An assessment of political parties and democratic consolidation in nigerias fourth republic mike omilusi, phd department of political science ekiti state university, nigeria abstract democratic values and practices are crucial for democratic institutionalization and the development of party strength. This includes a new basket fund which integrates political party support as one. Ideology and political theory ideology represents a typically crucial element of political parties and their activities. An introduction to african politics, this course will provide for its participants a general survey of the main issues regarding politics in the continent. Electoral systems come in many different varieties. There is a general sense that traditional politics and representative democracy. Naturally people with similar views and ideas would tend to form groups together. The national council of nigeria and the cameroons ncnc. Introduction nigeria and nigerians have been caught in the frenzy of centenary celebration. The political leaders who led the campaigns on behalf of the threedominant regional and ethnicbased political parties were. The second political party was the northern peoples congress npc and it. Political parties, as makers of democracy, have been so romanticized that.
This paper explores an important aspect of nigerias fourth. The history of nigeria can be traced to prehistoric settlers nigerians living in the area as early as 1100 bc. In 1959, there were three political parties in the country and they include the following. Political parties originated in their modern form in europe and the united states in the 19th century, along with the electoral and parliamentary systems, whose development reflects the evolution of parties. Pdf analytical study of political party systems in nigeria.
Party system, its peculiarities and development of political practices. For the liberal part, the picture looks very different because they tend to see globalization as the end product of a long running transformation. Theory and evidence ranmali abeyasinghe 04 illinois wesleyan university this article is brought to you for free and open access by the ames library, the andrew w. Sep 24, 2015 towards sustainable democracy in nigeria. Political parties and the prospects of democratic consolidation in. However, youths influence on national politics remains limited. Islam reached nigeria through the borno empire between 1068 ad and hausa states around 85 ad during the 11th century, while. Bulletin, 2006, be it money stolen by the political elite the case of mobutu of zaire, abacha of nigeria, and moi of kenya, just to mention a few or the recent kibaki regime angloleasing scandals in kenya, they still end up in banks in the western capitals. The main indices of political instability in nigeria include the high turnover of governments regime, structure, institutions, and personnel occasioned by military coups, inconclusive and contested electoral outcomes, frequent changes in policy, political violence, and crisis of legitimacy, for example between 1960 and 1999 there were ten. Similar participation in the electoral politics by interest groups is not uncommon in the nigerian experience. An assessment of political parties and democratic consolidation in nigerias fourth republic mike omilusi, phd department of political science ekiti state university, nigeria abstract democratic values and practices are crucial for democratic.
Political party in nigeria should perform the functions provided above. Democracy, political stability, and developing country. Six importance and functions of political parties the main importance and function of political parties in nigeria is nomination and presentation of their party approved candidates in the electoral campaign. An analysis grace malachi brown, phd department of history and diplomatic studies faculty of humanities rivers state university of education pmb 5047, rumuolumeni port harcourt, rivers state nigeria. This refers to the introduction of individual citizens into different roles in the political system, and also. The famous names were the nigerian national democratic party. For democracy to thrive and be sustained therefore in nigeria and africa, whole political parties need be grown to. In the nigerian political history, political parties have appeared in various guises, and have also disappeared under different guises. During our first civilian regime, religious organizations. The real crux of the debate is how political parties in nigeria are willing to switch from their electioneering campaign of personality politics coupled with trading of insults to actual policy issues which could be of more concern and importance to the electorates. Islam reached nigeria through the borno empire between 1068 ad and hausa states.
Nigeria has the appropriate credentials for greatness. The development of political parties in nigeria dates back to the days of the struggle for political independent in the late 1940s, when the nationalists were at the preindependence and postindependence periods. Areas covered range from political system types, political economies, and political cultures of diverse. Shola omotola, redeemers university, redemption city, mowe, ogun state, nigeria. The case of political parties in nigerias fourth republic canadian. Pdf the issue whether political parties in nigeria can exercise any participatory role and control over the elected representatives on its platform in. Oct 23, 2014 the real crux of the debate is how political parties in nigeria are willing to switch from their electioneering campaign of personality politics coupled with trading of insults to actual policy issues which could be of more concern and importance to the electorates. Nnamdi azikwe ncnc chief obafemi awolowo ag they campaigned vigorously across the length and breadth of nigeria.
The recruitment of political leaders is one the main functions of political party in nigeria. This is clear from the function performed by the political parties. For over 25 years, the national democratic institute ndi has worked with political parties from across the political spectrum in more than 60 countries. Political party, a group of persons organized to acquire and exercise political power.
This aspect of the process embodies undeniable opportunities and challenges at the time of writing, lara natalini was a research fellow at the africa institute of south africa. The importance of women in politics 1 vanguard news. Shola lecturer, department of political science and international relations, landmark university, omuaran, kwara state, nigeria abstract political ideology is an important vehicle of a. In the preindependence and the early post independence periods, political parties in nigeria were not ideologically based. Nor does it undermine the importance of the balance of power.
The objective of the conference was to raise and enhance public awareness on democracy and emphasize on its importance along with the. Pdf the impact of military rule on democracy in nigeria. This increased the total number of political parties to 28 and they all participated in the 2003 general elections. This paper collected its data from both primary and secondary sources and employs the exploratory. Development of political parties in nigeria archives oldnaija. Political parties form another core group of institutions in any functioning democratic system. The first set of political parties to be formed in nigeria was formed in 1959, shortly before nigeria gained her independence from britain. Obstacles to womens political participation the obvious obstacles are traditional and cultural barriers that are entrenched and social norms and attitudes against women as leaders and decision makers. This is the main question, which this paper addresses with emphasis on political ideology, being the first and most important vehicle of a political party.
