DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIA 1999 TO 2015(CASE STUDY SOKOTO NORTH)

Abstract

It is no vain saying that democracy cannot thrive without political parties. One of the contributions of democratic practices has been the development of a system of checks and balances to ensure that political power is dispersed and decentralized. It is a system founded on the deeply held belief that government is best when its potentials for abuse are curbed and when it is held as close to the people as possible. That is the reason why democracy as a system of government is now the most central and ascendant idea in world politics. Democracy is a culture that is lived out through participation. As a culture, it is patterned by the people, environment and the regulatory instruments of the people. The study tried to find out why people’s participation which should be the hallmark of democracy is only minimally witnessed during general elections in Nigeria by evaluating people’s participation in the 1999- 2015 general elections in Sokoto state. The study revealed that many people within the voting age did not vote and were not adequately mobilized to do so. It also showed that almost all the political activities before, during and after the general elections were carried out by the political party members other than the people or masses.

                                                                                CHAPTER ONE

                                        INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Democracy is a bargain between the government and the governed. This bargain is made up of two parts  the government’s legitimacy, that is, claim of obedience to its laws as well as doing what the citizens want it to do. The second part is the arrangement that regulates this bargain of legitimacy in the competitive political election. The essence of the bargain is to ensure participation in policy making. This participation is the fundamental meaning of democracy. Democracy and political participation are two concepts that are interwoven; none can exist in the absence of the other. The process of establishing a democratic system requires the full participation of the people. This participation may be direct or indirect and must be by the citizens. Participation refers to the different ways in which the public express opinions and ideally exert influence on political, economic, management and other social decisions. For a well-informed participation to occur, a radical transparency though not sufficient, is necessary. It is argued that people most affected by a decision should have the most say while those less affected should have less say. Participation has its objectives from the administrative perspective, to motivate the people and public support building activities. For the citizens, it facilitates useful information exchange regarding local conditions. Political stability and development of any political system is a function of the awareness and positive involvement of the citizens in civic and political matters. This is the reason why Appadorai (2004) posited that democracy demands from the common man a certain level of ability and character: rational conduct and active participation in the government. In Nigeria, political activities and transition programmes have been marked with turbulence, uncertainties and violence. Right from the First Republic, the Nigerian politics is characterized by greed, love of power, violence, assassination, thuggery and election rigging. Violence has become synonymous with Nigeria’s political culture such that virtually all elections held so far in the country are violent-ridden (Ojo, 2014). Although the Nigeria general election which was held in 2011 was relatively peaceful, however, it was also marked with some irregularities.  According to Okp (2011), although the national assembly election held on Saturday, April 9 2011 has been appraised by many as successful, some cases of malpractices and violence recorded across the country threaten to dim light on democratic progress. During the election, there were reported cases of underage voting, distribution of money at polling centers, manipulation of voters’ register, diversion of electoral materials, ballot box snatching, unlawful possession of firearms and other electoral offences. This political scenario engendered lukewarm political attitude and participation among some citizens. In a political system, the citizens can be involved in the political process and decision making by joining political party, voting during election, participating in electoral campaign, community affairs and other political activities. The level and pattern of political participation of the citizens determine, to some extent, the success of the political system. In Nigeria, politics is seen by a number of people as a dirty game which must be avoided. This is as a result of the undemocratic tendencies, deception, violence and uncertainties that characterize the political system. Commenting on the political apathy displaced by Nigerian citizens during the 2011 general election, The INEC chairman, Professor Attairu Jega lamented: That there exists voters’ apathy in Nigeria is no longer contentious. Voters turnout in the just concluded general elections had provided a scientific and empirical evidence of the existence of voters apathy and disinterestedness of sections of the electorates in elections…This urgly scenario has implications for popular participation and governance. (Odebode, 2011) This is corroborated by the report of an interview conducted during the 2011 election. One of the respondents said “My father told me not to vote when I was leaving home. This morning, my father said I was wasting my time. He said all politicians were the same and it would make no difference”. Statistical analysis of the 2011 general elections showed that only 35% of the registered electorates voted during the election. Commenting on this the INEC chairman expressed that the scientific evidence of poor turn-out of voters during the election was at variance with the belief that Nigerians showed much enthusiasm during the polls (Odebode, 2011).

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Democracy, the actualized popular power through political structures that are based on mass participation and political sovereignty, is described by Powell, a wellknown American political scientist, as quoted in Cayne (1993) as “an implicit bargain between the representative government and the citizens and a specific arrangement which regulates that bargain”. He further stated that a true democracy is that system of government that is controlled by the people through their representatives. True democracy is universally accepted as a system of government that believes in and operates on the principle of law and order, with them as the ultimate repository and regulator of the social norms and practice. To the authoritarians and other critics, a common misapprehension is that democracies lack the power to oppress and also lacks the authority to govern. This view is fundamentally wrong. Democracies require that their governments be limited not that they be weak. They have also demonstrated remarkable resiliency over time and have shown that with the commitment and informed dedication of their citizens, they can overcome hardship, reconcile social and ethnic divisions and when necessary, prevail in time of war The experience with citizens’ participation in electoral politics in Nigeria generally and Delta state in particular has not been encouraging. Even where development of local participation is an important tool of rural development and where political education in mass participation is a key element of the development strategy, programmes have not developed genuine participation and responsibility among the people. The people have become recipients of development as if development is something outside their realms of experience and right respectively. There are political, socio-cultural and bureaucratic constraints to political participation

 1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This study has two objectives, the general objectives and the specific objective; the general objective is to examine democracy and political participation in Nigeria;

The specific objective are;

1. i) To ascertain the effect of political participation on the quality of leaders in democratic process in Nigeria from 1999-2015
2. ii) To examine if there is any significant relationship between political participation and democratic consolidation

iii) To examine the role of political parties in ensuring effective participation of the citizens in the democratic process

1. iv) To proffer suggested solutions to the research problem

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

1. i) Does political participation has any effect on the quality of leaders in democratic process in Nigeria from 1999-2015?
2. ii) Is there any significant relationship between political participation and democratic consolidation?

iii) Does political parties play any role in ensuring effective participation of the citizens in the democratic process?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

H₀: There is no significant relationship between political participation and democratic consolidation

H₁: There is a significant relationship between political participation and democratic consolidation

H₀: political parties do not play any role in ensuring effective participation of the citizens in the democratic process

H₀: political parties do play a role in ensuring effective participation of the citizens in the democratic process

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of great importance to the management of Nigeria democratic process i.e the INEC, political parties and other political actors on the need to effectively integrate the citizen in the democratic process, the study will also be of importance to political actors as the findings will help them in policy formation. The study will also be of importance to researchers who intend to embark on a study in a similar topic as the study will serve as a reference point to further research. Finally, the study will also be of importance to researchers, academia’s, students, teachers and the general public as the study will add to the pool of existing literature and contribute to knowledge.

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers democracy and political participation in Nigeria, 1999-2015, but in the cause of the study, there are some factors that limited the scope of the study;

1. a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
2. b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
3. c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected political stakeholders in the makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities

1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Democracy

Democracy is a system of government where the citizens exercise power by voting. In a direct democracy, the citizens as a whole form a governing body and vote directly on each issue.

Political participation

Political participation can be loosely defined as citizens’ activities affecting politics

Political parties

A political party is an organized group of people who have the same ideology, or who otherwise have the same political positions, and who field candidates for elections, in an attempt to get them elected and thereby implement the party’s agenda.

INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission, set up in 1998, is the electoral body which was set up to oversee elections in Nigeria.

1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study

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