Democracy in Nigeria has been repeatedly promised by those in power for decades, but promises seem to fall short of their mark and Nigeria remains to be anything but a true democracy. For a democracy to be successful the people of a country need to feel like they matter, their vote matters, and that the government cares about them. A true democracy is “people initiated, people promoted, sustained by the people for the benefit of the people”, (Ogunleye, 2005) but in a country swept with corruption the only thing sustained by the people is the oil industry and croplands. Nigeria may be far from a working democracy but at least initiatives have existed to put one into place. For Nigeria’s future, it is not impossible to create a sustainable democracy, but a lot of work must be done.
Ever since the British takeover left Nigeria to try and create its own stable form of government with many failed constitutions they have failed to reach a maintainable form of democracy. The country has had countless military rules and leaders that have promised a push towards democracy, but instead have used their place in power to set up policies to support themselves. On top of this, a reach in power is also usually followed by subsequent extending of power to other members of the family. In this way they are able to keep themselves in charge by controlling as many different branches and positions as possible. Along with this is the complete takeover of revenues by those higher up to corrupt the country’s largest source of revenue for their own personal gain. All of these problems work against one of the most necessary steps in creating a strong democracy: the trust of the people.
Local governments need to have more power to properly give the people m...
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...hree years of democracy; Nigeria. The Economist. 1-3.
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As the world frustrated and fumbled at BP over their oil spill on April 20, 2010, the largest marine oil spill in history. Does anyone know the people of Nigeria Delta had lived with oil spillage conditions for the last 50 years? With her op-ed piece “The Oil Spill We Don’t Hear About”, published in The New York Times on June 4, 2010, Anene Ejikeme emphasizes on the oil spills in Niger Delta which is far more alarming and threatening than the BP Gulf Spillage. With her article, Ejikeme’s want to address these problems which appear to be ignored by the international media. In her article she stated, “Media around the world are covering the Gulf oil spill in a way that not even the Nigerian media covers oil spills in Nigeria.” Ejikeme adopts an informative, yet sympathetic tone to deliver and provoke the interest of the phenomenon for her readers. Ms. Ejikeme received her PhD from Columbia University in 2003 and is currently an assistant professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She is considered as a specialist on modern African history; she’s been writing a variety of books and teaching a wide range of courses on the matter. Prior to coming to Trinity, Ejikeme taught at Barnard College in New York, where she was the Director of the Pan-African Studies Program from 2001 to 2003. This op-ed piece continues her interest on the problems that affects African society.
Throughout the course of history, mankind has been recorded to corrupt itself. Men have grown tired of simply surviving; they have had to take and conquer others. Absolute monarchies control wealth, land, and even lives of men. The conditions of the people were solely dependent on the conditions of the one who was in power in that particular place and time. History has proven that most men rule unwisely in their kingdoms. To avoid tyrannical rule, some make an attempt to set up a government in which the people ruled themselves. This form of government is called a democracy, or “rule of the people.” History has also revealed through the Greeks and the French Revolution, that a democracy that gives complete power to the people, “absolute democracy”, is nothing more than a short prelude to tyranny.
African governments have given in to the whim’s of international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in social and health policies, and with this, has come a shift away from former emphasis on social justice and equitable market efficiency to public health services for all now being perceived as a major threat ...
Oghre, Ben. “Nigeria’s Population Is A Silent Killer .” Nigerians of America. N.p., 30 Sept. 2007. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .
Despite the numerous wealth generated on a daily basis from oil exportation over the years and the vast amount of untapped resources laying in commercial quantity, the country does not have a single or recognize means of directly addressing the welfare of its citizenry. Only the present democratic administration has promised to execute out a compulsory cash transfer of N5,000 to the poorest 25 million Nigeria (based on some conditions), pay graduating corp members some stipends for a year and design a one-meal a day for public primary school
...esult, 1000 civilians died, but majority of the fundamentalist group was taken out. In 2009, Goodluck Jonathan assumed presidency when Umaru Yar’Adu died (BBC News Africa, 2013). In 2011 elections, Goodluck Jonathan took majority of the vote against military opponent, Muhammadu Buhari. Observers have stated this election is the most fair it has ever been in history, but Buhari’s supporters opposed the results. Quickly after, the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, made resurgence and there were daily attacks in the country. As a result, the Nigerian government declared a state of emergency and dispatched troops. In January 2012, Goodluck Jonathan removed the country’s fuel subsidy to repair the tattered economy, but only caused fuel and food prices to rise. In response to the rise of prices, Nigerians began to protest, which eventually led to reinstating the subsidy.
May 9, 2001 African Networks for Health Research and Development; retrieved Dec. 9, 2003 http://www.afronets.org/archive/200105/msg00035.php.
...rd but in the sense of Nigeria the corruption is amongst the elites and found at the highest level of federal power.
Political instability and regime change in Nigeria will be observed in this paper. The resource curse has greatly weakened Nigeria as it has led to the numerous regime changes, the hindering of the nation’s democratization, corruption in the government, as well as, civil conflict. According to Samuels in Case Studies in Comparative Politics, Nigeria began as a group of states and empires, which were conquered by the British Empire who ruled Nigeria through indirect rule with varying degrees of rule in North and South Nigeria (Samuels, 323-326). Since they were granted independence in 1960, three republics have been created and each has ended by military rule, which led to the creation of the fourth, and current republic in Nigeria. In the current regime, Nigeria’s GDP is ranked 108 out of 156 and has been decreasing, lower than some of the non-oil-producing nations in Africa (“Nigeria”).
In Africa, the interests of various individuals and groups have transformed the possession of power into nightmarish dimensions due to the flaws in the political structures of the societies. Although some of these degenerative weaknesses have been explained by historical experiences, there still remains the fact that the progressive development of any society depends on a conscious pruning of flawsin the organizational structure of the society by those with the power to provide guidance and direction. Moreover, this burden of leadership could elicit either patriotic parasitic tendencies in the utilization and exercise of power. (Ehling 23-25)
This essay is aimed to examine one of the agents of political socialisation for the way in which it operates and the effects it may have in Nigeria. Political socialisation is learning process that begins very early and continues all throughout ones life. Through political socialisation people acquire their perceptions and feelings about their political environment. It accounts for both the commonalties and diversities of political life. (DP Dawson p1).
While the outside world considered Nigeria to be a united and monolithic entity, even the British colonial administration was wary of the reality of Nigerian politics; the nation was not so much a “country” as it was more than three hundred different groups coalesced into one.4 5 These tribes were divided between three main spheres of influence: the Yoruba, the Igbo, and the Hausa. Historically, their interests were often opposed, and their cultures did not come into regular contact with one another until the British occupation. In spite of the differences British administration a...
Okeke, Phil E. "Reconfiguring Tradition: Women's Rights and Social Status in Contemporary Nigeria." Africa Today 47.1 (2000): 49-63.
Political greed, the greatest challenge to Africa’s democracy Uganda inclusive is political greed. Presidents in some African countries want to rule for life and extend the patronage to their family members. This greed has led to manipulation of parliaments, constitutions for example according to Uganda’s constitution of 1995; the president had only 3 terms of office. However when Uganda’s president term expired in 2005, he bribed members of parliament with 5millions Uganda shillings to scrap off presidential term limits without holding a referendum and it succeeded. This was a great blow to Uganda’s democracy and contempt of the