CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Background of the Study
The Nigerian state assumed a new governance status in 1999 following the demise of authoritarian regime in the country. Military dictatorship was replaced by representative democracy with the hopes and aspirations of good governance much higher than what the seemingly collapsible democratic institutions could fulfill. The source and nature of transition in 1999 was later found to constitute threat to the foundation of democracy and obliterates the current efforts at consolidating democracy.
The reality of the attempts to subvert the concept of democracy to serve the interests of a few, rather than a greater majority, still looms high. The emerging democracy was artificial and reflexive of external imposition. It is a weak democracy that repudiates inalienable ethos of its true identity. Democracy and political participation are related to good governance are interrelated and complementary but appear to be antithetical in Nigeria. Democracy in Nigeria is alien and its practice has proved difficult.
Democracy is abused, good governance becomes elusive and evasive. This is what Darl (1989) describes as “virtual democracy”, democracy that shares resemblance with true democracy but lacks basic tenets of democracy. Democracy in Nigeria has three unique features which include: insulation of economic matters from popular participation, manipulation and monopolization of democratic process including the use of violence and electoral fraud to secure legitimacy and peripheral participation of citizens. Surface-level participation does not have far-reaching influence on the outcome of policy choices.
According to Oke (2010) democracy involves the opportunity to participate in decision making in the political process. It repudiates arbitrariness and authoritarianism. It extols the consent of the governed and it protects human personality and values (Ake, 1991). Democracy, whether liberal, African or modern, includes equal opportunity for all, fundamental recognition of popular sovereignty, representativeness, majority rule, minority rights, popular consultation, right of choice between alternative programmes, consensus on fundamental issues, as well as essentially periodic elections (Oke, 2005). The concept of democracy confers the opportunity to participate in decision making by all.
Democracy here goes beyond opportunity of election. Although, the centrality of elections to democratic process can not be over-emphasized, democracy is not wholly centered on election. For democracy to evolve good governance, it must be liberal and participatory. In this sense, Liberal democracy entails not only free and fair elections in terms of voting administration, it requires a more comprehensive fairness of political competition embodied in the concept of a just and open competition. In a liberal democracy, the electoral arena is open, and the playing field is reasonably level.
Only in a free society with opportunity of free participation and respects for citizens’ rights can good governance be achieved. True democracy places emphasis on freedom, and open competition, popular and meaningful participation, responsiveness, transparency and accountability. Freedom to organise, freedom to protest anti-people policies and freedom to demand and assert citizens’ rights and interests, freedom of the press to report, investigate and expose government policies and actions without fear or favour. According to Diamond (2005), “Only in a climate of true political and civil freedom can a country achieve the absolute fundamental condition for development: responsible government—that is government that is committed to the advancement of the public good, rather than the private interests of its own officials and their families and their cronies”.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
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
The general objective of this study is to evaluate the Nigerian democracy in the context of political participation especially in Asaba LGA of Delta State. The specific objectives are to:
(i) ascertain how people are mobilized to participate fully in Nigerian democracy.
(ii) examine the institutional provisions for political mobilization / participation in the Nigerian democracy.
(iii) assess the effectiveness of democratic rule in Nigeria generally and Asaba LGA of Delta State in particular, especially in the 2007 general elections.
1.4 Research questions
(i) Is there any significant relationship between citizens‟ mobilization and participation in the Nigerian politics?
(ii) What is the relationship between the administrative practices of the government in Nigeria and democracy?
(iii) Who controls politics in the Nigerian democracy?
1.5 Significance of the Problem
This involves both the empirically and the theoretical significance. Empirically, the result of this work on completion will help to address the problem of democracy and political participation in Nigeria. And it will enable the federal government and state government to see how to blend representative democracy and active participation in political activities in Nigeria by allowing them to get involve in political activities without fear intimidation for national development. Hence the need for this study or the problem this work intends to solve is to provide means to increase reasonable political participation in Nigeria polity that is enough to justify our democratic practice and to improve the quality of the polity. In doing this an attempt will be made to expose some of the phenomena responsible of strong political apathy in Nigerian polity like violence, corruption, godfatherism and electoral malpractice etc.
1.6 Scope and limitation of the study
The research is actually prepared to analyze critically and profound a solution to the problem of democracy and political participation in Enugu state, between 1999 and 2016. However, in area of operation, the Nigeria state is the area of grand framework of analysis which Enugu State remains the point of emphasis of the study.
1.7 Research Hypotheses:
To further guide the study, the following hypotheses were put forward for investigation:
Ho that there is no significant relationship between the political mobilization of the citizens and political participation in Nigeria politics.
HA that there is a significant relationship between the political mobilization of the citizens and political participation in Nigeria politics.
Ho that there is no significant relationship between the administrative practices of the government in Nigeria and democracy.
HA that there is a significant relationship between the administrative practices of the government in Nigeria and democracy.
Ho that in Nigeria, the control of politics is not a function of the superior/subordinate relationship between party cabals and ordinary citizens.
HA that in Nigeria, the control of politics is a function of the superior/subordinate relationship between party cabals and ordinary citizens.