The Crisis of Democracy in Nigeria: An Examination of Two Determining Factors

When one reflects about Nigeria’s democracy one cannot but wonder what is responsible for the inability of democracy to translate into development for the people. Why is democracy in Nigeria encountering so many troublesinsurgencies, corruption, ethnic rivalry, political assassination, among others? How come rather than solving so many social ills, it seems to be aggravating them? These are the major questions that provoked the reflections poured into this paper. Two factors are identified as being responsible for the inability of democracy to engender the promotion of the common good in Nigeria. The first is colonialism. The second is the nature of politics in Nigeria. The colonial contribution, it is argued, is that it shaped Nigeria into a country where, ultimately, politics is devoid of morality. It also made the Nigerian populace to perceive the government of the country as being alien in nature, and one that should be cheated. The nature of politics, as it is, is indicted as not creating an enabling environment for democracy to thrive. In the final analysis, what needs to be done, we conclude, is the re-examination of the principles informing governance and the relationship of the citizens with the state in order to provide a better footing for democracy in Nigeria.