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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Pro-democracy movements, democratisation and conflicts in Africa: Nigeria, 1990-1999 |
Author: | Olayode, Kehinde |
Year: | 2007 |
Periodical: | African Journal of International Affairs (ISSN 0850-7902) |
Volume: | 10 |
Issue: | 1-2 |
Pages: | 127-146 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Nigeria West Africa |
Subjects: | democratization political conflicts civil society politics democracy Nigeria--Politics and government Conflict management |
Abstract: | The resurgence of civil society as a result of contradictions linked to globalization lay at the heart of the political turbulence across Africa in the last decade of the twentieth century. The rapid and often chaotic transitions to democratic governance and market economies on the continent have been punctuated by incessant and violent intra-State conflicts, especially conflicts structured around competing identity claims based on religion, ethnicity, the citizenship question, and the competition for State resources. This essay provides some explanations for such conflicts and explores the role of democracy as a process that either complicates or facilitates the resolution/management of such conflicts. By drawing on the case of Nigeria, where the challenge of resolving political violence through democracy is potent, the essay argues that competitive political parties and elections have tended to intensify some disintegrative processes, which have also been deepened by the ways in which the political elite has subverted the democratic process. In conclusion, the implication of the political struggles in which civil society has been a key actor for consolidating democratization and political stability in Nigeria is critically examined. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract] |