The 10 Problems Of Democracy In Nigeria and their solutions have been a national concern due to the importance and the impacts of democracy in a sovereign state like Nigeria.
It’s pertinent we first ask ourselves the question; what are the problems of democracy in Nigeria today?
If we can be able to list and explain the problems of democracy in Nigeria, it would go a long way in helping us to know the impacts of democracy in Nigeria and ultimately, profer solutions to the democracy problems in Nigeria today.
Let’s now list and explain the 10 problems of democracy in Nigeria today before we now proceed to profer possible solutions to democracy problems in Nigeria in this present time.
10 Problems Of Democracy In Nigeria
Here is the list and explanations of the 10 problems of democracy in Nigeria.
1. Poverty
Poverty is the bedrock of the problems of democracy in Nigeria today.
According to the Nationa Bureau Of Statistics (NBS), 80% of the Nigerian population live in abject poverty which exposes people in this category to vulnerabilities of manipulation by the corrupt political elites.
Corrupt politicians take advantage of the poor by buying their hearts with meager monetary gifts during the election period which makes this population not vote their conscience and then try to compensate these politicians with their votes during the election period and they end up unknowingly electing corrupt politicians into power.
Also, these corrupt politicians also take advantage of the poor by hiring them as thugs during the election period with meager monetary gifts to disrupt the election proceedings on the election day to favor them.
2. Illiteracy
Illiteracy is one of the major challenges to democracy in Nigeria today.
There’s a popular saying that goes “Illiteracy is a deadly disease”.
Unarguably, there’s a high number of illiterates in Nigeria today and the corrupt politicians take advantage of the gullibility of the illiterate population during the election period by bribing them with money in exchange for their votes and using them as political thugs.
Also, an illiterate would likely not know his or her human and constitutional rights and hence wouldn’t be able to speak up when any of his or her rights human and constitutional rights are abused by the people in power.
Furthermore, an illiterate can not constructively criticize politicians or stage a peaceful protest when their rights are been abused.
3. Insecurity
Insecurity and insurgency in all parts of the country pose a serious threat to democracy in Nigeria.
Kidnapping in all parts of the country, the Boko Haram sects in the North, the Unknown Gunmen (UGM) in the Eastern part of the country, and overall terrorism in all parts of the country has wasted thousands of lives and destroyed properties worth billions of Naira is a big challenge to democracy in Nigeria.
This issue of Insecurity is a serious threat to democracy in Nigeria today because everybody is now living in perpetual fear hence, everybody is afraid to speak up for their rights or stage a peaceful protest in the country because of the possible attack by the perpetrators of the haram in any of these gatherings.
4. Weak Political Opposition Parties
In a saner clime, the opposition political parties ought to be at the forefront in fighting for democracy for the citizens of the country.
These oppositions can help in improving adequate democracy in the country by constructively criticizing the ruling party which would force them to sit up and address the pressing issues of the country or they stand a chance of loosing in the next elections.
But these opposing political parties instead focus on irrelevant things which don’t in any way contribute to achieving democracy in the country.
5. Corruption
Corruption is a menace to the Nigerian democracy today.
Most political office holders have this mentality of “let’s have a share of our own national cake syndrome” when they occupy a political position and they end up embezzling the national treasury knowing fully well that they would get away with it without penalties.
Unfortunately, the Judiciary which should be the last hope of the common man to get justice is now occupied by corrupt judges and lawyers who are easily bought over by money by politicians which makes them be partial in their judgments when a case of corruption is brought before them.
Even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which should be very transparent and impartial during election periods are now occupied by corrupt people who are willing to compromise the election results in favor of any political party or candidate who offers them the highest bribe.
6. Cross Carpeting
The political ecosystem in Nigeria is filled with greedy and power–drunk politicians who are ready to do everything within their capacity to remain in power in order to cover their atrocities.
These desperate and corrupt politicians decamp from one political party to the other in a bid to be in a political party that has the potential of making them win in the elections.
This defection from one political party to the other gives birth to weak political opposition which is prevalent in Nigeria today and hence poses a serious danger to democracy.
We’ve listed and explained the 10 problems of democracy in Nigeria and their impacts to democracy in Nigeria, let’s now look at the possible solutions to the problems of democracy in Nigeria as listed above.
Solutions To The Problems Of Democracy In Nigeria
Below are some of the solutions to democracy problems in Nigeria.
1. Poverty Alleviation
Poverty is the chief architect of the lack of democracy in Nigeria.
It’s always said that a hungry man cannot think straight.
Since the majority of the Nigerian population leave below–average line which makes them easily sell their votes for peanuts to corrupt politicians during elections.
The government should endeavor to create jobs and empower the citizens through organizing free skill acquisition training and empowering the citizens in various capacities.
This will go a long way in enhancing democracy in the country.
2. Public Orientation
Unfortunately, the majority of the Nigerian population does not know their fundamental and constitutional rights hence, they are not even aware when any of their rights is been violated.
On the other hand, some people who know their rights do not know the appropriate quarters to lodge their complaints if their rights are been violated.
Enlightening the masses about their rights and how fundamental and constitutional rights and how to register their complaints if their rights are violated is a stepping stone to solving democracy problems in Nigeria.
3. Formation Of Strong Political Opposition
Unarguably, if the political opposition parties could join hands together to form a strong healthy opposition to the ruling party, it would go a long way to strengthen and restore democracy in the country.
4. Independent and Incorruptible Judiciary System
If our judiciary system can be independent of political influence, it would go help them to deliver free, fair, and impartial judgment and ultimately met out appropriate penalties to corrupt politicians when corruption cases are brought before them.
Also, the judiciary should endeavor to weed out corrupt judges and lawyers who compromise their profession by accepting bribes to deliver partial judgments in favor of these corrupt politicians.
Furthermore, the judiciary should endeavor to make any corrupt judge or lawyer who is found guilty of corruption to face the full penalties of the law.
5. Improved Security
The majority of people who are aware of the rights fundamental and constitutional rights are afraid to speak up or stage a peaceful protest when their rights are violated or when things are going wrong in the country due to the security challenges faced by the country.
Importance Of Democracy In Nigeria
Below are some of the importance of democracy in Nigeria as a nation.
- Democracy creates a platform for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
- Democracy makes room for exponential social and economic development.
- Democracy allows for a peaceful change of government.
- Democracy provides for a system of recall of elected representatives or impeachment of chief executives.
- Democracy is not just about electoral politics and elections but goes beyond these mundane things to include good governance and the political empowerment of the people to participate at all levels of social life, from the neighborhood, community, and village level to the state and national levels.
- As human beings do not like being ordered or commanded about, democracy tallies with human nature.
Disadvantages Of Democracy
Unarguably, everything that has some advantages also has some disadvantage and democracy is not an exception.
Here are some of the demerits of democracy in Nigeria today.
- Democracy is misinterpreted to be just all about elections and electoral politics and little emphasis is placed on the welfare of the people in most developing countries.
- The government may abuse the rights of the people especially when it becomes over-sensitive to criticism.
- Overzealous people may take their democracy and freedom for granted and speak or write things that may threaten peaceful coexistence in the country.
- In a democratic setting, there’re tendencies that social vices like corruption, inefficiency, and bureaucratic stagnation may thrive.
- It is very hard for democracy to strive in a country which widespread poverty and incessant disagreements between groups.
Submission
We’ve discussed the 10 problems of democracy in Nigeria and their solutions in this article.
We also talked about the importance of democracy in Nigeria, the impacts of democracy in Nigeria, and the disadvantages of democracy in Nigeria today.