Democracy and Political Violence in Nigeria Since Multi -Party Politics in 1999: A Critical Appraisal

Violence in politics poses a significant obstacle to women's participation in the field. It not only discourages women from pursuing political careers but also makes it challenging for those actively engaged in politics. Moreover, it tarnishes the reputation of women in the political landscape. In some cases, political violence is also employed to target women perceived as a risk to the established order. Violence in Indian politics is a persistent problem that hinders efforts to make politics more inclusive. Political parties have a crucial role to play in this regard. They should not only talk about non-violence but also actively discourage and condemn any promotion or tolerance of violence in politics. If more women can participate in the political process without any fear, it would be a significant step towards empowering women. It would have a major impact on how politics is conducted and perceived. This could lead to decreased aggressive political behaviour and a significant reduction in the likelihood of violence.

The Electoral contest in many developing democracies in Africa including, Nigeria, are faced with the challenges of conducting free, fair, credible and violence-free elections. Political violence has become a stain on our democracy. The paper therefore assessed the impact of electoral violence on national security in Nigeria. The paper adopted the descriptive analytical approach. The data collected were classified, analyzed and organized chronologically in a manner that ensured effective interrogation and presentation of the interests driving the debate on the subject matter to ensure adequate comprehension. The frustration aggression theory was used to explain the cause of electoral violence in Nigeria. The study found out that Political violence is now a stain in our democracy that is now seen as a political structure and strategy for employment during election and the use of weapons during election have an after effect on the national security. Consequently, some policy recommendations were made. The political umpire has to take conscious and strategic actions against political violence, due to the fact that action and inaction of the government plays a major role in either stopping or continuing the menace. Appropriate security network and intelligence should be organized to monitor electoral activities to mitigate incidences of violence. The Independent National Electoral Commission should conduct transparent and credible elections while the political parties and candidates should ensure strict compliance with electoral regulations

The paper explores the link between pre-colonial state culture and political violence in Nigeria. Relying on secondary sources, the paper demonstrates that pre-colonial Nigerian groups instituted state cultures that were not only divergent, but also hostile and violent to each other. Accordingly, the paper argues that the roots of political violence in Nigeria stems from the violent pre-colonial and colonial state cultures that have endured up to the present period. It also argues that the tendency by post-colonial state elite to promote the continuity of pre-colonial and colonial state cultures that promoted division and violence is an important factor behind Nigeria’s present predicament. Consequently, the paper concludes that curtailing and preventing political violence would require a cultural re-orientation that promotes peaceful co-existence and the implementation of political arrangements that guarantee fairness and inclusivity to all groups in the country.

Ethnoreligious hate speech is the precursor to political violence in Nigeria’s fourth republic. While it is true that one of the greatest benefits of democratic societies is freedom of speech, still no one should be allowed under the disguise of exercising the right to free speech to offend, humiliate and demean another human being. In Nigeria, hate speech has been elevated to the status of political campaign strategy and it accounts for the escalation of political violence in Nigeria’s fourth republic. Therefore, this study explored the impact of ethno-religious hate speech on political violence in Nigeria’s fourth public. A descriptive method was adopted and data was collected via a survey of 600 electorates in South-South zone of Nigeria. The study found that there is a positive and significant relationship between Ethno-religious hate speech and political violence in Nigeria’s fourth republic. This paper recommends among others that political campaign in Nigeria should focus on the implementation of the critical national issues such as economic, political, social, cultural, educational, and healthcare services rather than attack on political opponents or mobilization of ethnic, religious, and regional sentiments.

This article analyses the causes, manifestation and consequences of political violence in Bangladesh. The analysis is based on two arguments: first, that there is a cyclical relationship between inter-party conflict, political violence, and inter-party enmity; and secondly, inter-party conflict and violence at the horizontal level leads to political non-cooperation and stalemate at the vertical level between the ruling party and the opposition. Political violence emerges from a deep rooted political culture of intolerance, antagonism, revenge and arrogance. Apparent immediate causes of political violence are expressions of underlying differences and rifts along the lines of ideological, political, religious and institutional dimensions. Political violence results in distrust, institutionalisation of violence as a legitimate means of political expression and socialisation of violence-politics for the new generation of party loyalists.

