Despite the challenges facing the country’s democracy, Nigerians still prefer their elected representatives to military rule, a survey conducted by Afrobarometer and the CLEEN Foundation has shown.
Analysis of the survey, which focuses on attitudes toward democracy and accountability, however shows that while most Nigerians embrace the concept of democracy and reject other forms of government,
significant proportions of the population express support for non-democratic practices, such as military rule or an authoritarian president who is above the checks of parliament and the courts.
The survey also reveals that public dissatisfaction with how democracy is working in Nigeria and
with the performance of their elected leaders is high.
“This new analysis of Afrobarometer survey data collected in December 2014 takes the democratic pulse of Nigerians as they get ready to head to the polls,”Nengak Daniel, the Programme Manager for CLEEN Foundation, said.
“Many Nigerians believe that public institutions and office holders can serve as checks on each other, but they do not see voters as playing a leading role in holding political officials accountable. Levels of citizen trust in institutions and leaders vary, in parallel with perceptions of office-holder corruption, suggesting that addressing corruption is likely to be a key to building public trust.”
The report further revealed that Nigeria’s 2015 general elections, delayed by six weeks because of scaled-up military operations against terrorism, are likely to be the most competitive in the country’s history.
“Levels of citizen trust in institutions and leaders vary, in parallel with perceptions of office-holder corruption, suggesting that addressing corruption is likely to be a key to building public trust in elected offices and government agencies,” Daniel said.
The survey, conducted by the Practical Sampling International, covered 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states, as well as the Federal Capital territory.
Afrobarometer conducts face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice, with nationally representative samples.
The Afrobarometer team in Nigeria, led by Practical Sampling International (PSI) in collaboration with the CLEEN Foundation, interviewed 2,400 adult Nigerians between 5 and 27 December 2014. (For
80 cases, supplementary interviews were conducted on 18 and 19 January 2015.) The sample covered 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Moses, one of the researchers with PSI said: ” It was not possible to conduct interviews in three states in the North East zone – Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe – due to unrest in the region, so substitutions of sampling units were made from neighboring states in the same zone. Thus, each of the country’s zones is represented in
proportion to its share of the national population. A sample of this size yields national-level results with a margin of sampling error of +/-2% at a 95% confidence level.”
According to the survey, two third (65%) of Nigerians favour democracy as the best form of government , a decline from 69% in 2012, and one in five(21) say non-democratic forms can sometimes be
preferable.
Also, while a majority reject non-democratic alternatives, 15% approve of military rule,11% support one party rule and 9% approve of one –man rule.
Other key findings of the survey show that Nigerians show relatively weak support for checks and balances to ensure that public officials perform their functions appropriately , and most respondents do not
see voters and their ballots as playing leading riles in ensuring accountability .
Also ahead of the elections, key political office holders receive weak approval ratings on their performance and levels of perceived corruption.
Over the past 15 years, Nigeria has held four general elections, in 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011. While democracy has other prerequisites, the conduct of periodic elections is arguably the most important
factor for the sustenance of democracy.
Nigerians are not strangers to the concept of democracy – 72% understand the meaning of the word
“democracy” in English (including 69% of women), while 21% require a local-language translation to understand the word.
Two-thirds (65%) of Nigerians prefer democracy over other forms of government. This is a decline from 69% in 2012. Moreover, a full 21% of citizens say non-democratic forms of government can sometimes be
preferable, while 11% say the system of government in place does not
matter.
