DEMOCRACY, LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA: A REAPPRAISAL OF THE JOSHUA DARIYE’S ADMINISTRATION, 1999-2007

Abstract

The year 1999 is significant in the annals of Nigerian history being the period the country returned to democratic rule after the democratic process was severally interrupted by the military incursion into politics. It can be adduced that the period of military dictatorship spanned through a phase of twenty-nine years. Military rule is synonymous with arbitrariness, brutalization of citizens and the entrenchment of the practice of impunity. However, the return to the democratic dispensation culminated in the conduct of elections at both the federal and state levels in 1999. This was after the conduct of primary elections by different political parties, the platform through which political leaders were elected to power. The election in Plateau State produced Joshua Chibi Dariye as the governor and he was reelected in 2003 to serve a second term in office. This article discusses participatory leadership theory, also regarded as democratic theory, a succinct representation of the period being considered. The administration was bedeviled with challenges like impeachment, ethno-religious crisis etc. The administration tried in few sectors, but largely failed in other sectors and did not maximize the gains of democracy. In particular, the education sector was revamped, wards were created and chiefdoms were upgraded. On the other hand, the administration interfered with the legislature, judiciary, mass media and press freedom, and local government administration. It concludes by reiterating the need for checks and balances and strengthening of institutions through proper dissolution of powers and autonomy to all the arms of government and its tiers.