The political, economic and social dynamics of nigeria. For instance, the first political party in nigeria, the nigerian national democratic party. History and development of political parties in nigeria. Political parties and poverty of ideology in nigeria olanrewaju, john. Empowering women in political participation and leadership. Social media plays key role in nigerian elections al. Because of the rights guaranteed to us in our constitution, every individual can make their ideas known to the community. Democracy, political stability, and developing country growth. The aim is not to document the good or ugly things political parties are doing in contemporary east africa a task that has been assigned to practicing politicians who were invited to the conference. List of all current political parties in nigeria and their. According to we are social, a londonbased social media communications agency, facebook penetration in nigeria was only at 6 percent as of january 2014, accounting for 11. Development of political parties in nigeria archives. Nigeria is now considered to be one of the most democratic countries in africa.
A political party is an organized group of people who have the same ideology, or who otherwise have the same political positions, and who field candidates for elections, in an attempt to get them elected and thereby implement the partys agenda while there is some international commonality in the way political parties are recognized and in how they operate, there are often many differences. Nigerian political parties serve as a representative of the citizens. List of all current political parties in nigeria and their logos 2018. Party system and nigeria political development projectclue. Mehran kamrava, 1995 political culture is a distinctive and patterned form of political philosophy that consists of beliefs on how governmental, political, and economic life should be carried out. Learn about the development of political parties in nigeria from 1923, when the first political party was formed in nigeria, up till 1999. Introduction the importance of political stability to economic development of any country has become a topic of a continuous debate among economists, political scientists and. Generally, nigerias political parties have been plagued by suspensions and expulsions of party members, cross carpeting particularly prior to elections and deep divisions and factions that have manifested sometimes in violent conflicts ikelegbe, 20. Political parties are traditionally the most significant intermediary organization in democratic societies. This is themain question, which this paper addresses with emphasis on politicalideology, being the first and most important vehicle of a. Political instability in africa where the problem lies and. Nigeria has a population of 3 million, a landmass of 923,768km2, a bountiful endowment in arable land, solid minerals and petroleumgas resources. He launched the site in 2006 while living in new jersey, with the aim of keeping a check on government corruption and malfeasance in his homeland, relying on evidencebacked. Every candidate in the election would be an independent candidate.
I restrict my discussion to political parties in democracies i. It will be important to add that political parties apart from the above seek electoral success as well as integrate disparate groups in clearly. Nigerian benefits and advantages of globalization politics. It is a set of ideas about politics, all of which are related to one another and that modify and support each other. Democracy and electoral process in nigeria politics essay. Nigerian benefits and advantages of globalization politics essay. Political party support in nigeria was, until recently, not an important area of. Sowore grew up in nigeria and was given political asylum in the united states in 1999 after allegedly being persecuted and tortured by police for antigovernment activism. Political parties are essential vehicles that could enable womens participation in the political system.
Democratic governance, nigeria, party system, political practices, good governance. This increased the total number of political parties to 28. Full list of political parties in nigeria and their logo oasdom. Mellon center for curricular and faculty development, the office of the provost and the office of the president. Political stability, economic growth and ardl model. The parties traded charges of hooliganism at each other.
A democracy cannot exist without the presence of a political party. Political cultures create a framework for political. Under current nigerian conditions, however, most political parties are merely zeroissue alliances of influential individuals and small groups who are able to control. Numerous ancient african civilizations settled in the region that is today nigeria, such as the kingdom of nri, the benin empire, and the oyo empire. Review of international assistance to political party and party system. Mar 19, 2015 despite the rapid growth of social platforms, nigeria lags much of the world on internet access and social media usage per capita. History of political parties in nigeria nigerian finder. Understanding electoral incentives is therefore important to understand how institutional rules of the game interact with stakeholders on the demand as well as on the supply side. The term party has since come to be applied to all organized groups seeking political power, whether by. It also follows from the functional definition that the significance of political parties for liberal democracy is that under conditions of competitive party and electoral. Doc the importance of politics anne mendoza titong. The organisation projects a population of 203 million in 2025 and 279 million in 2050, when nigeria is expected to have the worlds 6th largest population. The three political parties were the national council of nigeria and the cameroons ncnc. Students of political parties have commonly associated them with democracy itself orji, 20.
Its important that they keep in touch with the people. It argued that despite the importance of political parties, nigerian political parties have been manifesting ideological indisposition resulting to poverty of ideology. The history of political parties in nigeria began when the first political party in nigeria was established in 1959, the year before nigeria gained her independence from great britain. Globalization may affect our social, economic and cultural lives, but it does not transcend the international political system of states. National council of nigeria and the cameroons ncnc. Political parties mcmaster faculty of social sciences. Republic politics, which is about the role of the pdp peoples democratic party in general and. The role of political parties at the local government level. Virtually all political parties in nigeria have strong women wings which are designed to. Are these heady days for nigerian political parties. The primary aim of this paper is to critically examine the importance of media in politics.
Given the central role of political parties and party politics in nigeria, the essay therefore investigates the politicking of opposition party which. It constitutes important elements of modern democratic system without which there cannot be electoral systems. In the legislature, political parties play an important role in. Importance of political parties in todays democracy we live in a society where people are able to voice their opinions on any subject they wish. The authors general conclusions as to the inevitability of oligarchy in party life, and as to the difficulties which the growth of this oligarchy imposes upon the realization of democracy, have. Political party as defined by edmund burke is a body of men and united for promoting, by their joint endeavours the national interest, upon some particular principle in which they agree 1988. For over 25 years, the national democratic institute ndi has worked with political parties from across the political spectrum in more than 60 countries around the world.