Two-Partyism and Democratic Transition in Nigeria

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Periodical article

Title:	Two-Partyism and Democratic Transition in Nigeria
Authors:	Oyediran, Oyeleye Agbaje, Adigun
Year:	1991
Periodical:	Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:	29
Issue:	2
Period:	June
Pages:	213-235
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	democratization multiparty systems Politics and Government
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/161021
Abstract:	In October 1989 President Ibrahim Babangida of Nigeria surprised even the closest watchers of his military regime by announcing that two parties - the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) - would be established by fiat and provided with initial funding in the context of the agreed programme of transition to democratic civilian rule, laid out between 1986 and 1987, and scheduled to terminate with the inauguration of the Third Republic in 1992. This article examines the nature, role, achievements, setbacks, and prospects of the NRC and the SDP in the context of both the evolving two-party system and the overall search for democracy. The authors focus on the policy framework provided specifically by the manner in which the rival organizations have been designed and promoted, while also outlining the impact of the transitional regime's other social, economic, and political programmes. The analysis suggests that there is no reason to be either uncritically optimistic or fatalistically pessimistic about Nigeria's transition to democracy. Note, ref.