DEMOCRACY AND OPPOSITION POLITICS IN NIGERIA SECURITY THREAT?

Abstract

Opposition politics is like an iron upon which democracy is chiseled. No democracy can flourish without it and at the same time, political opposition, mostly represented by the activities of the opposition political parties and those opposed to the government, appears to constitute that which threatens smooth democratic practice in Nigeria. Arising from the above, the  study interrogated the security threat that accompanies democracy through the opposition politics and by extension examined the paradox of democracy in conflict resolution. The study is basically an attempt to understand how opposition politics in Nigeria has contributed to the continued security challenges bedeviling the country using the post colonial state theory. The
work discovered that unpatriotism on the side of the opposition politicians as well as government political imbecility contributes to the exacerbation of the insecurity situation in Nigeria. To tackle this problem created by the politicians in the quest for power, the study recommended, among other things, a constitutional provision for two-party system where defection is criminalized. This will invariably serve as the engine for the development of a viable opposition politics in Nigeria