Problems Militating Against the Consolidation of Democracy in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper began by postulating that the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria is both an inevitable and imperative need. The paper therefore took an in-depth look at the problems militating against the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria. Because of the multi-dimensionality of the problems, the discussions were done under several headings comprising of: i. Military, ii. Civilian; iii. nature of Politics; iv. Institutional problems and v. Corruption and many others. The paper analyzed and discussed each of the problems exclusively on the basis of information gathered from secondary sources and documents and proceeding of information gathered from secondary sources and suggesting some categorical imperative which are crucial and necessary for the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria. After carefully reviewing the literature and weighing all the odds against each other, it was discovered that more weight appears to be on the side of the military having ruled the country for twenty nine years out of her forty-one years of existence. On the basis of this observation, the paper recommended that more than anything else, the military must be insulated and permanently incapacitated from politics. The paper therefore concluded that on the one hand the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria depends largely on the extent to which the military can physically and psychologically withdraw from politics and governance and keep to their professional role. And on the other hand, the consolidation of democracy also depends on the ability of political actors to keep to the rules, provision of constitutional safeguards for minority groups, the civil society and the press and the ability of the polity to reduce the level of poverty and make the economic conditions better for the masses.