And that nigerians, dispossessed they may be, will be satisfied with a political concept that, as currently practiced in nigeria, stands empty of its substantive content. Democracy and sustainable development in nigeria akudo chinedu ojoh research paper. Numerous ancient african civilizations settled in the region that is today nigeria, such as the kingdom of nri, the benin empire, and the oyo empire. Whereas republicanism emphasizes active role for the citizen in. The history of nigeria can be traced to prehistoric settlers nigerians living in the area as early as 1100 bc. It was possible to restore the democratic model for a couple of years in 1978. Dec 15, 2018 that is why in this post we shall also be looking at the history of democracy in nigeria. This unsavory scenario has snowballed in the lamentable decline in the roles of civil society in contemporary democratic governance in nigeria.
The military succeeded in the aspect of creating new states and local councils. History of political parties in nigeria will never be complete if mention is not made of the various political bigwigs in the history of this country. This opposition group, liberians united for reconciliation and democracy lurd, headed by sekou conneh a businessman married to the daughter of guinean president lansana conte, began to engage in sporadic fighting with the afl in 1999. However, the implication of nigeria s electoral history for the enthronement of a democratic order is yet to be exhaustively explored. Aside discussing the political parties in nigeria, this write up will equally discuss about the political history of nigeria. Apr 15, 2020 democracy took a completely different turn in nigeria from 1999 till date. It also analyzes the challenges facing democracy and the process of democratic experiment in nigeria, with historical analysis of first fourth republic. Department of history and international studies, ekiti state university, adoekiti, ekiti state, nigeria abstract. One of the many factors shaping it is the history of the country in question.
Democracy and the performance of the nigerian economy aminu umaru lecturer department of economics school of management and information technology modibbo adama university of technology yola, adamawa state nigeria gbenga adeyemi lecturer department of social science economics college of social and management sciences. Geographical, historical and political profiles of nigeria. And the change carries heavy symbolism for a country that. Introduction democracy is a vital instrument that propels political proficiency, economic development and social stability of any nation state. By doing so, the king acknowledged he was bound by law, like others, and granted his subjects legal rights. Within nigeria, slavery was widespread and bore social implications that are still evident. Many journalists lost their lives during these years of fighting for democracy. History of democracy in nigeria and when did nigeria became a. When i shifted to ucla in 2003 history and anthropology departments after thirteen years at the university of chicago anthropology, i gravitated toward the complex historicities of afroatlantic ritual archives, initially framed in my coedited volume with robin derby, activating the past.
Since then, the nature of the democratic project has been the subject of debate in various circles. Its coast in the south is located on the gulf of guinea in the atlantic ocean. A brief history of liberia international center for. Procedural democracy emerged from two historical traditions of republicanism and liberalism. Pdf the paper seeks to explain the rationale of the militarize dispositions of politicians in the current democracy. Introduction nigeria and nigerians have been caught in the frenzy of centenary celebration. Nigerias present democratization, which culminated in the countrys fourth republic on may 29, 1999, started amidst great hope and expectations. The paper discovers that the dynamics inherent in the nigeria state and its brand of democracy tends to stymied, and inhibit the growth and effective functioning of civil society. Democracy day is june 12, a national public bank holiday in nigeria. We reiterate that democracy and development cohabit and inactivity of the former destroys the later. There are roadblocks to a strong democracy in nigeria at all levels of government.
May 29 th of every year is declared democracy day in nigeria, and it also a public holiday. Brief history of democracy in nigeria after nigeria gained independence in 1960, the country was ranked as the citizens of the 4th biggest democratic country the world over. In 1215, english nobles pressured king john of england to sign a document known as the magna carta, a key step on the road to constitutional democracy. The nation celebrates may 29th as the official public holiday democracy day. The whole thing started from the year1999, when olusegun obasanjo was sworn. Everyone expected the return of nigeria to democratic rule will bring about development. This paper is a contribution to the debate on democratization and development in nigeria. Geographical, historical and political profiles of nigeria 1.
Nigeria, however, had experienced the first military coup in the year, 1966, while its civil war actually broke out in the year, 1967, and lasted up till 1970. There is the dearth of vertical and horizontal compositions of unified interests in terms of. History of democracy including elements of democracy, the scandinavian thing, communes in italy, communes elsewhere, landsgemeinde in schwyz, parliament, two english parliaments, estates general in france, estates general elsewhere, the polish sejm. It is copied by her greek allies and colonies at the time, but it has rarely been attempted anywhere else since switzerland in the th century is one example. They came not from any doctrine that the people, all free members of the clan, have a right to rule when they became elders an elder was sworn into office by popular vote, but from the feeling that an end. After independence in 1960, that year nigerians became the citizens of the 4th biggest democratic country in the word nigeria experienced its first military coup in 1966. They assume erroneously that democracy is its own justification that simply being baptised with the moniker of democracy is sufficient. Practice, problems and prospects adeyinka theresa ajayi1 and emmanuel oladipo ojo2 1. In the 5th century bc athens pioneers an experiment in direct democracy, as opposed to the representative democracy of modern societies. Library of congress federal research division country profile. After the death of the military dictator, general sani abacha in 1998, general abdusalami abubakar who took over governance from him is known to have worked out nigerias return to democracy or democratic rule.
