Stalemates to Democracy in Nigeria: The Paradoxes of Human Rights and Social Justice
Journal Title: Social Evolution & History - Year 2018, Vol 17, Issue 1
Abstract
Ever since independence in 1960 Nigeria has struggled with vestiges of colonialism rooted in the divide-and-rule legacy of the British. The postcolonial society has witnessed paradoxical authority patterns entrenched in ‘democratic and military dictatorships’ which undermine civil rights and social justice, and clamp down on human rights struggles. Peace and security have been in abeyance due to bad leadership that fails to utilize the advantage of the socio-cultural and ethnic diversities of Nigerian peoples. Certain provisions of the Nigerian constitution seem to support these anomalies, and Nigerian leaders have not shown the willpower to change the status quo. Authors and activists have challenged this ugly trend. This paper seeks to address the inhibitions to viable democracy in Nigeria. It points out some constitutional shortcomings that encourage bad leadership and disrespect for human rights, and recommends a recreation of standard that would ensure a meaningful democracy in the country.
Authors and Affiliations
Oguejiofo C. P. Ezeanya
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP287847
- DOI -
- Views 142
- Downloads 0
The Emergence of Pristine States
In this article the emergence of the Pristine State will be considered. First, I will present an overview of the applied method. Then seven cases of – probable – Pristine States are described. This makes a comparative re...
Rethinking Nigeria's Conflicts of State Building and the Legal Imperatives Beyond Chinua Achebe's ‘There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra
Among the lasting consequences of colonialism is the creation of a hybrid state structure that replaces the legacies of the precolonial indigenous social authority patterns with new western paradigms. Notwithstanding the...
A Complexity Perspective on Institutional Change: Dealing with Land Fragmentation in Galicia
As land use planning aims at changing land use through a variety of institutions, theories on institutional change have become increasingly important to understand planning processes. Two discourses can be distinguished...
Islamism and Antisemitism. Preliminary Evidence on Their Relationship from Cross-National Opinion Data
What do we really know about mass support for Islamism? And what is its connection to antisemitism? Our analysis of these questions is based on promax factor analytical studies based on openly available cross-national su...
Heritage as a Concept through the Prism of Time
The present article focuses on the notion of ‘time’ and its definition. The notions of time and time-management are treated in terms of various concepts such as ‘continuity’, ‘momentum’, ‘cultural heritage’, ‘history’, e...