CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Since the introduction of the elective principle by the Clifford constitution of 1922 in Nigeria, the urge for democratic government has gone a long way. The country has relied largely on election, a device for choosing its leaders. Election is therefore closely associated with the evolution of democratic order (Nnoli in Jinadu and Eboh 1990:52).
Election therefore, in terms of its origin, is colonial in nature. Nothing was heard about elections in Nigeria until the advent of colonial rule because African countries, though democratic according to their levels of development, were devoid of elections and electoral processes. With the exit of Lugard, the British government was opportune to bring Clifford which provided for voting in Lagos and Calabar.
Restrictive as this elective principle was, it was devoid of violence. But the same thing cannot be said of the subsequent elections. In fact, as the country advanced in her constitutional development, there are some centrifugal forces tending to hinder the much cherished amalgamation of 1914. One of such forces was that the colonialists resorted to the manipulation of elections along communal lines. Thus, in 1951 election in Kano, the colonial administration tried very hard to frustrate Northern allies of southerners opposed to the candidate of the Emirs. The allies suffered diverse discrimination, intimidation and victimization of greater proportion as they were not allowed to hold public meetings.
Colonial manipulation of election led to the poisoning of relations between the north and the south with the resultant effect of a consequent increase in the social distance between members of their population (Nnoli, 1980:122).
Since then, the country became exposed to diverse electoral violence. Thus the Richards constitution which divided the country into North, East and West set the stage for violent electoral battle among the three main ethnic groups. However, apart from pockets of electoral violence that took place in 1952 (the case of Azikiwe’s defeat in Western Regional House of Assembly and how he eventually settled down in the East and displaced Chief Eyo Ita and became the leader of the NCNC, and that of the electoral violence that followed the 1959 general elections), the real electoral violence emerged in 1964 federal elections. To contest the election, two major allies were formed, that is, the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) consisting of NPC, NNDP and Mid-West Democratic Front (MDF). The second alliance being United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) consisting of NCNC, AG, NEPU and UMBC.
On the Election Day, as a protest against the arrest and imprisonment of UPGA members who were to contest election in the North and West, UPGA leaders directed that their supporters should boycott the election. Ofeimum declared that it was election so-well orchestrated with violence and so much formlessness that Nnamidi Azikiwe, the President of the newly declared republic, initially refused to call Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister, to form a government (Ofeimum, 2011: 72).
The essence of an election is to enhance political participation. When individuals are allowed to take part in determining who their leaders should be, they will feel psychologically attached to that government which they come to see as their own (Eminue, 2001:71). The end of it all is that election in Nigeria has fallen short of being free and fair as violence has taken over the rules of the game. It is against this background that this study on the effect of electoral violence on political participation in Nigeria would be analyzed.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Violence, thuggery, political assassination and kidnapping as well as indiscriminate use of guns during elections have hindered citizens from freely participating in politics in Nigeria. Potential voters have, because of fear of being caught in the cross fire between opposing faction or between thugs and law enforcement officers, boycotted voting/polling centers during elections. Since then, election in Nigeria has become a theatrical show of violence elicited by one party or group at another.
The nature of the electoral process in post-independence Nigeria could be traced to the regionalization of politics introduced by the McPherson constitution in 1951. By that arrangement, the contest for the central seats was to be based on the respective regions and this rise to the formation of regional political parties. Accordingly, the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) emerged from the North, Action Group (AG) from the West and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) from the East. Symptoms of electoral violence manifested in 1954 in the Western Region when the victor became the vanquished overnight (Headlines N0. 243, March 195:9).
In view of Awa (1964:93), “On the eve of independence, the leaders naturally made their appeal to kinship, the clan or ethnic competition tended to assume a pathological character”. Here lies the statement of the problem.
1.3 Research Questions
- What is the relationship between electoral violence and political participation in Nigeria?
- What are the remote and immediate challenges facing the nation’s electoral processes?
- What is the role of government in curbing electoral violence in Nigeria?
- What are the causes of electoral violence in Nigeria?
- To what extent does electoral violence influence political participation in Nigeria?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of electoral violence on political participation in Nigeria.
- It is therefore aimed at determining the causes and forms of electoral violence especially in the Fourth Republic.
- It is also aimed at determining the level of political participation by the electorate in the Fourth Republic and as such bring out its prospects for democratic practice in the country.
1.5 Hypotheses
H0: There is no significant relationship between electoral violence and political participation in Nigeria.
H1: There is a significant relationship between electoral violence and political participation in Nigeria.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study is significant for a number of reasons:
It will serve as a useful guide in determining the remote and immediate causes of electoral violence in Nigeria.
It will help government agencies and electoral bodies in fashioning out policies and programmes that could guard against violence in its electoral system.
It will be helpful in determining the level of individual in group (ethnic) involvement in electoral violence.
It will help in fashioning out an electoral rule that would check-mate individuals or group excesses.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study is limited to determining the electoral violence and political participation in Nigeria with particular reference to Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015 as well as analyzing the factors that stimulate electoral violence in Nigeria.
1.8 Limitation of the Study
The limitation of the work is quite enormous, since there is no availability of financial support to gather enough material for this study and the stipulated time given for the study.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Electoral Process: The body of rules and procedure governing the conduct of an election.
Election: In its proper sense, election is a process of selecting the officers or representatives of an organization or a group by the vote of its qualified members (Nwolise 2007:155).
Anifowose defined election as the process of elite selection by the mass of the population in any given political system (Anifowose 2005:21).