ABSTRACTThis article examines the prevalence of organized political violence in Nigeria and in the process explores its causative and sustaining factors. Literature on the discourse of organized political violence in Nigeria is robust in its analyses. This article proposes that the emergence and sustenance of organized political violence in Nigeria is a direct result of elite political culture in Nigeria. A qualitative approach was used in sourcing and analyzing evidence from the field and historical records to examine key arguments that support this assertion. It was discovered that the political environment of Nigeria has defined elite political culture to be largely grounded on zero sum politics, politicization of violent and nonviolent conflicts, and identity politics. These observations underscore elite political culture as a consistent phenomenon in the development and sustenance of organized political violence in the State. This article serves as a framework for the examination of identified elements of elite political culture that foster the emergence and sustenance of organized political violence in Nigeria.

Electoral processes in many African countries including Nigeria, are faced with the challenges of conducting free, fair, credible and violence-free elections. Political violence has become a stain on Nigerian democracy. This paper therefore examined the impact of political violence on national security in Nigeria. The paper adopted the descriptive analytical approach. This study found out that Political violence in Nigeria is now a stain in our democracy that is now seen as a political structure and strategy for employment during elections and the use of weapons during elections have an aftermath impact on the national security. Consequently, some recommendations were made by the researcher. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has to take conscious and strategic actions against political violence in the country (Nigeria), due to the fact that action and inaction of the government of the country plays a very important role in either stopping or continuing the menace. Appropriate security network and intelligence should be organized to monitor electoral activities of the country to mitigate incidences of violence. The Independent National Electoral Commission should conduct free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria while the political parties and their candidates should ensure strict compliance with electoral regulations of the country (Nigeria).

Nigeria's landscape is plagued with increased insecurity fueled by political violence and civil unrest. The political violence stems from ethnic chauvinism, power dominance by Nigerian politicians, and the military. The resulting consequence has driven investors and forced locals to find solace in other nations through mass migration. This chapter seeks to examine events surrounding key political violence in Nigeria and its causes. The authors address practical strategies to address the civil unrest in Nigeria. Policy implications for Nigeria's national security and sustainable development are suggested.

The anti-colonial struggle staged in Zimbabwe against repressive British colonial rule depicted a liberation for equality, freedom and democracy. If Zimbabwe regularly held elections to choose alternative leaders from different political parties in different elections, allowing winners of a free and fair election to assume office; and in turn the winners of one election did not prevent the same competitive uncertainty from prevailing in the next election, the country would be democratic. However, there is no equivalence between elections and democracy. The minimalist conception of democracy is the indispensable institutional characteristic of electoral competition and its uncertainty. The maximalist notion requires extra-electoral imperatives for democracy to fully flourish, incorporating a wide range of types of institutions, processes and conditions to be present for a nation to be called a full democracy. Widespread election violence in 1980 dented Zimbabwe’s opportunity to develop ideal democratic cultures that embrace electoral democracy, government accountability and the rule of law. Post-war political, dissident and election violence proved to be Zimbabwe’s greatest political problem early on. Election and political violence, mhirizhonga or udlakela, largely amongst the Ndebele and Shona was a major concern characterised by intimidation, harassment, vandalism and murders.

Overtime, election has been the most controversial aspect of Nigeria’s democracy as it includes activities for choosing amongst individuals for the leadership and representative role in the country. Leadership seats have always been a contest and a battle that most individuals pursue. The political space of Nigeria therefore has always been characterized by violence which is usually being employed for political gains, ethno-religious vices and destabilization of the democratic processes. The research studies the various reasons for the continuous violence in Nigeria’s electoral processes, its impacts on the electoral processes and largely on the democratic consolidation of the country. The paper employed the descriptive analysis method in analyzing the causes and impact level of political violence. The paper asserted that the ethnic and religious volatility plays a great role in the ensuing of violence in the last election, as the election was viewed as an election amongst individuals of ethnic groups. The researchers therefore, suggest that principle of federal character can reduce political violence and make for democratic consolidation in Nigeria.

