Election Related Violence in Nigeria: The Health, Education and Security Perspectives. A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Democracy as a system of government is commonly practised in most countries of the world. While it is popular mostly due to its unique attribute of selecting leaders through elections, it is characterized by various levels of violence in some regions especially among developing countries. The violence that is perpetrated before, during and after elections is mostly referred to as Election Related Violence (ERV). ERV tends to affect most areas of a country’s development thereby leading to poor governance, insecurity, corruption among other effects. This study seeks to investigate the health, educational and security perspectives of ERV. The methodology employed for the gathering of data for this study was the qualitative research method. Thirteen purposively selected participants were interviewed; these participants were staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who may have experienced ERV in the course of their jobs. The interviews and questionnaires were designed to elicit responses on the respondents’ views on the health, education and security perspectives of ERV. The responses obtained from the respondents were grouped thematically; some of the themes that emerged from the study include the negative actions of political parties and candidates, lack of adequate political education among the masses and the inadequate welfare packages for electoral workers, etc. This research suggests that for peaceful elections to be achievable in Nigeria and other countries with similar challenges, the relevant laws dissuading ERV have to be enforced, mass political education for the masses will need to be properly designed and implemented, adequate welfare and training for electoral workers and an improved security system for elections will have to be developed among other measures recommended by this study.