The Hanging Cloud of Military Rule and the Challenge to the Survival of Democracy in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria’s effort at building strong democratic institution has continued to suffer series of setback due to the emergence of ethnic politics in the political system of the Country. This scenario has been made strong by the emerging elite group, referred to as political mafia. The emergence of the new political force made of retired military officers’ conscious of holding political offices in disguise democratic setting; in collaboration with civilians aspiring for political offices has made it difficult for military coup to happen in Nigeria. Nevertheless, it has introduced a subversive political system that does not respect the rule of law. The direct consequences are election rigging, the selection and hoisting of unpopular candidates for elective positions in Nigeria. By hoisting unpopular candidates on the masses, the cause of Nation building has continued to suffer some setbacks, while the tenets of democratic government has remained mortgaged. When the incumbent President of Nigeria, President Ahmed Tinubu during his party campaign insisted that it was his turn to rule, election or no election, it was a clear statement that negates the principles of Democracy and the military mentality of obtaining power by force. This kind of politics cannot represent the interest of the generality of voters in a democratic setup. With respect to such utterances, Nigerian democracy cannot grow. Besides, if certain classes of people are not prevented from interfering on party politics, the electoral process in Nigeria will continue to be subverted. This action is necessary, because of the developmental nature of the democratic principles in Nigeria. Beside, military ethics brought to bear by military turned politicians in Nigerian politics, cannot accommodate democratic ethics, desired through free and fair election. In effect, the act of merging the two political ideologies (Democracy and Militocracy together) has also given rise to leadership imposition, through Military supervised ballot boxes snatching and election rigging during election. Because the military wing of the Nigerian political system will always protect her own it is yet to be seen when free and fair election will begin in Nigeria. It is therefore the position of this paper, to suggest that Nigeria should adopt a process in the development of democratic principles that would accommodate her cultural and moral values, rather than encouraging money bag who are conscious to purchase political positions through monetary inducement and the application brutal force by the military turned politicians to obtain political power.