CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Since independence on 1 October 1960, Nigeria has gone through repeated political and economic crises, many of them tied to the path of political development the country has followed. There is no agreed measure of the political and economic difficulties that have carried over from the First Republic to the Fourth. This study concentrates on the Fourth Republic, but its analysis applies to the earlier republics as well. It is concerned with democratic politics and the roots of conflict, and although many theories have been advanced over the years, none fully captures the complex struggle involved.

Democracy, politics and conflict are best treated, in the Nigerian context, not as three separate subjects but as strands woven into the body politic. If one of them is poorly defined or weakly practised, the others are weakened as well. Democracy and politics in Nigeria have produced conflicts, some of them very large in scale. Whether the conflict is rooted in class, status, gender, ethnicity, religion or nationalism, it raises the same underlying questions of power, resources and recognition.

Nigerians have wanted democracy strongly since colonial times. Their attempts to build it have repeatedly failed, and each of the earlier civilian republics ended in military intervention. The Fourth Republic began on 29 May 1999, when General Abdulsalam Abubakar handed power to the elected civilian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, ending about sixteen years of continuous military rule. Obasanjo inherited an economy that had stagnated and state institutions that had weakened badly. His Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faced only limited opposition in the 1999 election, in which Chief Olu Falae, candidate of the Alliance for Democracy–All Peoples Party alliance, lost. General Abubakar was the second Nigerian military ruler to hand over voluntarily to an elected civilian government; Obasanjo himself had been the first, in 1979.

The Republic has since held seven general elections, in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 (Nwosu, 2023). The 2007 election, in which Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP were elected president and vice-president, was widely condemned for fraud by other candidates and by observers. The 2023 general elections, held under the Electoral Act 2022 with promises of technological improvements, again attracted serious criticism. The European Union Election Observation Mission concluded that abuse of incumbency and widespread vote buying distorted the process, that organised violence in several states discouraged voters, and that public trust in the electoral commission had been damaged (European Union Election Observation Mission, 2023). Domestic scholars have described the 2023 elections as marked by malpractice and violence and have called for reform (Ojiako et al., n.d.).

One feature of Fourth Republic politics that has drawn particular scholarly attention is godfatherism, a form of patron–client relationship in which powerful political patrons sponsor candidates and expect rewards in return. Researchers argue that godfatherism has undermined participation, political security and peace, and slowed the consolidation of democracy since 1999. When “godsons” fail to honour pledges, such as appointments and a share of state resources, conflict and violence can follow, which makes politics extractive and violent rather than peaceful and productive (Animasawun, 2013; Meleki et al., 2017). More recent work describes godfatherism as a hallmark of Nigeria’s democracy and argues that it feeds political conflict and slows democratic consolidation (“Godfatherism and its effects on Nigeria’s democracy,” 2023). The general observation is that neither military nor civilian governments have laid the foundation for a sustainable democracy, and that political elites are often part of the problem.

The issues the study seeks to explain therefore include: What has been the role of godfathers in the democratic process? What effects have their activities had on the political and social systems? And in whose interest do they act? This study examines the roles of elites and the main conflicts in the democratisation process in Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Democracy has been difficult to achieve in Nigeria despite the strong desire for it. Many factors have been blamed. Identity crises linked to ethnicity and religion, and elections marked by rigging, violence, elite manipulation and desperate competition for power, breed bias, prejudice and stereotypes that fuel conflict. Elites exercise real control over policy and governance, and critics argue that the system has favoured patronage over merit. Competition over limited resources, serious corruption, and structural weaknesses add to the problem.

Elections have been characterised by incumbents manipulating state agencies, rigging, irregularities, falsified results, repression of the opposition and the imposition of the ruling party (Ojiako et al., n.d.; European Union Election Observation Mission, 2023). The result has been desperate and intolerant political competition in which violence cripples the political process. Civil society observers in 2023 reported vote buying, violence, late commencement of polls and result-upload problems, and called for an independent inquiry (Situation Room, 2023). The question that arises is whether democracy itself is the problem, or the elites and patron–client networks that shape democratisation in Nigeria.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the causes of conflict in the democratisation process in Nigeria. To do this, it examines the activities of the political elites and of patron–client relationships in the democratisation process, and the impact of those activities on Nigeria’s political development.

