This is generally a bane to most African countries in transition and Nigeria in particular. Consequently, even within a democratic set up, it has become difficult to re-professionalize the military and subjugate it to civilian authourities. Rather than free the country from institutional emasculation, the military in democratic garbs inhibits the structural and cultural amelioration process. In the long run, such windowdressed transitions are inimical to the country’s democratic trajectory. Beyond the blunt military putsch, there is the sinister development in which departing military juntas organize transition programmes, followed by a tactical withdrawal to hold elections that are “won” by recently retired military officers. This is in view of the fact that in the midst of political transition, the military in most African countries have continually attempted to maintain a privilege position for itself even against the backdrop of widespread demands for genuine democratic reforms. Finally, the paper suggests that a true federation, institutional rebuilding and effective distribution of social welfare, should be adopted and practiced as conditions for democratic consolidation in Nigeria today."Ī major challenge confronting most emerging democracies across the globe, but most especially in Africa is the incontrovertible evidence of the influence of the military in the body politics of these new democracies. As such, members of the National Assembly are not helping the country in any way due to the fact that 28% of Nigeria’s overhead cost is been spent on them, thereby leaving most sectors of the economy to suffer untold setback. Hence, it is a game of selfishness versus furtherance of one’s economic aggrandizement amongst the legislators, living the innocent citizens to die in cold blood with irrelevant bills passed almost on daily basis. Accordingly, democracy in Nigeria cannot be consolidated amidst high level legislative bickering and hooliganism that characterized the nation’s parliament. Methodologically, data for this paper were generated mainly from secondary sources of recorded human documents. Therefore, this paper examines democratic consolidation and challenges of legislative politics in Nigeria from 1999-2011. The presence of these, suggests a real democratic consolidation. Most of these amenities are provided with the assistance of the legislature. These advancements especially the aspects of employment creation, provision of good road networks, electricity, pipe borne water and other infrastructural developments, would alleviate hardship on the citizenry. "Democracy is consolidated when the three organs of government (especially the legislature), channel their functions towards socio-economic and political advancement. Also, maximum cooperation from the executive agencies and departments will make it a reality. Conceptual frameworks are employed to lay out findings in an analytical manner, coming to the conclusion that the performance of oversight functions can only translate to socioeconomic benefits for Nigerians if and when sections of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN, 1999) are revisited and amended, when legislators see the incentive in advancing the national interest over self-interest and political party affiliations. Constitutional issues, budget delays and poor performance, inconclusiveness of high profile investigations into corrupt practices and breach of public trust and the unsavoury role of some legislators in managing the crises are some of the serious issues examined. A series of events placed the Seventh National Assembly in the spotlight of a rising conversation on oversight performance. By utilizing data from a field survey conducted on 120 respondents, in addition to copious evidence derived from previous studies in the field, it is apparent that effective legislative oversight is a precursory measure to the attainment of good governance goals. Particularly, the activities of the House of Representatives' (2011-2015) are thoroughly probed. This study strives critically to understand the basis for this reputation, by identifying the problems associated with oversight performance through revisiting the origins of legislative practice in Nigeria. The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is widely perceived by the public to be grossly inept in the area of legislative oversight.
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