Democracy in Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the most populous nations in Africa, having a population of 140 million inhabitants. It is bounded in the north by Burkina Faso and Chad Republic. In the East, it is bounded by southern Cameroon .In the west Nigeria is bounded by the republic of Benin and in the south by the Atlantic Ocean. There are over 250 tribes in Nigeria,
but the main dominating tribes are the Hausas in the north, the Ibos in east and the Yorubas in the west. Nigeria has been a British colony for over 100 years, and was granted Independence in 1960, with the first prime minister being Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
In 1966, there was a military coup in Nigeria which brought General J. T. U. Aguyi Ironsi to power. The coup was viewed by the Hausas in Northern as bias because only leaders from the north and a few from west and mid west were killed in the coup. As a result a counter coup de etat was staged by the Hausas in northern Nigeria. The out come of the counter coup left an estimated number of 30,000 Ibos killed by the Hausas.
In 1967, the Ibos in the Eastern region of Nigeria felt that they were no longer needed in Nigeria, and they grouped together under the leadership of Lt Col Odumegwu Ojukwu the Independent republic of Biafra. A civil war was declared by Nigeria against the Ibos in the Republic of Biafra. Three years later in 1970 the Ibos were defeated in the war, and the Republic of Biafra ceased to exist.
Nigeria has passed through many hands in. coups and counter coups. Since Independence, ten different Heads of state have ruled Nigeria. Every body wants to become head of state, so every so often various groups plan to take over the government and innocent citizens die as a result.
One professor by name Wole Soinka was once asked a question about the democracy in Nigeria, and he said “The worst civilian government is better than the best military government.”
ELECTIONS 2007
The test for democracy in Nigeria is seen in the present elections held in April 2007, where for over forty years of independence, a civilian Government has to hand over power to another elected civilian Government. International observers like Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state who observed the elections for the National Democratic Institute said
The election process failed the people and the
Observer for the International Republican Institute
Said the elections fell below acceptable standards
In 2004 in the euphoric aftermath of Nigeria’s transition from a long spell of military rule to democracy, 84% of Nigerians said they were satisfied with the democracy as practiced in Nigeria, according to the Afro barometric survey. But in 2005, the number fell to 25% lower than all the countries surveyed save Zimbabwe. Almost 70 % of Nigerians did not believe elections will allow them to remove objectionable
Leaders, the survey found.
Nigeria is the second richest country in Africa, exporting about two million barrels of oil per day, but the riches that oil brings have not been transformed to meaningful development.
In Kano a once vibrant manufacturing centre, the contradiction of Nigeria’s eight years old experiment with elected Government are vividly in display. Far from building a unified country aimed at the greatest good for all, Nigeria has instead become an every man for him self nation.
In Kano’s Government residential area, where the wealthy live, each house is its own power and water company. Plastic water tanks on spidery legs tower over tiled roofs, each fed by an electric pump sucking water from a private well. The electric company supplies electricity light just for a few hours a day, so the air is thick with the belching diesel smoke of thousand of generators.
ELECTION MALPRACTICES
Like in most African countries, during elections the incumbent President or his party engages in some malpractices including no sufficient ballot papers in opposition strong hold polling stations, no identification of candidates on ballot papers in opposition strong holds, general sabotage by tugs of the ruling party, just to name a few. With these malpractices and the un necessary postponement of elections in opposition strong holds leaves much to be desired and the credibility of the outcome of the elections.
There were reports of wide spread ballot stuffing, rigging and intimidation in many areas, leading International observers to call for the cancellation of results in as many as ten out of thirty six states. As a result of the wide spread malpractices, the electorate in Nigeria disagrees with the election results in which the governing party won twenty seven of the thirty six Governorships and twenty six state legislatures.
One of the observers Peter Lewis, head of the African department at John Hopkins University had this to say:
Nigeria is entering a dangerous period that could see
Serious instability. The fundamentals are ok, but the
System is in crisis, and there is potential for real
Instability.
As election observers issued their preliminary reports, on the Presidential and state polling, with a grim picture of rigging, incompetence by election officials, delay and intimidation emerged. It was said that European observers witnessed incidents of ballot box theft, long delay in the delivery of ballots and other materials and a shortage of ballots for the presidential race. In half of the polling stations its team visited, there was no privacy for voters to mark their ballots in secret, and observers also witnessed un used ballots being marked and stuffed into ballot boxes.
RESPONSE FROM THE CHAIR MAN OF THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTION COMMISSION
Several years before the present election could hold in Nigeria the government created the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), which was mandated ands given the power to organize the elections in its totality, and report to the Government the final results. The commission was headed by the learned professor Morice Iwu. There is no doubt that when the results of an election are made public, those who contested and did not win will start to condemn the process and find faults with the Administration.
Also when an election is to take place, adequate time is given so that those who are contesting can move round the entire country to tell the electorate their agenda so that they can vote for him. From the report of INEC, the chair man had this to say to the President Elect:
The distinct testimony of the success of the 2007 general
Election is the emergence of a President Elect for the
Republic of Nigeria. The commission is satisfied and
Proud of the process through which he won.
When he analyzed the report, he concluded it with this statement, talking to the President elect.
May I affirm once more that you won the presidential
Election in a free and fair contest. May I also remark that
When we released the report of the 2007 general election
Campaign, which the INEC monitored as provided by the
1999 constitution, it showed that you were the only candidate
Who covered all parts of Nigeria during your campaign.
That eighteen out of the twenty-five candidates who contested
In the elections, did not even have a single campaign poster
In the major cities of the Federation. That twenty of them had
No single advertisement in the dailies, and that one of the
Contestants spent more time attacking the commission than
Telling Nigerians why they should vote for him.
From the released report the President Elect had twenty four million votes, and his immediate second contestant had six million votes. This was followed by some with a little more than one million votes, and many with hundreds of thousands votes.
I will like to state that some authorities say that there is no perfection in any system, as long as it is organized by man. But there is also a near perfection syndrome which other authorities hold. We all can agree that in a country like Nigeria, with a population of one hundred and forty million, it is not an easy task to conduct an election which covers the entire land scape, considering the remoteness of some villages and the accessibility to them.
The just concluded elections in Nigeria are considered one of the greatest achievements, for an elected civilian Government to hand over power to another elected civilian Government. Even if there were election mal practices, the land slide victory of the President Elect with such a vast difference or margin between him and the immediate second candidate, really reflects the will of the people of Nigeria.
To this effect, Professor Morice Iwu the INEC chair man made this final
Comment.
We must recognize that there is no fundamental
Human right guaranteeing success in elections.
A feeling that if one does not win an election,
The Nation must not know peace is not only
GOD, but demonstrates deep contempt for
Fellow country men and it is an unconscionable
Ingratitude to ones father land.

democracy in nigeria

This is going to be a good topic for my project