chequered one marked by anti-colonial struggles, crises, coups, counter-coups, and a thirty-month agonizing civil war amongst 1967 and 1970.So far-off, Nigeria has passed by dint of several phases in her democratization bid viz (a) era of colonial autocracy and monocracy, that is, period of formal colonialism till October 1st 1960, when the hoidenish gained flag license (b) emergence of constitutional state (1960-1966), (c) the re tress of military autocracy and absolutism (1966-1979) (d) restoration of constitutional body politic (1979-1983) and (e) the second coming of military autocracy and absolutism (1983-1989) . 7 Since 1989, that Nwabueze made that observation, the polity has added more than phases to her democratization bid.With the bleak stepping aside of General Ibrahim Babangidas giving medication in 1993, an Interim discipline Government (ING) was put in place, headed by meridian Ernest Shonekan, handpicked by an unelected military electric chair (General Babangida), thereby making the ING suffer a serious genuineness crisis ab ini tio6. The interim contraption collapsed after eighty-two days, following the resolving that it was illegal by a Lagos High Court in a suit instituted by the assumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election of import M.K. 0. Abiola. Cashing-in on the court verdict, General Sani Abacha staged a coup detat, dissolved all the extant democratic structures retained by the ING, and formerly again, returned the outlandish to a fiilJ blown military tyranny. It was in this state of confusedness that Gen. Abacha died in June 8, 1998 in a mysterious circumstance. Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, who took over after the expiry of Gen. Abacha, who had a transition programme reputed to be the shortest in the annals of military-midwife political transitions in Nigeria.Eventually, barring all odds, Gen. Abubakar handed over the reins of government to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (a retired general) in 1999. With the inauguration of Chief Obasanjos civilian presidency in 1999, hopes were upli fted once again that democracy would be sustained and consolidated. entirely alas, the military background of Chief Obasanjo became a serious liability on the system when the supposedly democratic government became a replica of dictatorship in its entire facet.By 2003, after the expiration of his first term, his administration conducted a general election, and handed over to itself. This election was generally perceive to have been massively rigged. 9 In 2007, at the expiration of his administrations constitutionally mandated second term, some other general election was conducted to door guard in another civil government. This election was remarkable in a number of ways. First, it was after eight tumultuous years of democracy the longish period since independence from the United Kingdom in I960. 0 Secondly, for the first eon in the history of the country, there was a civilian-civilian transfer of force play.It would have been even more remarkable if there had been a transfer of power from the ruling party to the opposition. Meanwhile, the thrust of this paper is an indepth analysis of the major challenges cladding the nascent democracy in Nigeria to prevent it from the threats of authoritarian repression or what David Beetham calls shock waves. 2 It is to these anti-democratic forces that could lead to democratic reverse which had taken place in Mauritania recently via a military coup detat that we straight turn to. (A) As I have argued elsewhere13, quantitative cross- acresal research on the scotch determinants of democracy and democratization generally consistently reveals that a countrys level of sparing development is associated positively and voicelessly with the extent to which the political systems b ar properties of democracy.There is, therefore, a two-way causal relationship between the economy and sustainable democracy the state of the economy is the determinant of unchangeable democracy, moreover democracy is a key pre-requisite fo r sustainable economical varyation. The put across is oroad-based economic prosperity sustains democracy, whereas widespread poverty and ignorance undermine it. To mimic President Clinton of U. S. when he was running for office in 1992, it is the economy, full stop 14 No doubt. Nigeria is potentially Africas largest economy.E truly year, the country produces over 200,000 graduates of tertiary institutions (including 65 universities), has the 6th largest gas reserves in the world, eighth largest oil colour producer (with abundant, but more often than not untapped natural resources gold, limestone, among others), and with 60 pctage of its arable land lying fallqw. In the words of Soludo (2005), Nigeria has as well as billions of its citizens in Diaspora (with estimated 100,000 Nigerian medical doctors and scientists abroad). Unfortunately, was not lucky in the first 40 years of its independence with sustained good political governance.In his perceptive public lecture, Charle s Soludo, Nigerias Central Bank Governor,16 state move on that democracy has not been endured in Nigeria simply because the economic numbers did not add up whereas, democracy and indeed any form of government must(prenominal) de liver tangible economic benefits to the generality of the citizenry to be credible and sustainable. In a seminal article on What Makes Democracy tire out, Prezeworski found the empirical evidence that Once a country has a democratic regime its level of economic development has a very strong forcefulness on the probability that democracy will hold out emocracy can be expected to last an average of about 8. 