The Exploration of Democracy and Development in Africa Analysis of the Nigeria’s Scenario

Abstract

The synergy between democracy and development remains a valid linkage beyond conceptualizations. This makes it imperative in this study to examine the impact of the former on the latter by emphasizing the dynamics of exploring the two contending concepts toward societal sustainable development. With the application of Liberal Democratic Theory, it is argued that democracy is fundamental to achieving socio-economic and political development. The study adopts qualitative method with more emphasis on secondary source of data gathering and analysis. This study infers that the absence of democratic paraphernalia such as free and fair election, rule of law, constitutionalism among others, have constituted series of threats to developmental utility of democracy in Nigeria. Though, it is established in the study that Nigeria’s democratization hurdles are attributed to poor state of economy, high level of unemployment, illiteracy, ignorance, ethnicity, tribalism, ethno-religious crises, and poverty which have constituted impediments to the smooth and effective governance in the country, all relevant stakeholders are expected to comply to democratic rules in order to achieve developmental strides across sectors.  The study however recommends systemic reforms as a panacea for sustainable development.