Abstract
Following the trend of global democratic change, Nigeria like many other developing countries struggle to abandon military rule for democracy. The fifteen years of fourth republic democratic experiment in Nigeria have been characterize with misfortunes of good democratic governance. Several efforts made to consolidate good democratic governance in the country were simply thrown away. The expectations of Nigerians in 1999 when democracy return after fifteen long years of military rule were high. However these expectations and optimism were unfortunately quashed. The paper critically investigates this situation and assess the challenges surrounding the quest for effective democratic governance in the country within the era of global democratic change. In conclusion the paper emphasize on restructuring attitudes, institutions and resources towards the principles of democratic governance. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n1p386
Highlights
Macro-economic indicators appeared to have shown that achievement have been made since the return of democracy in Nigeria from 29th may 1999, several scholars and citizens strongly claimed that expectations were not met due largely to the flawed democratic processes
In order to effectively understand the Nigeria’s challenges of democratic governance in the fourth republic there is need to note that it is more than twenty years since the beginning of “third wave democratization”, which has been related to 1990s influence of globalization that increase the spread democracy around the world
Identifying and assessment of these challenges as they affect Nigeria especially as they affect democratic process is critical in outlook
Summary
Macro-economic indicators appeared to have shown that achievement have been made since the return of democracy in Nigeria from 29th may 1999, several scholars and citizens strongly claimed that expectations were not met due largely to the flawed democratic processes. The fact that democratic institutions such as political parties, security operatives and electoral umpires’ etcetera are not playing the rules of the game of democracy, confirms these claims. The insecurity of Nigerians and expatriates in the hands of Boko haram insurgency and Niger- Delta militants tells the story of the under achievements of the fourth republic democratic experiment. High level political corruption, electoral malpractice, ethno-religious conflicts, unemployment and poverty became synonymous features of the Nigeria’s fourth republic experience. The question is why does Nigeria’s fourth republic expectations thrown away?
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