The article is devoted to the participation of political parties in the elections of deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The role of political parties as an institution of representative democracy, which is expressed in the representation of the opinion of the people in the legislative branch of power, is substantiated. In the process of research, the laws were studied: the constitutional law of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan», the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On Political Parties». The analysis of the activities of political parties of the Republic of Kazakhstan and foreign countries through an in-depth study of laws and practice. A study of the practice of legal regulation and the participation of political parties in legislative elections in foreign countries shows the limited approaches used in Kazakhstani legislation to create favorable conditions for the establishment of a multi-party system, to involve the widest sections of the population in political activity and to participate in the elections of deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Features of the proportional electoral system of the system that are used in the election of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan were identified. The article shows the processes of a gradual transition from a majoritarian electoral system to a proportional system, which allowed political parties in Kazakhstan and a number of foreign countries to actively participate in the process of election of deputies. When writing the article, the authors used general methods of scientific knowledge: synthesis and analysis, induction, deduction, modeling, which made it possible to comprehensively consider the studied constitutional and legal phenomena. The methods of comparative legal, systemic, logical and statistical were also applied.

This study assessed the consequences of political election violence on democratic social order in Nigeria. The study was carried out in North central geo-political zone of Nigeria. The population of the study was 200 respondents across the area of study. Data was generated through structured interviews. Three research questions guided the study. The study was focused on causes of political violence in Nigeria, the consequences and how to improve the scenario for institutionalization of credible democratic order in Nigeria. It was found that ethnicity and religion, doctoring of election results, massive rigging, poverty, thuggery amongst others stimulated political election violence. Some of the consequences were: non mass oriented governance, political instability, increased cost in maintenance of security, political assassination and so on the study found that national integration, fair distribution of resources by leadership, indigenous language utilization, political education amongst others can sanitize the democratic process. It was recommended that leadership should be focused on pursuit of national interest aspiration ventures, fair treatment of all citizens of Nigeria, irrespective of tribe and the institutionalization of laws against fraudulent elections. Keywords : Assessment, election political violence and democratic social order.

Political parties are among the critical institutions crucial to achieving a democratic process in any society. It is because they provide a significant platform for leadership recruitment in a democracy. This function is best performed when intraparty politics and processes are essentially tranquil and popularity-based. However, internal party democracy could be constrained by violent conflicts among party members, particularly during the process of selecting candidates to represent political parties in elections. It is, therefore, imperative to note that intraparty violence, if not properly managed, may degenerate into a full-blown election/political violence before, during, and after general elections. While many scholarly investigations have harped on the effect of political violence on electoral politics and democracy, particularly in Nigeria, little has been done to examine its implications for internal party democracy. This study, therefore, explores the impact of intraparty violence on the internal democracy of political parties in Kwara State, Nigeria.

Political violence in Nigeria has intensified over the past two decades, significantly affecting governance, security, and human development. This article systematically analyzes the complex dynamics and sociopolitical drivers of political violence in Nigeria, drawing on longitudinal conflict data sets (ACLED, Nigeria Watch, UCDP), qualitative field insights, and a structured review of scholarly and policy literature. The study identifies recurring patterns of state fragility, elite manipulation, ethno-religious tensions, and institutional weaknesses as critical enablers of violence. Utilizing the conflict theory, it examines how structural inequalities and power struggles underpin Nigeria’s violent political landscape. The findings reveal persistent limitations of early warning and response systems, inadequate legal and institutional safeguards, and the gendered dimensions of insecurity across the country’s six geopolitical zones. The article underscores the need to move beyond reactive security measures toward preventive, inclusive, and context-sensitive approaches, offering a coherent framework and evidence-based recommendations for governance reform, peacebuilding, and strengthening democratic resilience.

As the country approaches this year’s presidential elections, both Liberal andConservative parties find themselves severely weakened. Nevertheless, it appears that they will continue to dominate the electoral landscape.