Democratic sustenance and inclusiveness in Nigeria

Nigeria's arduous democratic transition to the Fourth Republic on 29 May  1999 renewed hope that the political elite could preserve and strengthen nascent democracy by promoting democratic values. was born in But unfortunately! The opposite is true. A key missing link is the system's inability  to promote and strengthen inclusion through a comprehensive electoral process. This is definitely a big minus for the community. 

According to Aristotle, the father of politics, "...from these basic principles, especially those of dominating and being ruled, we derive the following characteristics of democracy: (1) election: all All citizens eligible for public office in . doing. However, I should add a  caveat  that there is a distinct difference between electoral democracy and electoral authoritarianism. It builds on the popular assertion that democracy requires elections, but not elections of any kind. The idea of ​​democratic autonomy is incompatible with electoral farce. According to the current formulation, elections "must be free and fair in order to be passed democratically. In an electoral democracy, contests adhere to minimal democratic norms. So they don't.

Free and fair elections are certainly a prerequisite in the electoral democracy that Nigerians aspire to. But when large sections of citizens are systematically excluded from participation, an important norm of democracy is lost. 

It must be emphasized that elections  not only serve the purpose of peacefully changing governments, but  also strengthen and endow governments with political legitimacy.Democratic elections involve citizens in political decision-making. It's not just about being a process. 

In other words, elections are a means by which people choose and hold leaders to account. But democratic norms for free and fair elections are questionable when electoral systems lack inclusiveness and much of society is utterly marginalized. But the catch in Nigeria and  other African countries is that elections are far from  free and fair. In fact, one of the specific factors that this article will focus on is the “criminal” neglect of people with disabilities (PWD). As of 2020, more than 27 million Nigerians are reported to be living with some form of disability, out of an estimated population of around 200 million. The five most common types of disability in Nigeria are, in descending order, visual impairment, hearing impairment, physical impairment and communication impairment. Elections, therefore, cannot be considered free and fair when a large portion of the population is highly excluded from the electoral process.

The Nigerian National Policy on Disability (2017), known as the Disability Discrimination (PWDs) (Prohibition) Act 2018, bans the Act and imposes penalties, including fines and imprisonment, on the basis of disability. I have to stress. those who violate it. We can only lament the huge gap between intentions and actual practice in this country. 

Studies in the United States show that people with disabilities are less likely to vote, on a comparative basis, despite the fact that the United States is an all-round democratic country. If that is  the case for the United States, where current data exist, one can imagine the dire state of the Nigerian electoral system. In the United States, people with disabilities are about 20 percent less likely than people without disabilities to vote and 10 percent less likely to register to vote, according to a  survey of 1,240 Americans of voting age since November. said researchers who conducted a nationwide randomized telephone survey on 1998 elections. 

Researchers Kay Schreiner of the University of Arkansas and Douglas Kruse of Rutgers University, who conducted the study, said low voter turnout "is not explained by their perception of or ability to participate in the political system." I'm here. 

People with disabilities are more likely  to have trouble voting at a polling place than people without disabilities. 

Of voters in the last decade, 8% of those with disabilities had experienced such a problem, compared with less than 2% of those without disabilities. increase. Among those who have not voted in the last 10 years, 27% of people with disabilities expect such problems, compared to 4% of those without disabilities. increase. 

If people with disabilities voted  as often as people without disabilities, he would have had 4.6 million more voters in 1998, and overall voter turnout he would have increased by 2.5 percentage points. Research indicated that political parties were less likely to contact persons with disabilities during the 1998 election campaign. 

This survey used the same questions he used in the 2000 Census to identify respondents with disabilities. The sample was stratified to include 700 interviews of her with disability and 540 of her without disability. 

In Nigeria, not only are people with disabilities marginalized, but women are becoming an endangered species in the electoral process. According to empirical facts, the Senate (the Senate) has 109 members of her, 102 of whom are male (93.6%) and 7 of whom are female (6.4%). The House of Representatives (House of Representatives) had a total of 360 members, 349 men (97%) and 11 women (6.4%). Even the poor are under-represented in the community.

The recent party primaries are also  a testament to the lack of inclusiveness, as the ruling party demanded up to 100 million naira (N100 million) for presidential primaries. Governor's Office - N50m, Senate N20m; House of Representatives, his N10m and N2m in the State Legislature. 

The largest opposition party (PDP) followed a similar line, with significant costs for nomination forms and expressions of interest. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate was asked to pay his N$40 million, the gubernatorial office his N$20 million and  the House of Commons his N$5 million. 

Perhaps the good news  is that women and people with disabilities have been given the concession  of paying Expressions of Interest and Letters of Recommendation free of charge. However, it is pathetic that the poor and  middle class have been completely marginalized in a form of nomination that the average Nigerian cannot achieve. 

Interestingly, retired university professors failed to get nomination forms for major political parties, let alone high-ranking officials who had acquired the skills and managerial abilities necessary to run the country. Having the system technically at the mercy of the rich is an "undemocratic" violation of human rights and denies the non-commercial nature of their services.  Meanwhile, perhaps the biggest form of disqualification at the moment concerns the ongoing debate over Nigeria's secular status. In the face of  the ruling party parading Muslim/Muslim tickets against his 2023 presidential election, the country's Christian community has never relaxed. Assuming Muslims are  the majority and have the same religion as both the president and the running mate, the tyranny of the majority is done by  rightly eliminating the minority, so to speak. 

Countries with roughly equal populations of both religions. If political elites are aware of Nigeria's diversity, domestic tensions are misplaced. Perceived alienation can be better explained  with data. According to the CIA's World Factbook  (2018), Nigeria's population as of May 2022  is estimated at 216.746933 billion, of which 53.5% are Muslims, 45.9% are Christians and 10.6% are Catholics . 

When Nigeria has the world's sixth-largest Christian population (87 million) and fifth-largest Muslim population (90 million), completely ignoring the rest of the indigenous religions is difficult. you can't. This is related to Nigeria being a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. There is no doubt that  the idea of ​​balancing ethnic and religious diversity must be taken into account when structuring our government. If the ticket is balanced in accordance with the relevant laws,  we will consider the most capable team capable of achieving the development  Nigerians so desperately want.Do the ticket correspond to our own primal emotions? please.

At the same time, it is important to stress that the  lack of inclusiveness in political systems is undoubtedly a violation of basic human rights. Because no one is good enough to rule other peoples without the express consent of the ruler. There is no denying that no system is 100% compliant, but the more inclusive  the system, the more democratic and politically stable it will be. A prosperous democracy like Nigeria must strive to include as many people as possible in its communities. 

In conclusion, perhaps the panacea for nascent democratic instability is the conscious decision by the ruling elite to develop the political will that guarantees inclusiveness. To achieve this, I am happy to advocate for specific quotas, even 1%, to be launched in Congress and government officials for  the disabled (PDW). To do this, the recently amended Electoral Law (2022) may need to be further amended  to reflect this innovation. 

The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) must also  make adjustments by providing reasonable accommodation to staff who can assist persons with disabilities in performing their civic duties at polling places. Otherwise, successive governments could face a serious "crisis of legitimacy" and conflict with the struggle to consolidate Nigeria's nascent democracy.

Ibadan The text of the keynote speech given by his Professor Gbade Ojo, Department of Political Science, University of Ilorin, Kwara, at the Oratunji Colloquium.