Curbing Electoral Violence in Nigeria: The Imperative of Political Education

Both domestic and international political sociologists based on empiricalinvestigations argue that the greatest obstacle to democratic consolidation inNigeria is electoral violence. This is as a result of the rascal politics that thepolitical elites engage in. Sometimes, the violence is intra-party, and most ofthe time, it is inter-party. Apart from that the fact that this phenomenonaffects the credibility of the electoral system, the democratic system and therule of law, the nature, extent and magnitude of violence and riggingassociated with elections in Nigeria had assumed alarming proportions thatnecessitates intellectual excursion to the realm of possible solutions.Education has been discovered to be a major strategy and weapon to curbingthis democratic impediment. To this end, this paper examines the imperativeof political education in curbing this ugly trend if the nation is to enthroneenduring and sustainable democratic order that would be a delight to behold.Keywords: Election; Electoral Violence; Political Violenc