Power to the People: An Inverse Role in Nigeria’s Politics and Governance

• Main Author: Onyemekara Emecheta Kingsley Onyemekara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2016-12-01
• Series: International Journal of Area Studies
• Subjects: democracy; social contract; patrimonialism; clientelism; sovereignty; popular will
• Online Access: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ijas.2016.11.issue-2/ijas-2016-0006/ijas-2016-0006.xml?format=INT

An attempt to contextualize the political power structure in Nigeria exposes an orientation and practice that directly negates the democratic norm of power belonging to the people. Today, power belongs entirely to government officials who use it to advance the course of their political and economic interests. The people are thus, subjected to the point and path of complete alienation from the demands and benefits of their democratic citizenship. Given the weakness of the rule of law and institutions of check in Nigeria, established statutes and legislation have not been able to stand tall to relevance in dislodging the hegemony of the ruling elites as is evident in our case study-Imo State. This has since 1999, propped up a telling political effect, which also spirals to the arena of development, and quakes the stability of the state, and the nation at large. The paper examines the current domiciliation of political power, its potential effect on the people, and on service delivery in the country. A case is made for recovery of power for the people and reasserting the law as a balancing force and as means of providing check against breach of constitutionally prescribed political power structure and configuration.