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The Nigerian political class operates within convenient and exclusive networks that support a core political composition, that itself is predatory, authoritarian and disconnected from society. Since democratization began in 1988, political competition has intensified, but bureaucracies have remained only moderately effective and political parties and civil society have shown continuing weakness while the elite continually holds the polity by the jugular by way of power contestation and domination. While successive political leaders are unable to offer even the most basic services to the people, more than ever before, it appears the mass public only represents a legitimizing tool for electoral indiscretions. However, the present elite fragmentation (as manifested in crises among agencies and cabals in the executive, the antagonistic dispositions among leaderships of the three arms of government and ruling-opposition parties confrontations) in Nigeria, though at face value, may illustrate some implications of Elite Cartel corruption, and portends some dangers for the fragile political system in the country, it may also serve some unintended purposes which this study seeks to unravel. These developments, combined with deep divisions within the country’s elite, may have reinforced the fragility of the nation’s democracy and governance neglect to the detriment of the poor. If elite power and roles, despite structural differentiation, have long endured by recurring and extending through time and space without producing meaningful social change, can the present internal wrangling signify a weak point to be explored by the disenchanted mass of the people? Can the Nigerian elites become victims of their own creation – poor governanceor the oligarchic May 2020 Volume 7, Issue 2 2 implosion is just a passing phase that will fade away with possible future mutual compromise? Adopting the Weberian rational approaches to elite formation and attitudes, this study examines the capacity of the ruling minorities to form cohesive power actors, that is, to act in a solidary, coherent and deliberate manner in contradistinction to the mass resentment among the populace, particularly in the face of elite fragmentation.

Elite Fragmentation and Oligarchic Implosion in Nigeria’s Democratic Space: A Mere Stopgap or An Impetus to People’s Emancipation?