AKSUJACOG Volume 1 Number 3, November, 2021
Democracy in Nigeria: Antithetical Issues 2015 – 2021
Imoh Imoh-ita
Department of Public Administration
Faculty of Management Sciences
Obio Akpa Campus
Akwa ibom State University
08023140869, 07034607422
[email protected]
Abstract
Democracy as an index of development is a global trend that is taking various dimensions in
different countries. Ideal democracy is guided by basic fundamental tenets of rule of law of which
fundamental human right is paramount. Democracy in Nigeria is undergoing transformation,
which, rather than manifest upward trajectories tends to be antithetical to freedom of speech and
expression. Journalists and social media bloggers have been arrested for issues relating to
freedom of speech and expression. The control and influence of mass media and other means of
communication is prevalent which negates democratic principles. Secondary sources of
data/information gathering were adopted in the course of this investigation which guided in the
conclusion and recommendations. It is therefore observed that the general perception of the
people is that government is not taking enough actions against vote buying, hate speeches and
provocative utterances. Drawing conclusion from information gathered from the print and online
media, democracy in Nigeria lacks high level of fundamental human right in its
operation/practice. It is on this note that recommendations are made in the following order: there
should be freedom of expression in Nigeria, ban on twitter should be lifted, journalists/media
practitioners should not be harassed and detained ones should be released. Vote buying should be
stopped and offenders prosecuted.
Keywords: Democracy, People, Development, Fundamental Human Right, Rule of Law,
Detained.
Introduction
Democracy has taken a global trend and is recognized as one of the indices of development and
modernization. Most or all advanced countries practise democracy as a system of government. In
this era of globalization, democracy has spread to developing or less developed countries such as
Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa etc. One major role model of democracy to Africa and
Nigeria in particular is democracy as practised in the United State of America.
The people as it relates to democracy are qualified citizens of a state who are legible to vote or be
voted for, who can participate in electoral process by age qualification. The people are the masses
or the majority in a political system. Harrison et al (2011) state that citizens are “members of the
polity who, through birth or neutralization, enjoy the right, privilege, and responsibilities attached
to membership in a given nation”. Democracy is incomplete without the input of the people.
Harrison et al (2011) also state that democracy is “government in which supreme powers of
governance lies in the hands of its citizens”. In this case, democracy is indirect because it is a
representative democracy where elections are held and people are elected as legislators and
executives.
Democracy is people oriented, made and developed by the people and guided by rule of law
which is a fundamental tenet of democracy. Brigid, Jean, Gary & Michelle (2011) opined about
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America democracy thus: “the United State was founded by individuals who believe in the power
of democracy to respond to the will of citizens”. Involvement of the people in democracy is what
makes democracy what it is. The people's involvement in democracy determines the
functionality of democracy through interest interaction. Therefore, Harrison (2011) et al describe
democracy as “government in which supreme power of governance lies in the hands of its
citizens”.
Democracy originated from the ancient Greek, with the term “dēmokratiā” which means “people
power”. American democracy originated from the Greek philosophy of people and power. People
decided the direction of government which was embedded in the constitution made by the people.
By this, the philosophy of democracy transcended from Greece, therefore, implying that the same
standard of democracy should be upheld in all countries involved in the practice.
There has been four attempts at democracy from the time Nigeria gained independence in 1960
till date. The first attempt at democratic rule in Nigeria was the First Republic. after independence
(1963-1966). The military took over Nigeria's governance till 1979 when there was a second
democratically elected government. The democratic era lasted till 1983 when there was another
military coup. In 1999, there was another democratic government which has lasted till date. The
democratic government in 1999 lasted till 2007 and subsequent civilian to civilian transfers of
power to other democratically elected governments till date (Nigeriafinder.com 2016).
during the period between 2015 till date, several issues have come up which tend to negate the
principles/concept of democracy. Democracy as a system of government is based on the concept
or principle of rule of law which spells out tenets such as equality, supremacy and fundamental
human right.
Antithesis of democracy in Nigeria is not only about government and its institutions, but also
about citizens'/people's actions and inactions towards democracy. The people get into
governance positions through the electoral process and thereafter go against the tenets of
democracy. Therefore, government and citizens/people are part of antithetical issues in Nigeria's
democracy.
