Democracy or democratic system of government is one of the most reputable system of government that gives values and recognition to the citizens of a particular country on how to shape their destiny or government through periodic franchise or referendum without being under duress or any intimidation. It is the most widely used system of government since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991 because there is no alternative to it. Thus, this in my own opinion is why the concept lack a unique definition because. James Bryce in his two monumental works, The American Commonwealth (1893) and Modern Democracies (1921), defined democracy as “the rule of the people expressing their sovereign will through their votes”. However, the road to democracy in Nigeria was arduous, but we finally re-adopted the system in 1999. Hence, we have been witnessing an ‘unhindered’ democratic system of government since then.
Corruption on the other hand is regarded as an immoral and illegitimate use of public power for the benefit of private interest is one of the main problems threatening the developments of this country. Thus, it is not news that corruption is one of the pains in the neck of Nigeria democratic development. It is institutionalized in every Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government and it is systemic. The question is how is the Nigerian state corrupt using democracy as the basis of our analysis? To what extent can democracy as a system of government develop the Nigerian state? To what extent can or will the political class deviates from corruption? Continue reading “Democratic Corruption: The Case of Nigeria, By Ogunmakin Oyewumi”
