Browsing by Author "Isiaq, Atanda"
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Item Elections and Violence in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: Taking Stock of Violent Acts in the 2015 General Elections(Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ilorin, 2015) Adebiyi, Oluwashina; Isiaq, Atanda; Abubakar, AbdulrahmanNigeria’s post colonial experience as regards the conduct of democratic elections has been particularly turbulent. With the exemption of a few, specifically, the aborted 1993 presidential election, other elections held were characterized by unabated electoral violence. The 2015 general elections generated tensions and controversies more than any other election held in the Fourth Republic. Only a few did not anticipate the occurrence of post election violence. This paper examined the 2015 general elections with the aim of documenting violent acts perpetrated before, during and after the elections. Generating data majorly from secondary sources, this paper argued that hate speech, campaign of calumny, corruption, the domino effect of the Boko Haram insurgency among others are among the major drivers of violence in the 2015 general elections. It is submitted however, that recurrent electoral violence has grievous implications for the democratic process. It is however concluded that the creation of a sound legal framework, to try politicians who indulge in hate speech, fortification of the state security apparatus, provision of employment opportunities among others will assist in reducing if not curb the occurrence of violence in Nigeria’s future elections.Item Electoral Violence: A theoretical Exploration(Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal University, Lafia, 2017-12) Adebiyi, Oluwashina; Isiaq, Atanda; Abubakar, AbdulrahmanNigeria’s post colonial experience as regards the conduct of democratic elections has been particularly turbulent. With the exemption of a few, specifically, the aborted 1993 presidential election, other elections held were characterized by unabated electoral violence. The 2015 general elections generated tensions and controversies more than any other election held in the Fourth Republic. Only a few did not anticipate the occurrence of post election violence. This paper examined the 2015 general elections with the aim of documenting violent acts perpetrated before, during and after the elections. Generating data majorly from secondary sources, this paper argued that hate speech, campaign of calumny, corruption, the domino effect of the Boko Haram insurgency among others are among the major drivers of violence in the 2015 general elections. It is submitted however, that recurrent electoral violence has grievous implications for the democratic process. It is however concluded that the creation of a sound legal framework, to try politicians who indulge in hate speech, fortification of the state security apparatus, provision of employment opportunities among others will assist in reducing if not curb the occurrence of violence in Nigeria’s future elections.Item Participatory Democracy in Pre-Colonial Nigeria: The Old Oyo Empire in Retrospect(Faculty of Social Science, University of Ilorin, 2015-12) Adebiyi, Oluwashina; Isiaq, Atanda; Abubakar, AbdulrahmanPrior to the end of the twentieth century, democracy was the most sought after system of governance. The commencement of the present millennium also signaled the consolidation of the establishment of democratic practice in authoritarian polities. Today, only few countries have not embraced democratic rule. States which do not practice democracy in contemporary times are regarded as pariah states. However, the western proponents of democracy are of the opinion that the difficulty to establish democracy in Africa can be attributed to the level of development of respective African states. These western scholars portray Africa as strangers to democracy. While it may be asserted that African countries may encounter occasional setbacks in their democratization process, they have made remarkable success. It is also important to note that while it is incontestable that the notion of modern democracy is a product of western idea, it can equally be argued that democratic practices is not completely alien to Africa. A retrospective analysis of pre-colonial African political structure will reveal that traditional African societies are not devoid of what may be regarded as the practice of democracy. These indigenous societies had political practices which bear semblance with what is obtained today. Using the pre-colonial Old Oyo Empire as a point of reference and a careful investigation of relevant secondary data and multi-disciplinary approach the paper argued that what can be described as democratic practices actually existed in the Empire. The paper however, concludes that these democratic practices were abolished by the advent of colonial rule.Item Political parties and democratic growth in Nigeria: Insights from the people’s democratic party(Department of Political Science, IBBU Lapai, Niger State, 2017) Adebiyi, Oluwashina; Isiaq, AtandaWhile the constitutions of most democracies, developing and developed do not statutorily stipulate the functions and roles of political parties, political parties remain central and significant to the workings of any democratic polity. The centrality of political parties to democracy can be located in the critical roles and functions they perform in consolidating democracy. The extent to which they perform these functions however, particularly in nascent democracies has been a source of concern. The perception is that political parties may have not been performing these functions to expectation. This paper examines the role of political parties in a democracy. The major objectives of this paper are to undertake a critical evaluation of the nexus between political parties and democracy and review the roles of the Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria’s nascent democracy. Using secondary data analysed through the historical qualitative method it was discovered that Nigerian political are not adequately institutionalised in the country’s political system. Thus, they have not impacted positively on the democratization process. It is however, recommended among others that there is the need for political parties to imbibe and observe democratic principles in governance process.