DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC: AN EVALUATION

The practice of democracy in advanced countries of the world demonstrated that there is nexus between democratic consolidation and development. In the case of Nigeria, attempts to strike a balance between democratic consolation and development in the fourth republic have been subjected to heated debates and counter arguments owing to numerous unmet expectations. Therefore, this paper examines the implications of democratic consolidation on the level of poverty, unemployment and inequality. The main objective of the study is to determine the implications of democratic consolidation on development in Nigeria in the fourth republic. The data for this study were obtained through the content analysis of existing secondary documents. They include; the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Electoral Reform Acts 2010, Constitution of selected political parties, quarterly reports by National Bureau of Statistics and United Nations Development Reports. The findings of the paper reveal that, despite the consolidation of democratic governance in Nigeria in the fourth republic, the quality of lives of average citizens has been on the downward trend. This is not unconnected with the surging increase in the rate of unemployment, poverty and inequalities. Above, all the average citizens in Nigeria lack access to basic necessities of live such as; food, clothing, shelter, pipe borne water, electricity, good road network and efficient telecommunication services. The study concluded that any form of government that ensures improved quality of life for average citizens is to be cherished and embraced by all and sundry. Subsequently, the paper recommended that internal party democracy should be encouraged in order to ensure that people of proven integrity are elected into political offices based on the popular participation in the electoral process. In light of this, the recommendations of the various Electoral Reforms Committees on curbing the menace of; money politics, godfatherism, prebendalisms and electoral malpractices should be incorporated into the Nigerian Electoral reform Act.