5 years in a country with per capita income under $2,000 33 years between $2,000-$4,000 and 100 years between $4,000-$6,000 Above $6,000 democracies are to live forever.No democratic system has fallen in a country where per capita income exceeds $6,033. 17 Be that as it may, most African states have few economic potentials of any significance (many literally nothing) that could attract foreign venture capital, which is why entrepreneurs did not flock into them in the past, irrespective of ideology or level of democracyAnd to rely on local capital to open fire development is to foredoom many to perpetual marginality. 18 Taking a cue from the same line of argument, Akintunde19, while rationalizing the reasons for the demise of democracy in the first republic, postulated that a democracy which is not founded upon a secure economic base is not likely to succeed because it lacks an congenital condition of efficiency. It is ineffective to fulfill the expectations of its citizens in the common parlance, it cannot deliver goods.So substantial is the economic base that many people have surmised that even communist countries, as they cash in ones chips wealthier, will come to resemble western democracy more and more20. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, as in most of the developing countries, due largely to the light economic base, the m iddle class is a very gauzy minority of the population. Western democracy is, therefore, not securely founded because it lacks one of the essential ingredients of success an influential middle class.This fact, which is sometimes a surprise to African leaders21, was well known to Aristotle more than two thousand years ago. agree to Aristotle, when democracies have no middle class and the poor are greatly superior in number, trouble ensues and they are speedily ruined.The contact between democracy and the strength of the economy reveals that those who are not easy usually confined to mere voting, political career thus become the privilege of those who are wealthy enough to afford the leisure to collapse to politics in most western countries, until the advent of Trade labor union M.Ps. 23Thus, while blaming the politicians, it is worth repeating that, by embarking on western democracy on an inadequate economic base, the Fourth Republic was set on a death course, it was bound to be corrupt. 24 The same scenario is playing itself out in Nigeria presently. No doubt, it is a daunting task in the face of the aforementioned historical evidence to sustain democracy in an economy like Nigeria, where per capita income has been below the $1,000 mark.That, according to Prezeworsk25, poses a serious threat. Considering the contact between democracy and the economy vis-a-vis the expectation of an average African, Claude Ake (of blissful memory) averred that The ordinary people of Africa are supporting democracy as a second independence. This time they want independence not from the colonial masters, but from indigenous leaders. They want independence from leaders whose misrule has intensified their poverty and exploitation to the point of being life threatening.And they are convinced that they cannot now get material improvement without securing political empowerment and being kick downstairs placed to bring public policy closer to social needs. Nonetheless democra cy is being interpreted and supported in ways that defeat those aspirations and manifest no sensitivity to the social conditions of the ordinary people of Africa. Generally, the political elites who support democratization are those with no access to power and they invariably have no feeling for democratic values. They support democratization largely as a strategy of powerThe people can (only) choose between oppressors and by the appearance of choice legitimize what is strongly their disempowerment. 