Theoretical Framework
Elite Theory
Elite theory defines the relationship between the masses and political class as asymmetric. The
elite who are minority, control economic and political power of a country. The elite are against or
opposed to pluralism which is a strong tenet of democracy. Those propounded the theory include
Vilfredo Pareto (1935) and Gaetano Mosca (1939), who posited that elite theory presents a true
picture of modern day democracy where few elites are financially strong people who control the
affairs: politically, economically and otherwise (Bottomore, 1693).
As it relates to democracy in Nigeria, the political class is dominated by few financially strong
people who dominate the economy as well. The economic scenario in glamorized by political
activities hence the attention and fanfare. Most citizen therefore want to have a share of the
glamour. The elite also want a closed system where none or fair will step into the class, thus
political offices are held tight by occupants, as much as they can. The Elite in Nigeria direct the
pace and state of political development, hence, the continuous strive by the masses to attain elites'
status. The masses are swayed by financial inducements which direct their line of political
inclination. This practice of financial inducement in democracy is antithetical to national
development.
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Concept of Democracy
The people and all that relate to the interest of the people that emanate from the people make the
concept of democracy. Democracy is people-centered as the will of the people is expressed
through election in a fair contest. The philosophy that democracy is built upon started from
Thomas Hobbes whose viewed monarchical rule as divine was debunked by John Locke. John
Locke's assertion was that every individual had the right to rule based on natural rights such as
life. Thomas Jefferson postulated after Locke about the role of government in the protection of
life and property such that the people's right to contribute to governance was inherent in man
(Pojman, 2002:31).
Democracy as a system of government is grounded the on rule of law. Though different countries
practise democracy at different levels, the rule of law is fundamental. The degree of practice of
fundamental human right varies from country to country, just as the extent to which a country
allows the rule of law to thrive determines the level of democracy of such a country. The major
concept of democracy is political participation which is a function of the rule of law and citizens'
participation in politics determines the extent of democratic practice in such a country.
Liberty is another fundamental tenet of democracy. Liberty as it is, is double sided i.e. freedom
from government interference in personal lives and individual freedom to pursue happiness.
What gives uttermost benefit to man in terms of liberty is what John Stuart Mills holds forth.
Therefore, man has the liberty to seek happiness as long as it is within the ambit of the law and
does not interfere with the rights of other fellows (Sriranjam, 2008). As it relates to democracy,
liberty is paramountly embedded in the rule of law, freedom of speech and expression, without
fear of molestation and violence.
Equality is yet another tenet of democracy which is based on human and natural law. Every man
is equal before the law. According to Acharya (2008), “yet, as human, we believe, and rightly so,
that we are essentially equal and possess equal worth especially when it comes to realizing the
ideal in social, economic and political structures of our society”. In a democratic setting, equality
is sacrosanct. By nature, all were born equal, as such, are equal before the law. Each individual
has an equal chance of existing like the other. This gives credence to the fact that participation is
fundamental in democracy. Thus, participation in either to rule and be ruled which leads to the
method of selecting a leader, is a process must be trusted, reliable and dependable to foster the
will of the entire people. This means that the institution, organization or body responsible to
coordinate and organize elections must be credible and legitimate (Srinivasan, 2008).
According to Brown (1962:15), “in every type of political system, policies are formulated and
decisions made within a value-framework”. Based on the above statement, every decision or
policy made is based on the philosophy, framework or ideology of the policy maker or
government of the day. Ideology of a group or party is what will guide policies made by such
governments. Johari (2011:206) goes further to relate political ideology to contemporal society
by stating that “its assumption maybe to lie in the paraphernalia of a democratic order having
representative government, responsible executive, socio-economic and political checks and
balance, independence of judiciary and rule of law”. Therefore, any government must operate
within the political ideology they stand for.
