Democracy and Political Participation in Nigeria ( a Case Study of Asaba, Lga)

Democracy and Political Participation in Nigeria ( a Case Study of Asaba, Lga)

CHAPTER ONE

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The main objective of this project work is to consider the nature and extent of political participation by the people in a democratic system. This, as noted above, will be carried out by assessing the involvement of the people in electoral process in Asaba, Delta state.

Besides, this research work also aims at achieving other important objectives which are also fundamental to the smooth operations of governance in a democratic set up. The other objectives are enumerated below:

To establish any possible relationship between political education and political participation in order to clearly state the crucial ingredient of political participation;
To examine the legal framework of electoral system and election administration in Nigeria in order to spot their inadequacies and provide possible amendments;
To propose a number of strategies to mobilize citizens for increased political participation and effectiveness respectively in the country as a whole; and
To know the degree of confidence the people have in the electoral system of their state/country as it is assumed that this is reflected in their participation in electoral politics.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter gives an insight into various studies conducted by outstanding researchers, as well as explained terminologies with regards to democracy and political participation in Nigeria.

The chapter also gives a resume of the history and present status of the problem delineated by a concise review of previous studies into closely related problems.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The need to theorise about the nature of control and the role of leadership in democracy and good governance occasions the study of elites by Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), and Gaetano Mosca (1858-1941) (Dowse and Hughes, 1989). The elite theory is a philosophical explanation of the role of the leadership in governance as it affects public policy including all socio-economic and political matters. If the formal structures of government are central to explaining ‘who gets what, when and how’, then the study and relevance of elite in policy process is equally important. Elites dominate the formal institutions of government and are a determining factor in governance and decision making processes. Elites are the decision makers in the society whose power is not subject to control by any other body in the society.

There are varying perceptions on the role of elites in democracy. While some believe that elites are bulwarks of democracy protecting it from the dangers of totalitarianism, the soul source of value and element of democratic consolidation and political stability and constituting integrating force in the society without which it may fall part; others believe that elites are chief threat to the survival of democracy (Dowse and Hughes, 1983). They have exceptional access to key positions in the society and appear to wield control over crucial policies disproportionate to their number and they, to this extent, can understandably be a living contradiction to the notion of democracy. On this philosophical basis, it is assertive that credit of democratic stability and good governance should be given to the elite. Also, blame of democratic failure and bad governance will also be on the elite, since it is central to governance stability or otherwise. It is scientific to study and analyse governance and democratic process in any country using elite theory. Elite theory is premised on a number of assumptions:

The society consists of two categories: the selected few, who are capable and, therefore, have the right to supreme leadership; and the vast masses of people who are desired to be ruled;
That the majority of human beings are apathetic, indolent and slavishly uninformed about what goes on in the administrative system and permanently incapable of self government. That is, the elite decides on the structure, the personnel, the process of public policies of the administrative system;
Hence, the structure, substance and output of the administrative system may be viewed as the preferences and values of the governing elite (Dowse and Hughes, 1983).

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

This chapter covers the description and discussion on the various techniques and procedures used in the study to collect and analyze the data as it is deemed appropriate.

It is organized under the following sub-headings:

Research Design
Area of the Study
Population of the study
Sample and sampling procedure
Instrument of Data Collection
Validation of the Instrument
Reliability of the Instrument
Method of Data Collection
Method of Data Analysis

RESEARCH DESIGN

According to Asika (2009), research designs are often referred to as the structuring of investigation aimed at identifying variables and their relationships to one another. In this study, questionnaire serves as useful guide to the effort of generating data for this study. The survey research design through the administration of questionnaires was used for the study.

AREA OF THE STUDY

The study was conducted in Asaba, Delta State of Nigeria. Delta State is an oil and agricultural producing state of Nigeria, situated in the region known as the Delta state, South-South geo-political zone with a population of 4,098,291 (males: 2,674,306; females: 2,024,085). The capital city is Asaba, located at the northern end of the state, with an estimated area of 762 square kilometres (294 sq mi), while Warri is the economic nerve center of the state and also the most populated located in the southern end of the state. The state has a total land area of 16,842 square kilometres (6,503 sq mi).

POPULATION OF THE STUDY

The population of study consists of all residents of Asaba Local Government area of Delta state. students of Lagos State University, Lagos. According to Wikipedia, 2015 the total population of residents in Asaba amount to 150,032.

CHAPTER FOUR

Bio – Data of Respondents

Out of the total number of respondents used for this study, 120 of them were male representing 47.6 percent while 130 were female representing 51.6 percent of the entire population of respondents used for this study( see table 4.1)

Out of the 250 respondents used to carry out this study,

Those within the age bracket of 15-20years were 40 in number and they represent 15.9 percent of the entire population of respondents.

Those within the age bracket of 21-30years were 60 in number and they represent 23.8 percent of the entire population of respondents.

Those within the age bracket of 31-40years were 73 in number and they represent 29.0 percent of the entire population of respondents.

Those within the age bracket of 41-50years were 40 in number and they represent 15.9 percent of the entire population of respondents.

Those above 50years were 37 in number and they represent 14.7 percent of the entire population of respondents.

CHAPTER FIVE

Findings

Findings from the study revealed the following.

That Nigerians do not have confidence in our electoral system ( see table 4.4 )
That there is a significant relationship between the level of electoral education of Nigerians and the level of their participation in politics.( see table 4.9 a and b)
That the best ways of mobilizing more Nigerians in political participation are

Strengthening our electoral system.
Equipping our judicial system to act as a check to our electoral system.
Creating more awareness about political happenings in Nigeria and the need for people to participate effectively.

Recommendation

As a result of the findings in the study, the following recommendations can be made:

INEC should in collaboration with the government strengthen our electoral system so that Nigerians can have confidence in our electoral system. This singular factor if gotten right would go a long way in making Nigerians want to participate in politics.
Our judicial system should act as a check to check the excesses of our electoral system and its stakeholders. This will equally increase the confidence of electoral system in Nigeria and in turn increase political participation.
Strengthening our electoral system would make people like politics in Nigeria as this would increase political participation in Nigeria

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