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CONDUCT OF
ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS ON NATIONAL SECURITY
ABSTRACT
This
research is about the conduct of elections and its effect on national security.
The study was geared at determining 4 distinct objectives. These are to
establish the relationship between conduct of election and national security.
Thereafter, the nature of Nigeria electoral process would be examined. The
implications of electoral process on the national security were then
established. Finally ways of enhancing the conduct of elections in Nigeria were
proffered.
The
descriptive research method was used for the study. The research revealed that
conduct of elections is a means to achieving national security. It was further
discovered that Nigeria’s electoral process the FPTP system has an inherent
shortfall in the area of under-representation of minority groups. This often
leads to disenchantment and violence.
Furthermore, the study revealed the need for a review of the aspect of
the constitution relating to the appointment and removal of chairman and
membership of INEC. In the same vein, the study stressed the pitfall on the
reliance of the electoral management body (EMB) on the executive for the
approval of its financial budget.
To this end,
adopting the Proportional Representatives Electoral system and the funding of
INEC from established consolidated revenue is considered expedient. Also, the
imperatives of labour and civil societies playing a key role in constituting
members of EMB were highlighted.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
Over the
years, nations have risen and fallen due to the deeds or misdeeds of its
leaders. Good leadership can determine
the success or failure of a country as it inspires, directs and mobilizes the
citizens to pursue a common goal. The role of leadership in the success of
nations has necessitated the quest for a viable means of selecting leaders.
Robert Art defines leadership as one of the most dynamic elements of
organizational life such that the effectiveness of an organization depends on
the quality of its leadership.1 Consequently, nations strive to select
efficient and effective leaders through the consent of the governed. The
mechanism for translating this consent into governmental authority is by the
use of a democratic process.
The
democratic process of selecting a leader is referred to as elections. Election is the process of selecting a few
persons from a group as representative sample of the group. It is an essential
element of democracy since it reflects the wishes of the people.2 Attesting to this, Bello-Imam a renowned
political scientist define election as the process by which citizens choose
their representatives in accordance with mechanism fixed by the constitution or
established government of a state.3 The origin of elections can be traced to
ancient Roman and Greek empires in the Twelfth Century. In those empires, election is done with
voting by show of hands and acclamation by voice. In some other situations,
decisions were made by use of secret ballots in the form of white and black
pebbles, marked or unmarked shell or carved wooden tablets.4
Globally
elections, follow processes which differ from nation to nation. These processes
may include the selection of candidates, the registration of voters and the
voting procedures amongst others. These procedures are unique and differ from
one country to another. For example, in USA, the National Government
established federal electoral requirements, which many of the states adopt to
reduce cost and avoid the complexity of having two different systems.5
In Africa
electoral processes are confronted by several challenges especially in
countries emerging from oppressive regimes or long periods of dictatorship.
This is because the electoral processes in nascent democracies involve
fragmented political parties with weak political base. These political parties
depend on few notable personalities or a shared ethnic identity and affinity.6
In such instances, reason and competence of the candidates are sacrificed for
religion, ethnicity or parochial cleavages. Regrettably, national development efforts
suffer setbacks due to leadership incompetence.7
Several
scholars have argued that the greatest problem confronting African countries
are the prevailing political condition in the conduct of elections. The right
people are rarely elected and seldom opportune to steer the affairs state.
Sunil in agreement, observed that one of the greatest challenges to confronting
national development among African is political leadership.8 Nigeria is no
exception in this regard.
Nigeria has
conducted several elections since independence.
These elections include the 1965, 1983 and 1979 general elections. Others are the 1999, 2003 and the 2007
general elections. These elections have been fraught with malpractice and
violence giving the perception that it does not reflect the will of the
people.9 When an electoral process is perceived as unfair, unresponsive or
corrupt, its political legitimacy is compromised and violence can ensue. Also, notwithstanding the credibility of an election,
a desperate loser candidate can at times precipitate violence. In such an instance, resources which could
have been used for developmental projects are channeled to mitigating violence
or rebuilding destroyed infrastructure.