After nigeria gained independence in 1960, the country was ranked as the citizens of the 4th biggest democratic country the world over. The first set of political parties to be formed in nigeria was formed. Democracy and the performance of the nigerian economy. Democracy and sustainable development in nigeria grin. Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. Jean herskovits is professor of history at the state university of new york at purchase and spent 18 months of the transition in nigeria. The elections, which welcomed back democracy to nigeria has succeeded in birthing another two separate terms totally eight years of uninterrupted democracy with former military ruler, general olusegun obasanjo rtd.
This is the first time the day has been marked on this date. By 3000 bce, the plateau people probably the bantu people who later. History of political parties in nigeria nigerian finder. The plateau area around jos was a meeting point for cultural influences from the upper niger valley where agriculture developed independently as early as 5000 bce and from egypt. Many government institutions do not adequately engage with citizens or the private sector and lack the capacity to. Democracy in nigeria is being starved of the basic tools for survival. It is also the worlds eighth largest producer of crude oil and has been the united states second largest supplier for six. Department of history and international studies, ekiti state university, adoekiti, ekiti state, nigeria 2. Until june 6, 2018, it was held annually on may 29. Conflicttriggered by political competition and communal, ethnic, religious or resource allocation rivalriesposes a major threat to democracy. History of democracy in nigeria and when did nigeria. Aside fighting to win democracy, the nigerian press has been at the forefront of sustaining nigerias nascent democracy. Nigeria, july 2008 2 of slaves flowed north across the sahara for a millennium, ending only at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Meaning of democracy democracy may be defined as a system of government in which the exercise of political power and authority is vested in the people through their elected representatives. Department of history and international studies, ekiti state university. These exemplary steps towards democracy in west africa were not secluded to the region, nor were they the first in africas long history. Even though nigeria acquired republican status in 1963, the first republic in nigeria began on the 1 st of october, 1960 and came to an end on the 15 th of january, 1966. Though it is obvious that the country still have many hurdles to scale through, nigerians at large are envisaging a bright and prosperous future with better economy, improved standard of living, and security. Democracy day marks the day the military handed over power to an elected civilian government in 1999, marking the beginning of the longest continuous civilian rule since nigeria s independence from colonial rule in 1960. Problems and prospects of democracy in nigeria infoguideng. Nigeria is the fourth world largest democracy with a population of over 160 million and world sixth largest oil supplier and blessed with economic potentials, but majority of the nigerian population is poor due bad governance. See the problems and prospects of democracy in nigeria. Jun 11, 2019 democracy day in nigeria is being celebrated on the 12th of june this year. The new civil war broke in 1967 and lasted til 1970. Democracy in nigeria problems and prospects information. On october 1 nigeria added to its list of vital statistics a new status as the worlds fourth largest democracy. Pdf democracy and democratic experiment the nigerian.
History of military rule in nigeria pdf summary yes, i know youd want to keep this for offline use, so weve created the military rule in nigeria pdf file. It entails process in the social, economic, cultural and other facets of life. In simple terms, the objective of the paper is to identify and discuss the challenges to democracy and good governance in the country and proffer suggestions for a better democratic nigeria. An analysis grace malachi brown, phd department of history and diplomatic studies faculty of humanities rivers state university of education pmb 5047, rumuolumeni port harcourt, rivers state nigeria. Nigeria has a long history, with its roots in early civilisations of distinguished artistry. Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. The 1999 elections in nigeria whether free and fair would go a long way in the history of democracy in nigeria. Nigeria is a famous country with more than one hundred and forty million population. Democracy and development in nigeria international society for. Presently in nigeria, democracy is been celebrated yearly on may 29 th. Islam reached nigeria through the borno empire between 1068 ad and hausa states.
Throughout history, people have sought to increase their ability to conquer the. The impact of military rule on democracy in nigeria. Votebuying, a danger to nigeria s budding democracy. Nation of the world have different system of government that is being practiced which ranges from monarchy, aristocracy, democracy just to mention in few, but history will never be completely written if the system of government was not included in the history of the nation. Votebuying, a danger to nigerias budding democracy. Democracy in nigeria has been a mere political desideratum hanging on a limping utopia adewusi, 2011. Still, the democratic start point really began in 1960. Some of the issues that will be discussed in this article are the concept of rule of law, democracy and development, shortcomings of democracy and development in nigeria.
626 859 1042 203 1348 1185 203 1610 793 765 700 383 209 455 729 1582 1553 1489 564 1584 335 329 852 1407 1234 767 236 1386 1280 953 140 1378 36 272 218 845