Democratic Governance and Sustainable Peace and Stability in Nigeria

Nigeria, like many other African countries, has been in the firm grip of military dictatorship for many years; in this case for 30 out of 38 years of independence. The military took over power ostensibly to check the disintegrative tendencies in the country soon after independence. In the end it failed to achieve that goal, and in fact compounded the problem. Under the military, the country seems even more unstable than it was during civil rule. Indeed, the level of political integration would appear to have dropped. But recent elections have brought back hopes of sustainable peace under a democratic regime. There is a strong feeling within and outside Nigeria that the country is starting its journey afresh and there are strong prospects that the new regime will achieve peace and stability. This paper explores the prospects of attaining this goal. It argues that a lot hinges on the sustenance of a vibrant civil society, especially active social movements and a dynamic press. It was their activities in the past few years that put the military on its way out in the first place