Written By Obaburuji Oluwatamilore
Democracy is the accepted system of government in Nigeria and the betoken of a successful democracy involves the citizens active participation in political matters. But why is it different in Nigeria?
Democracy in Nigeria is in a dire situation of losing its meaning due to voter apathy; the lack of interest in participating in election, voting and political events. With only 40% registered of a vote in a country filled with almost 200 million citizens and only 20% out of them voted, minority is certainly ruling the majority which goes against the basic principles of democracy (majority rule)
Voter apathy leads to low voter turnout during election with minority voting during election show the upcoming loss of democracy since minority is ruling.
Reasons for voters apathy
Findings showed that after an appealing turnout of voters in 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy after years of military rule, and a few years after, a steady decline in voter turnout began. Statistics showed that the low turnout got worse in preceding elections after the 2003 election.
A political scientist at the University of Lagos, Dr Kayode Esuola, attributed the decline in voter participation to, among other things, the electorate’s disappointment in democratic governance, which explains why the voter apathy has been on a steady increase
People's hope was that democracy would solve all their socio economic problems, like unemployment, education, poor infrastructure, insecurity, etc., but their hope has been dashed as there seems to be no change to these problems. As a matter of fact, it appeared the problems became exacerbated.
This naturally discouraged people from voting because they didn’t get what they expected from democracy. The level of violence that always occur during the build-up to elections, also make most people stay away from electoral process
Dishonest, fraudulent acts done by people holding key offices, or even an individual with the intention of acquiring personal gains and illicit wealth or power, manipulation of election results and distrust has made people lose faith in the electoral process. A system eaten by corruption breeds people who have apathy towards politics. It funds the belief that their input doesn’t, and will never matter.
Poverty is one of the most relevant reasons in Nigeria as where poverty lies, there is unemployment, illiteracy, corruption and even electoral malpractice. This is because the average poor person would do anything to put food on his table, even if it means stealing or even participating in the manipulation of election results. These poor people are often the thugs used to disrupt the electoral process, they are often the people even crumbs to go provide underage people to vote.
Lack of security during elections in Nigeria, as it ends up with violence and people losing their lives. As a country battling with terrorism and insecurity, where people on a normal day fear for their lives, they will not turn up for an election where the chance of them losing their lives is tripled.
Effect of voter apathy in Nigeria
Lack of participation in politics has a lot of negative effects on Nigeria as it not only leads to the loss of democracy but also political ills such as corruption, dishonesty among those in power as no-one would be held accountable. There is low risk of being voted out of office which leads to the embezzlement of public funds.
Refusal to vote during election pave way for mediocre leaders in the government if the citizens feel those who are ruling them are not of good quality and they don’t bother to vote as a result of that, the problem is that those people who are not as intelligent, knowledgeable or discerning as them are the ones that decisions that affect them
The consequences are there for all to see because the government is not delivering on expectations. Good governance is missing, corruption level is high and politics is now a mercantile undertaking by those who see it as a means of livelihood. So, development suffers when people, especially informed voters, stay away.
We can vote for better leaders who have our best in mind if we come out in numbers to vote. Imagine if we have 70 percent turnout it gives better chance to candidate required capability and competence to lead to be elected rather than letting our future be decided by few
So, the more we stay away from participating, especially the educated, the informed and ardent citizens, the lesser our chances of having the desired development because the few that come out to vote would make decisions, not necessarily from an informed point of view but maybe based on trickery and deception by the political elite. That is why we don’t have people with capability and competence in office. How then do we achieve development?
It's not going to be easy but hoping and praying Nigeria would be better would not lead us anywhere. It is time to finally take a step and do the needful not just for Nigeria but also for ourselves and the generation after us.
Obaburuji Oluwatamilore is a student of icon universal polytechnic
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