CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the Study
Democracy in Africa without any shadow of doubt has
become associated with violence even with the slightest provocation. Violence
has gone beyond African countries. It is a global phenomenon. It has become
something that is used by groups seeking power, by groups holding power and by
groups in the process of losing power (Anifowose, 1999). Scholars are of different
opinions on whether to consider violence as objective or subjective on what to
include or exclude as violence, and on how to classify the various forms of
violence. The outcome of this made scholars to come up with many forms of
violence. It is not restricted to the political sphere alone. It cuts across
every aspect of human existence. This means that political violence is just a
subset of violence. It takes many forms including: kidnapping, assassination,
arson, thuggery etc. This shows that we are in a violent world and the tendency
to be violent increases by the day. Violence has no territorial boundary. It is
as universal as it predates modernity. For instance, Ekiran (2006) notes that
both the Biblical and Quaranic accounts of creation and the events that
followed in the Garden of Eden particularly Adam and Eve’s refusal to obey
God’s simple instruction, amounts to violence of a sort.
Rejection of a superior’s injunction is tantamount
to violent behavior; because the word violence has its roots from violation or
infringement. So when one violates or infringes on a laid down principle, it
amounts to violence. Therefore violence can be described as an unruly behavior
perpetrated to express anger and dissatisfaction over some social issues which
the perpetrators felt have affected or likely to affect them in one way or
another (Ekiran, 2006). It is an aggressive behavior which more often than not
involves physical combat which could inflict bodily injuries on both
perpetrators and innocent people. It is an ill wind that blows no one any good.
According to IFES Reports (2007), there were 967
incidents of electoral violence in the 2007 elections. Cases of abduction and
kidnapping, murder and killing ̧ protest,
disruption, intimidation and physical attack and well as poster defacing all
featured in the incidents. 300 people were killed on issues relating to 2007
elections. The General Elections of 2007 were of monumental importance as it
marked the first time in the history of elections in the country when civilian
to civilian transition has ever taken place .It was a situation that the former
President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, described as a ‘do or die affair’. The
whole electoral processes were that of State Houses of Assembly, National
Assembly, Gubernatorial and Presidential Offices. Even though the Independent
Electoral Commission (INEC) meticulously and zealously planned for these
elections, the election days witnessed confusion and all manner of electoral
mal-practices such that INEC’s preparedness was brought to question. Results
from the entire exercise were probably the most contentious and most lingering
(Yaqub, 2007). Long after the events, there were still litigations after
litigations. The elections were annulled in certain states of the federation
while in others, results remain controversial. This was so because those who
emerged victorious did so through irregular activities that is, rigging and
violence. The elections conducted in Plateau State cannot be said to have
occurred without electoral violence. The events which trailed the Gubernatorial
Elections in Plateau State form the focus of this research.
For several scores of years and irrespective of what
happened in the past, Nigerians had for long developed a deeper love for
democracy. This love had been demonstrated in the time past whenever there is a
need for this. In spite of the ills that followed the 1999, 2003 and 2007
elections, Nigerians still showed their willingness to elect their leaders even
in the 2011 and 2015 elections. Such started with a time table which was set
and adjusted later for convenience. A meeting of the 36 state Governors of the
Federation which was presided over by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors
Forum (NGF), Bukola Saraki was held on 8 February 2011 at Abuja in order to
prevent electoral violence during the elections in which the Governors signed
an undertaking having the following objectives, to: commit to free, fair,
credible and transparent electoral process in the upcoming elections committed
to democracy and the integrity of the electoral process, refrain from using
religion and ethnicity as vehicle from political campaign, commit to promoting
peaceful, religious and ethnic co-existence, do our best to ensure the coming
elections are devoid of any form of manipulation, thuggery, violence, rigging
and any other form of underhand tactics, consistently educate and remind our
supporters, and party members not to do anything or take any action capable of
compromising the electoral process, promptly and loudly denounce, and even
disown any of our supporters engaged in any act that might diminish credibility
of the forthcoming elections, do nothing that will weaken or destabilize
opposition parties in our respective states; and respect the wishes of the
electorate as expressed through the ballot box (Jimoh, 2011).