1.4 Research Questions

The study is guided by the following questions:

1. What has been the role of godfathers and political elites in the democratisation process in the Fourth Republic?
2. What effects have their activities had on the political and social systems?
3. What are the main causes of conflict in the democratisation process, and in whose interest are the actors acting?

1.5 Scope of the Study

The study is limited to activities and violence in the democratisation process, with the Fourth Republic (from 1999) as the case study.

1.6 Research Methodology

The study relies on library-based research. The democratic crisis can be examined adequately through secondary sources drawn from books, journals, monographs, newspapers, magazines and official and observer reports, among other documents. The historical records and empirical data are analysed qualitatively and interpretively.

1.7 Significance of the Study

The study recalls the importance of its theme in light of Nigeria’s particular circumstances. It offers a way of identifying the causes of democratic failure so that appropriate remedies can be proposed, and it may help to improve the standing of the political elites, to whom the country’s future largely belongs. It also seeks to contribute to building a durable and sustainable democracy through a peaceful democratisation process. Its findings may help the government and other stakeholders decide how best to steer the nation, and may inform electoral and institutional reform of the kind urged by recent studies of godfatherism and electoral violence (Ojiako et al., n.d.; Meleki et al., 2017).

1.8 Definition of Terms

Democracy: A form of government in which the ruling power of the state is vested legally in the members of the community as a whole rather than in any particular class or classes.

Politics: The process of securing societal goals through conscious formulation, social mobilisation, contest and institutionalised struggle.

Conflict: A state of disagreement or struggle between people, groups or countries.

Elite: Those who occupy the top levels of a society, in particular the holders of political power. Elites play a major part in the social and political development of a society.

Godfatherism: A form of patron–client relationship in which a powerful patron sponsors a political client in return for loyalty, appointments or access to state resources (Meleki et al., 2017).

References

Animasawun, G. A. (2013). Godfatherism in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: The pyramid of violence and political insecurity in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria [Working paper]. IFRA-Nigeria. https://www.ifra-nigeria.org/publications/e-papers/60-animasawun-gbemisola-a-2013-godfatherism-in-nigeria-s-fourth-republic-the-pyramid-of-violence-and-political-insecurity-in-ibadan-oyo-state-nigeria

European Union Election Observation Mission. (2023). Nigeria 2023 general elections: Final report. European Union.

Godfatherism and its effects on Nigeria’s democracy. (2023). RUDN Journal of Public Administration, 10(3), 465–479. https://journals.rudn.ru/public-administration/article/download/36402/22708

Meleki, A. O., Osaji, O. J., & Ajetomobi, O. A. (2017). Effects of ‘godfatherism’ on political administration and governance in Nigeria. Keffi Journal of Religion. https://uilspace.unilorin.edu.ng/items/0f72725b-af33-47e8-a648-a024502e5f00

Nwosu. (2023). Electoral violence and Nigerian elections in the Fourth Republic: 2023 general elections “the same narrative”. Global History Dialogues. https://globalhistorydialogues.org/stories/electoral-violence-and-nigerian-elections-in-the-fourth-republic-2023-general-elections-the

Ojiako, C. I., Umeasiegbu, L. O., Lawrence, O. F., & Okoye, E. C. (n.d.). Democratic issues and electoral violence in Nigeria: A critical analysis of the 2023 general elections. https://journals.unizik.edu.ng/jfms/article/view/3736

Situation Room. (2023). Situation Room calls for independent inquiry into conduct of 2023 general elections [Press statement]. https://nannews.ng/situation-room-calls-for-independent-inquiry-into-conduct-of-2023-general-elections/