Bob Dewar,
the former British High Commissioner to Nigeria observed that the conduct of
credible elections in Nigeria would lead to national development.10 To
underscore the seeming importance of credible elections to the development of
Nigeria, the present administration has used every opportunity to reiterate its
preparedness to ensure credible elections in 2011. In order to ensure this, the
Federal Government (FG) released the sum
of 84.7 billion to the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the procurement of Direct
Data Capturing (DDC) machines. 11
In Nigeria,
the recurring incidences of civil unrest and disturbances following the conduct
of elections have continued to pose security concerns. Examples of these crises
are disturbances sequel to the 1983 and 1993 general elections as well as the
on-going Jos crises. 12 In most of these instances lives are lost and
properties worth millions of Naira are destroyed. Also, emerging security
threats such as kidnapping, use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs),
political assassinations among others further deepen these challenges. These threats represent a clear and present
danger to the image of Nigeria in particular and peaceful coexistence of the
country in general. The need to conceive
and design an effective means of conducting credible elections as well as the
inadequacies observed in previous elections are issues that motivated the
choice of this topic by this researcher.
STATEMENT OF
THE PROBLEM
In Nigeria,
periods of elections often generate apprehension among politicians, electorate
and security agencies due to the level of violence that occur within this
period. These violence often result from unwillingness of political parties and
their members to accept defeat, level of malpractice observed during this
period among others.
The conduct
of credible elections avails the electorate the opportunity to choose leaders
who are accountable and who owe their mandate to the people. On the other hand,
electoral malpractice leads to the emergence of leaders who are insensitive to
the plight of the electorate and whose ascension to office are not dependant on
the mandate of the people. This often affects the growth and development of the
country and in some instance leads to political instability. The general
elections of 1979 and 1983 were characterised by malpractices that triggered
violence in many parts of the country. Similarly,
the 1992,
1999,2003 and 2007 general elections
were fraught with irregularities and violence posing security concerns.13
Based on the
foregoing, this study seeks to proffer answers to the following:
a. What is the relationship between conduct
of elections and national security?
b. What is the nature of electoral process
in Nigeria?
c. What is the impact of electoral process
on the national security of Nigeria?
d. What are the ways to enhance conduct of
elections in Nigeria?
OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The purpose
of this study is to assess the impact of conduct of elections on Nigeria’s
national security. The specific objectives are:
a. To establish the relationship between
conduct of election and national security.
b. To examine the nature of Nigeria
electoral process.
c. To examine the implications of electoral
process on the national security of Nigeria.
d. To proffer ways of enhancing the conduct
of elections in Nigeria.
SIGNIFICANCE
OF STUDY
The
importance of this study is to contribute to the advancement of knowledge on
the conduct of elections in Nigeria. Its findings would enable appropriate
government agencies to appreciate the relevance of conduct of elections on
national development. Additionally, it would serve as a suggestive solution to
the problems affecting Nigeria’s electoral process.
It is hoped
that the study will add to existing literatures and body of knowledge on the
impact of election to national development. Additionally, this research work
would provide material for future studies on this topic.
RESEARCH
HYPOTHESIS
The ultimate
pursuit of any nation is the search for stability, peace and security without
which development would be impossible. In its quests for security, nations have
a misplaced notion that security problem is exclusively a problem of security
agencies. However, a secured nation is a nation with a viable economic and
stable political system. This could be achieved by conducting credible
elections that would lead to the emergence of good leaders
Election in
Nigeria has not been a worthwhile experience. It is hypothesized that the
conduct of elections in Nigeria can contribute to national security.
Furthermore, conducting of credible elections would lead to the emergence of a
leader who has the capacity to lead the nation to growth and development
SCOPE OF STUDY
The conduct
of elections has been a source of concern to most African countries as it
determines the quality of political leadership. Nigeria is no exception in this
regard. This study will look at the conduct of elections in Nigeria and its implications
on national security. Similarly, it will examine Nigeria’s electoral process
and establish the relationship between conduct of elections and national
security.
In the
course of this study, only relevant literatures on this topic from 2000 to 2010
will be referred to. Though other
literatures could address the issue of conduct of election, it is believed that
such works would be out of context with the approach adopted by international
organizations from 2000.
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