Issues and Problems in Nigeria's Democracy
From independence till date, Nigeria's democracy has been founded on established
segmentation of Nigeria into regions based on geographical locations, tribal and ethnic
alignments. Therefore, political parties were formed and supported on tribal and ethnic
sentiments based on regions (Joseph, 1999:44). Joseph (1991:44) further observes that
“following the heels of the introduction of mass electoral politics in many parts of Africa, was the
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appearance of political alignments along sectional and especially ethnic lines”. With this pattern
of democratic development, it was inevitable to be sentimental to national issues that border on
unity and equity. This neglected merit and fairness and supported sentiments based on region and
ethnicity. The reflection of the created divisions manifested in the conduct of elections during the
Second Republic where parties were formed on regional bases e.g. NPN, NPP, UPN, PRP
respectively. Formation of these parties was a continuation of the parties that existed during the
First Republic such that “of the four parties which were granted status, all of them, the NPN, NPP,
PRP, UPN, could be shown to have clear links with the former dominant parties of the
independence era” (Joseph 1979:84). The names of the parties, according to their acronyms NPN
- National Party of Nigeria represented the North; UPN - Unity Party of Nigeria represented the
West; PRP - Peoples Redemption Party represented the North; while NPP - Nigeria Peoples Party
represented the East. First generation parties were: Northern People's Congress (NPC),
representing the North, Action Congress (AC) representing the West and NCNC representing the
East (Joseph, 1979:84).
Recorded Antithetical Issues in Nigeria Since 2015
1. In Nigeria, more than 19 journalist and media practitioners have been arrested and
detained in Nigeria since 2016. Some of the reasons for these arrests range from exposing
corruption, election coverage, social media post critical of government to expression of
views against government (Ukpong, C. 2019). Olu-Adeyemi (2012) avers that “at
present, fundamental rights of citizens still come under attack despite the advent of
democracy” citizens' utterances and associations have been confronted by arrests and
detentions by law enforcement officers, for example, there was a case of Joe Chinakwe
who named his dog “Buhari” and was arrested and detained for days BBC (2021). Adedejl
(2016) has spotted the recent ban of twitter by Nigerian government as another example of
government's seeming intolerance of citizens' freedom. This ban infringes on the rights of
citizens to express their opinions through global mass media platforms. In early June
2021, the President of Nigeria, Muhammadi Buhari announced a ban of twitter from
Nigeria over twitter deleting of comment made by the president. This sparked world-wide
condemnation of such violation of human right (Blankenship, M. and Golubski, C.
(2021).
2. Mr. Abri, publisher of Weekly Source Newspapers was arrested in Baylesa State by men
of state secret service (SSS) on 21/7/2016. The arrested gentleman was alleged to be a
militant.
3. There was the recent arrest and killing of END SARS protesters at Lekki and others parts
of Nigeria.
4. Another instance was the case of a Nigerian lady, Boloneru Opukiri who lost her job after
criticizing the President and the Vice President of Nigeria and on social media (twitter), on
their travels out of the country, without letting the Senate President act in that capacity.
She was dismissed from her job at the Presidential Amnesty Office (Ogundipe, S. 2018).
5. There was also the assault on Oludara Richard of the Guardian Newspaper by men of SSS
for protesting against the arrest of Sowere.
6. Another was the arrest and detention of Tosin Ajunon who was filming a protest in Ondo
State (Ukpong, 2019).
7. Others arrests by the government include Dipo Awojobi, Gidado Yushau, Adebowale
Adekoya etc. (Amnesty Int. Nigeria @AmnestyNigeria) Nov. 8/2019
(Monitor.civicus.org).
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As earlier stated, democracy in Nigeria is formed on the bases of regions created before and after
independence by the colonialists. The formation has continued to exist till date based on region,
tribal and ethnic inclinations. Loyalty is more to the region and not to the federal government.
The earlier mentioned concepts of democracy should form the parameter for judgment and
assessment of the degree of compliance to democracy as practised in Nigeria. Based on concerns
raised by Saliu and Ifejika (2016:18) in their articled entitled “The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) and 2011 Election”, liberty and equity in Nigeria democracy are
issues of concern. Liberty and equality of the citizens to participate in electoral process is
questionable. They assert as follows:
The electoral umpire Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) shows some bias. INEC should strive to improve its
relationship and collaboration with the political parties so as to
increase the level of confidence of the parties in the commission. This
should also afford INEC the platform to effectively check the parties
on the rules of the game in a bit to elicit their contributions in ensuring
that elections are free and fair by, conducting their activities in modest
democratic manners during campaigns, the elections proper and after
the election.
The rule of law as practised in Nigeria affects the level of democratic participations. Hindrances
to the participation of citizens in democracy by actions of government are antithetical to
democracy. Freedom of speech and expression is a yardstick to know the extent and level of
democratic development. Joseph (1991:31) stated that “a viable Nigerian democracy has to allow
considerable room for self-expression and the assertion of group interest……”.