26 In line with the above postulations, Jerry Gana (a one-time Information Minister) admitted, too, that You know the mentality of our people.If democracy does not produce clean water, if democracy does not produce good roads, transform agriculture, cultivate industrial development, sanitise society, give us power supply, democracy will lose credibility and they may say, na democracy we go chop? 7 The caveat is that where democratic processes do not try economic returns, a regression t o dictatorship cannot be ruled out. This point is clearly stated by Larry Diamond thus Many stark naked democracies in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa will probably breakdown in the medium to long run unless they can reduce their often grand levels of poverty, inequality, and social injustice, and through market oriented reforms lay the creation for sustainable growth.When this is juxtaposed with the admittance by the Central Bank in its 2008 firs trace report released to the public29, the economy is in perpetual crisis. The Apex Bank attributed the high rate of inflation in the country to the erratic power supply. fit in to the report, the inflation rate on a year to year floor was 7. 8 percent, compared to 6. 6 percent and 5. 2 percent recorded in the preceding quarter and the corresponding period of 2007. The report noted further that inflation rate on a 12-month roving average basis for the first quarter was 5. 8 percent compared with 5. percent recorded in the preceding quarter.Indeed, nothing can be more soothing to the nations debilitating power crisis, largely fingered for stunting the economy, version it comatose and occasioning a declining industrial sector, whose capacity utilization nosedived to a negligible 20 percent by the end of 2006. Epileptic power supply, a very prohibitive business climate and in consistency in government policies, have integrated to smother the countrys industrial sector leading to the closure of multinationals, like Michelin, Panalpina, and other notable firms.The shrinking of the textile sector from 170 in the 60s, 70s, and 80s to 10 in the 90s, also evinces the acute nature of the problem. The recent disclosure by the House of Representatives direction on Power, which probed the power sector that the country now generates less than a pitiable 1,000 megawatts, makes mockery of the countrys vision of becoming one of the 20 largest and most resilient economies by 2020, compared to South Africa, a country of 42 million people, which generates over 42,000 megawatts.Much of Nigerias investment in the power sector has been enmeshed in corruption and enthralled in the lust of the political elite for primitive accumulation. 31 The concomitant effect of poor economy is lingering with the poverty problem. Nigerias poverty enigma has assumed a frightening dimension. In the words of Dr. Magnus Kpakol, Senior redundant Assistant to the President and National Coordinator of National Poverty Eradication Program, in a public lecture entitled Poverty Solution The lineament of Government in Poverty Eradication declared that The number of poor Nigerians could be, put at an estimated word form of 70 million n 1980, the figure was 28. 1 million. 1985, 46. 3 million 1992, 42. 7 million 1996, 65. 6 million and 1999,70. 0 million, 2004,54. 4 million. 32 He gave the statistical breakdown along the six regional levels to be North-East, 72. 2 percent South-East, 26. 7 percent South-South 31. 5 percent South-West 43. 1 percent North-Central 67. 0 percent and North-West, 71. 2 percent. 33 Undoubtedly, something must be defame somewhere, for a critical official poverty statistics, which revealed that over half of Nigerias 150 million population are poor, is unexplainable going by the abundant human and material resources in the country.The economy was so blueish that 2007/2008 United Nations Development Programmes (UNDPs) Human Development office (HDI) ratings placed Nigeria at 158th position out of 177 countries. 34 No doubt, democracy is endangered in Nigeria more than ever before. Poverty, want, and squalor are anti-democratic forces in the polity. The only exception is Indian democracy, which has long baffled theorists of democracy. Democratic conjecture holds that poverty, widespread illiteracy, and a late hierarchical social structure are inhospitable conditions for the functioning of democracy. plainly the historical novelty of Indian democracy was noted by Barri ngton Moore Economically (India) remains in the pre-industrial age But as a political specie, it does belong to the modern world. At the time of Nehrus death in 1964, political democracy had existed for seventeen years. If imperfect, the democracy was no more sham Political democracy may containm strange both in an Asian setting and one without an industrial revolution. 36 To avert recapitulation, my earlier work glaringly with empirical information proved the pathetic downslide of Nigerias economy over the years with the helper threat to democratic sustenance. 7 Bruce Baker too in his perceptive piece emphasized much the strength of the economy and sustainable democracy.As a corollary to the aforementioned faint- brassed economy, the state, in terms of being debilitated or strong, matters to the study of threats to democracy both from within and without, as well as one of the common modes of failure of democracy and democratization. 