Emeka Ibemere
Against all
odds for those calling for an interim or military governments against the fallouts
of the general elections, which comes up this week, Nigerians of all hue have
opted for democracy as best form of government.
Presenting
the survey before the media, the Programme officers of CLEEN Foundation, Nengak
Daniel, and Raphael Mbaegbu graphically explained that while majority rejected
non-democratic alternatives, 15 percent approved military rule while 11 percent
support one-party rule and nine percent approved of one-man rule (Interim)
system of governance.
“Ahead of
the elections, key political office holders receive weak approval ratings on
their performance and public perceptions are characterised by low levels of
trust and high levels of perceived corruption”, Nengak Daniel stated.
“More than
half of 57 percent of Nigerians say Nigeria is a democracy ‘with major problems’
or not a democracy at all,”
“Elected
officials at all levels, including the president and members of the National
Assembly, receive weak approval ratings and are perceived by a majority of
citizens as corrupt.”
The
highpoints of the survey says 65 percent of Nigerians favour democracy as the
best form of government, which was a decrease from 69 percent in 2012 and one
in five, 21 percent say non-democratic forms can sometimes be preferable.
In reaching
to their conclusion of this year’s research and survey, Afrobarometer said they
used face-to-face interviews in the local languages of the respondents’ choice
with nationally representative samples to reach at their conclusion.
According to
the wide-base research organisation, as Nigerians prepare to vote in the 2015
general elections, the survey findings revealed that support for democracy
remains the wish of majority of Nigerians even though weaker than two years and
was tempered by high levels of dissatisfaction and low approval ratings for
elected officials.
The survey said over the past 25 years,
Nigeria has had four general elections in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011. It said
while democracy has other prerequisites, the conduct of periodic elections was
arguably the most important factor for the sustenance of democracy. According
to the survey report, Nigerians are not strangers to the concept of democracy
as 72 per cent understand the meaning of the word-democracy including 69
percent of women. The survey went on to explain that two-thirds that is 65
percent of Nigerians prefer democracy over other forms of government.
“This is a
decline from 69 percent in 2012. Moreover, a full 21 percent of citizens say
non-democratic forms of government can sometimes be preferable, while 11
percent say the system of government in place doesn’t matter while majorities
rejected non-democratic alternative.”
On the
quality of democracy in Nigeria, only seven percent of Nigerians said that the
country is a full democracy which is below 9 percent in 2012 while 10 percent
says, it was not a democracy at all, also a drop from 16 percent in 2012 while
47 percent said Nigeria is practicing democracy with major problems with 35
percent viewed Nigerian democracy as one with minor problems.
“Only 29
percent are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the way democracy is
working in Nigeria while 68 percent are not very or not at all satisfied”, the
survey report says.
“Dissatisfaction
with the quality of democracy is a theme that cuts across the country’s six
geo-graphical zones or regions, peaking at 75 percent who are not very or not
at all satisfied in the North Central, North East, and South West”.
“59 percent
of respondents in the South East are the least dissatisfied with the quality of
democracy practiced in Nigeria. There is no significant difference between men
and women regarding their satisfaction with democracy in Nigeria”.
Despite the
high pitch tension concerning the Saturday March 28, election, Nigerians
preferred democracy as a system that could grant them freedom and popular
participation in governance than military and Interim alternatives. Ahead of
the election, Nigerians are adamant to vote their preferred candidates but
wouldn’t want to toy with interim option or military even in the provocation of
any post-election violence, they still would want democracy.
“Yet, as
troubled as the upcoming election has been, there are signs that Nigeria’s
democracy is maturing. Information flow is at breakneck speed. The plurality of
voices in the Nigerian media is emblematic of a country that enjoys freedom of
expression, a rare commodity in many African countries. Though Nigeria’s
democracy faces serious challenges, it also shows signs of resilience,” Uchenna Ekwo, a journalist reported.
The survey
also stated that majority of Nigerians do not consider the ballot an effective
means of removing leaders who fail to perform in office and do not see voters
as playing a leading role in holding political officials accountable.
Afrobarometer,
is an African-led, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude
surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions and related issues across
more than 30 countries in Africa, Their five rounds of surveys was conducted
between 1999 and 2013, while the round six surveys are currently under way
2014-2015.
The fieldwork for the Afrobarometer round of
six in Nigeria was conducted by Practical Sampling International, PSI, in
collaboration with the CLEEN Foundation. According to PSI, they interviewed
2,400 adult Nigerians between December 5, 2014 and 19 January 2015. The samples
covered 33 of Nigerian’s 36 states as well as the Federal Capital Territory.
“It was not
possible to conduct interviews in three states in the North East zone of
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States because of the insecurity in those states. The
group said they substituted samples units from neighbouring states in the same
zone thus; each of the country’s zones is represented in proportion to its
share of the national population”. The survey said.
“A sample of this size yields results at the
national level with a margin of sampling error of +/-2% at a 95% confidence
level. Previous Afrobarometer surveys have been conducted in Nigeria in 2000,
2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2012”.
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