The challenges of democratisation in Africa: evidence and the way forward for Nigeria

Abstract

Democracy is perhaps the most popular political norm in modern discourse. For most sovereign states in Africa however, democratisation and its challenges have for long remained daunting. Even though described as 'false start', independence presented most African states with the opportunity of transforming colonial structure to democratic hegemony. Regrettably however, post-independence efforts aimed at achieving this have largely remained unimpressive. Till date, when assessed in the light of the pretensions in present times by most African states, one can safely state that democratisation is the most threatened political project in Africa. Suffice to state that this 'struggle' underlies the challenges to democratisation in Africa which is well typified by the Nigerian experience. This paper discussed colonialism, sovereignty, globalisation, military coup, ethnicity, poverty and political leadership as the broad challenges confronting democratisation in Africa within the context of Nigeria.