Between Nation-Building and Contestation for Power: The Place of Party Politics in Nigeria, 1923-2019
By May 29, 2019, Nigeria’s Fourth Republic and democracy had achieved an unprecedented 20 unbroken years of active partisan politics and representative democracy. The First Republic had lasted barely three years (1963-1966); the Second Republic and its democratic institutions lasted just four years...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Polish Political Science Yearbook |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2020404 |
| _version_ | 1818649408107970560 |
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| author | Adetunji Ojo Ogunyemi |
| author_facet | Adetunji Ojo Ogunyemi |
| author_sort | Adetunji Ojo Ogunyemi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | By May 29, 2019, Nigeria’s Fourth Republic and democracy had achieved an unprecedented 20 unbroken years of active partisan politics and representative democracy. The First Republic had lasted barely three years (1963-1966); the Second Republic and its democratic institutions lasted just four years (1979-1983) while the Third Republic (19921993) could barely hold its head for one year. Hence, by mid-2019, not many analysts have congratulated Nigeria for its longest democratic experience since its independence from Britain in 1960, but hardly did any of them identify the core reasons for such a sustained rule of democratic ethos for two decades. In this paper, we show the origin and practice of political parties in Nigeria. We argue that the country had succeeded in its Fourth Republic as a democratic country because its law and constitution together with the political culture of the people had permitted multiparty democracy by which governments had been formed, political inclusion and popular participation ensured, and public policies initiated. We also present an analysis of party politicking in the country from its beginning in 1923 and conclude that Nigeria has achieved meaningful and sustainable dividends of democracy in her Fourth Republic because of a maturing culture of partisan politics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T01:33:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bc3595c921d34bf1826cf2759b24c5e8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0208-7375 0208-7375 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T01:33:51Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polish Political Science Yearbook |
| spelling | doaj.art-bc3595c921d34bf1826cf2759b24c5e82022-12-21T22:08:30ZengWydawnictwo Adam MarszałekPolish Political Science Yearbook0208-73750208-73752020-12-01494517110.15804/ppsy2020404Between Nation-Building and Contestation for Power: The Place of Party Politics in Nigeria, 1923-2019Adetunji Ojo Ogunyemi0Obafemi Awolowo UniversityBy May 29, 2019, Nigeria’s Fourth Republic and democracy had achieved an unprecedented 20 unbroken years of active partisan politics and representative democracy. The First Republic had lasted barely three years (1963-1966); the Second Republic and its democratic institutions lasted just four years (1979-1983) while the Third Republic (19921993) could barely hold its head for one year. Hence, by mid-2019, not many analysts have congratulated Nigeria for its longest democratic experience since its independence from Britain in 1960, but hardly did any of them identify the core reasons for such a sustained rule of democratic ethos for two decades. In this paper, we show the origin and practice of political parties in Nigeria. We argue that the country had succeeded in its Fourth Republic as a democratic country because its law and constitution together with the political culture of the people had permitted multiparty democracy by which governments had been formed, political inclusion and popular participation ensured, and public policies initiated. We also present an analysis of party politicking in the country from its beginning in 1923 and conclude that Nigeria has achieved meaningful and sustainable dividends of democracy in her Fourth Republic because of a maturing culture of partisan politics.https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2020404nigeriaparty politicspowernation-buildingnation |
| spellingShingle | Adetunji Ojo Ogunyemi Between Nation-Building and Contestation for Power: The Place of Party Politics in Nigeria, 1923-2019 Polish Political Science Yearbook nigeria party politics power nation-building nation |
| title | Between Nation-Building and Contestation for Power: The Place of Party Politics in Nigeria, 1923-2019 |
| title_full | Between Nation-Building and Contestation for Power: The Place of Party Politics in Nigeria, 1923-2019 |
| title_fullStr | Between Nation-Building and Contestation for Power: The Place of Party Politics in Nigeria, 1923-2019 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Between Nation-Building and Contestation for Power: The Place of Party Politics in Nigeria, 1923-2019 |
| title_short | Between Nation-Building and Contestation for Power: The Place of Party Politics in Nigeria, 1923-2019 |
| title_sort | between nation building and contestation for power the place of party politics in nigeria 1923 2019 |
| topic | nigeria party politics power nation-building nation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2020404 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT adetunjiojoogunyemi betweennationbuildingandcontestationforpowertheplaceofpartypoliticsinnigeria19232019 |