THE EVOLUTION AND PATTERN OF POLITICAL PARTY FORMATION AND THE SEARCH FOR NATIONAL INTEGRATION IN NIGERIA

Political parties are crucial institutions in the construction of a participatory democratic order; they provide platforms for developing competing public policy proposals, as well as serving as instruments for channeling disparate social groupings into a common political platform, thus providing a stabilising effect to an otherwise fractious society. The significance of political parties therefore, goes beyond the utilitarian function of contesting or retaining political power to include the ability to provide a unifying force in the face of deep-seated ethno-religious cleavages. The historical trajectory of political party formation in Nigeria however runs counter to this theoretical and normative ideal. Political parties in the pre and post-independence Nigeria have served as sites for the mobilisation of the people along primordial faultlines. This paper argues that the two main political parties in Nigeria today presents an opportunity to break the cycle of regional based parties that have hobbled efforts towards national integration