39 mayhap, the greatest manifestation of a weak state vis-avis sustainable democracy is that it cannot successfully administer a true and mediocre credible election which is the spirit of democracy.No doubt, one of the. fundamental problems that post-colonial African states are facing is that of how to sustain and consolidate democracy through credible elections. 40 In the satisfying continent of Africa, few states could lay claim to having genuinely conducted free and fair elections as universally perceived. Hence, election administration that will attain governmental legitimacy after polls has always been a serious touch to electoral scholars. 41 The reason for this is not far-fetched. It is well known that most new states in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are too weak for the assignment.This is why state capacity is one of the major prerequisites for democratic nurturing, sustenance, and consolidation. In the extant literature on democratization and state capacity generally, quintupler elements are crucial to the strength of the state vis (a) monopoly of the coercive power of society, that is, influence of instrument of coercion (b) the right to improve tax and collect receipts (c) the power of legal enactment, that is, power to make laws (d) sovereignty over ground and society and (e) control of the institutions of the state or state apparatus, i. . bureaucracy. 42 These five elements taken together constitutes the basis of state power and they endow the state with the situation of statehood. However, it needs be emphasized that nation states which qualify for the status of statehood may differ in their degree of stateness some are strong states, and others are weak. No doubt, Nigeria falls into the category of weak or well-to-do states.Like others in her category, Nigeria runs a system, one in which formal rules (laws, formally stated administrative rules and praxiss, etc. are applied copiously and in a lax manner rather than rigorously and consistently. It is one in which private a dvantage can be gained and private bargains struck concerning the enforcement or non-enforcement of the rules as when a businessman bribes a tax official. Besides money, another inducement is kinship sentiment while another is the favour of superiors. The important effect is that in several cases, individuals may be too right than the state in which the rule of law is abused with impunity.Cases of such were too numerous to be mentioned during the last Nigerias general elections in April 2007. 43 In a nutshell, the stronger the state in all ramifications, the better for increase of democratic values in Nigeria. This can be achieved via the entrenchment of state institutions cum congruent political behaviour by the political elite. Perhaps the most crucial of all imperatives for the consolidation of Nigerias nascent democracy is the restructuring of the lopsided and structurally imbalance federal arrangement.As rightly noted by Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonw ealth At the heart of the several conflicts plaguing the Nigerian state today is the consequence of the failure of the practice of true federalism. The power shift debate that characterized the politics of transition from military to civil rule and which has persisted several months after, rose largely out of the frustration of large segments of the population with the structure of the political system that has shut significant sections out of the corridors of power for most of the post-independence period. 4 With Nigeria being one of the most complex societies in Africa, federalism was adopted to integrate the plural and divided societies.This is in line with the perception of early generation of students of inter-group relations or plural societies, which considered federalism an effective way of achieving and preserving both integration and stability in deeply divided societies. Whenever events seemed to demand that a compromise is affected between the necessary for unity and co operation on a wide territorial basis, the temptation is to put up catch all management formula, such as federalism .. 45 This tendency to see federalism as a magic wand that can channel mismated inter-ethnic hostility into conciliation and federal cooperation was subscribed to by Carnell, thus in tropical area characterized by extreme cultural and ethnic variation federalism comes as something of a political panacea. 4 In a nutshell, federalism is considered the most appropriate framework for governing multi-ethnic societies.However, recent events in Nigeria clearly demonstrate that the polity is far from being a federation, or alternatively as has been suggested, that Nigeria is not a true or real federation. 47 Since 1954, when the foundation of classical federation for Nigeria was laid,48 the system is still far from being problem-free. The story is that of both political and governmental instability. 49 Worst still, Nigerias ethnic make-up remains what Furnival calls in the strictest soul a medley (of people) for they mix but do not combine.