The challenge of democratic governance in Nigeria: A religio-philosophical appraisal

The absence of good governance could be seen and explained in terms of defective constitutional arrangement, corruption, economic mismanagement, undemocratic internal party politics, fraudulent electoral system, rule of man as against rule of law and lack of accountability and transparency are the major impediments to democratic consolidation in Nigeria. In this regard, the study argues that sustained poor political leadership has seriously threatened the survival of democracy in Nigeria and that positive influences on the part of the religious bodies, through their leaders are argued to be inestimable. Meanwhile, this paper looked at the challenge of democracy in Nigeria from a religio philosophical point of view and the manners those problems which constitute fundamental challenges could be surmounted. Findings in this research maintain that for there to be significant improvement in the democratic processes, amongst others, Nigerian political leaders should change their dispositions in the handling of state affairs. Finally, the paper made some recommendations that would assist in promoting democratic practice and culture in the country. Among other recommendations, the paper recommends that for effective and productive democratic governance in Nigeria, the political leaders need to uphold democratic values of popular participation, respect for the rule of law, free and fair elections and the independence of the judiciary.