The necessity of free and fair elections can never
be overemphasized bearing in mind what its opposite could do to a developing
democratic system like Nigeria. The 2015 elections recorded violence on a low
level and this has shown that when the choice of Nigerians is reflected in the
polls and the will of the people is recognized, then violence is likely not to
occur but when the results of the elections are rigged or there is a delay in
announcement of results, tensions become high and violence erupts. This
happened when the returning officers of presidential elections were announcing
the results at the International Conference Center Abuja, it was noticed that
the returning officers of the South-South zone were either reading the results
from a piece of paper or discrepancies were noticed and were asked to make
corrections. However, with the recording of low-level of violence at the 2015
elections this study is of the opinion that the 2019 elections will record a
lower level of violence because the electorates and now more informed and the
new government in place has a zero tolerance for corruption and it is believed
that the backbone of the All Progressives Congress led government is
transparency and does not tolerate violence and will ensure that the 2019
elections will be transparent and violent free even if the ruling party is not
returned into power.
1.2 Statement of
the Problem
The quest for power by man in his ever unstoppable
search for relevance and advantage has indeed, generated so much tensions and
hostilities. In Nigeria, as well as most developing democracies of the Third
World electoral violence is not only a recurrent decimal, its frequency,
character and dimension are quite frightening. It is now becoming a national
character of the Nigerian state in such a way that both the Nigerian state and
her citizens are held hostage by this smashing political reality in which both
are unfortunate willing conspirators. From independence to date, electoral
violence in Nigeria has improved in sophistry just as the politicians and their
cohorts have remained resolute in this destructive enterprise. In Nigeria,
elections have become an avenue for legitimization of bad governance. This
assertion hinges on the fact that incumbent government holds on to power at all
cost while opposition parties in a bid to capture state power, resort to all
manner of irregularities. The result of this is usually violence of one sort or
the other.
This study therefore sets out to examine the factors
responsible for the political participation and electoral violence in Nigeria
taking 2007-2016 elections as a case study. This study will also examine the
challenges which these developments pose for Nigeria’s electoral process and
democracy.
1.3 Research
Questions
These are some of the questions the study is
designed to answer:
i)
what are the factors that generated violence during
the elections of 2007-2015 in Nigeria?
ii) what are the influence of electoral violence on
political participation on Nigerians?
iii)
what are the ways of reducing electoral violence in Nigeria?
1.4 Objectives
of the Study
The objective of this study is to find out the
causes, effects and solutions to electoral violence in Nigeria.
The specific objectives are: to;
i)
to know determine the factors that generated violence during the
elections of 2007-2015.
ii)
to examine the influence of electoral violence on political
participation on Nigerians.
iii)
to identify the ways of reducing electoral violence in Nigeria.
1.5 Significance
of the Study
Violence has been observed to be a common feature in
the conduction of elections in Nigeria. This has hindered the credibility of
the Nigerian electoral process. The significance of the study is to observe the
electoral activities of the last three elections conducted in Nigeria; starting
from 2007 to 2015.
1.6 Scope of the
Study
This study covered respondents like political office
holders and seekers and registered members of all the registered political
parties in Nigeria. However, attention shall be focused on ‘political violence
and political participation’ in Nigeria.
1.7 Limitation
of the study
Major problems encountered were time constraints,
validity and reliability of the sources or materials. However, the researcher
came up with findings that would be worth making reference to in future and
also contribute to the existing literature. The study will also serve as a
basis for further research in this field.
1.8 Definitions
of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of this
study:
Political Violence: This is an act perpetrated by
either persons or governments to achieve political goals. Many groups and
individuals believe that their political systems will never respond to their
demands. They therefore tend to believe that violence is not only justified but
also necessary in order to achieve their political objectives.
Political Participation: This is referred to as activity
that has the intent or effect of influencing government action either directly
by affecting the making or implementation of public policy or indirectly by
influencing the selection of people who make those policies.