The issue of freedom is a major antithesis of democracy in Nigeria. The era of military rule that
transited to democracy has more or less been guided by the same principle of authoritarianism.
Ahmed (2013:294) stated that the country's underdevelopment has been reinforced by
authoritarianism, political instability, ethnic and religious conflicts in the last decade.
Even almost a decade after the return to democratic rule, palpable bad-
governance is marked exclusion of the people from governance, non-
accountability by public officials, lack of transparency in decision
making, electoral fraud and colonization and personalization of the
state and national resources by the political elite. This situation
presents particular challenges for the Nigeria youth.
Democracy is practised by the participation of individuals, groups, institutions, organizations
who have common ideology encapsulated in respective political parties. Every political party
seeks to retain power or take over power through a credible electioneering process. It is the
ideology of the party that projects the kind of government that will be in operation. The case in
Nigeria is different as people cross from one party to the other indiscriminately. Changing party
means changing and conforming to a new ideology. Once there is a change of party, such an
individual should vacate such an office originally occupied, since the office belongs to the party
and not individual. Hence the free movement of political offices holders from one party to the
other should not be unhindered. As Ekeman, Mac-Ogonor, and Uduak (2013:117) have stated:
ideology plays a very important role in party identification in most
western democratic systems. People join parties on account of ideology
because there are some vital issues for individuals in party which
affiliation to a particular party can better address…people join political
parties to give support to issues that serve their ideological interest.
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The citizens also constitute part of the antithetical issues in the political sphere by participating in
vote buying. The act of collecting money or selling vote is very detrimental to societal
development. The consequence is underdevelopment due to silence by slain conscience. Lucky
(2014:55) bemoans the issues of vote buying from the post-colonial era till date, given that the
different elections, since the independence of Nigeria, have been influenced by vote buying. This
trend has continued till date as evidenced in recent elections. Thus Onucha and Ojo (2018:110)
believe that vote buying was very present in the 1992 SDP/NPC election in Jos hence the
cancellation by the Babangida's, Military Government. Vote buying necessitated the passing into
law of the penalty of vote buying in Nigeria. They are of the view that vote buying or money
politics has greatly influenced Nigerian politics.
Democratic participation in Nigeria is low due to how previous elections were conducted, the
lack of fairness and transparency by electoral bodies and government have direct impact on the
activities of the masses in participation. Apathy in participation means that true value of
democracy cannot be achieved. Interest in participation among the citizens is low, hence the
current state of political situation in Nigeria where accountability is low. Minority of the citizens
are responsible or saddled with law making responsibilities through the votes of the majority.
Where the majority are not interested, the minority law makers will continue to take decisions
that will only benefit them and not the majority (Ray, 2011:199).
The endemic nature of corruption in Nigeria has a direct relationship or influence on the state of
democracy in Nigeria. Corruption has affected and permeated the political process/sphere
deeply. The officials, citizens contributed negatively to the growth of democracy as regards vote
buying. This being the case, democracy in Nigeria is yet to mature to a point of reliability.
Conclusion
Democracy in Nigeria has antithetical issues to deal with, that is, issue like vote buying, violence,
proparganda etc. Also, the facts of negation of rule of law is high, just as apathy to political
participation is also high. Except these issues are corrected, democracy will continue to suffer
and retrogress. Though democracy in Nigeria has passed the state of infancy, yet it is truncated
with divers issues that are antithetical to it.
Political actors, institutions, ministries and agencies are alleged to conform and support the
ruling party. The endemic nature of corruption has also influenced political activities. Political
activities control or influence other activities in the country e.g. economy, culture, development,
etc. the political actors and citizen are caught in the web of antithetical issues.
Recommendations
In observation of recent political events in Nigeria, democracy will not develop to meet world
standards if antithetical issues that are evidently present in Nigeria democracy are not addressed
and expunged from the political system in Nigeria, hence the recommendation of the following:
1. There should be freedom of speech and expression at a very high degree. The rule of law
should be the guiding principle of democracy in Nigeria.
2. Institutions of the state such as Ministries, Departments and Agencies/ Parastatals,
including the Armed Forces, should not be politicized.
3. The appointment of electoral officers should be from and supervised by the national
assembly through multiple negotiation and representation of interests.
4. There should be strong presence of checks and balances as well as separation of power at
the national and state assemblies.
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