THE TRAVAILS OF DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATISATION IN YOBE STATE: A STUDY OF YOBE SOUTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT (ZONE B) 2011 TO 2019

Abstract

This paper aims to critically appraise the pace, corruption, tribalism, internal party crises leading 
to anti-party activities, protest votes, and the prospects of democracy in party primary elections 
in the Yobe South Senatorial district from 2011 to 2019. While it is a known fact that Nigeria is 
governed by democratically elected leaders at the federal and state levels, institutionalised 
democracy is yet to be achieved in Nigeria after two decades of full return to democracy. The 
overall objective of this paper is to discuss some of the impediments to the institutionalisation of 
democracy in Yobe South Senatorial district as one of the pitfalls to the true institutionalisation of 
democracy in Nigeria after two full decades of political independence. Key among these 
impediments in the study area are tribal sentiment, internal party crises resulting from candidate 
imposition, protest-votes, and coercion from traditional institutions. The work argues that the pivot 
around which most of the factors listed above revolve is a poor perception of what democracy 
entails, especially amongst the electorate, the majority of whom lack political socialisation. The 
study, however, contends that despite the aforementioned impediments, the stride and prospect of 
a politically stable and democratically viable senatorial constituency are marked by people’s 
eagerness to participate in the electoral process; the relative stability and sustenance of a multi
party system; and the general realisation in the senatorial zone that the only acceptable and 
popular route to the acquisition of political power is the ballot box. The paper obtains its data 
from secondary source materials and employs the historical method of data analysis through 
simple descriptive statistics.