Abstract

Democracy is described as a political system where the general populace is permitted to engage, to varying degrees, in the day-to-day running of their own countries, whether through representative democratic elections or actual direct democratic actions, such as referenda. This article sets out a number of instances which should be kept in mind in any discussion of the relationship of Nigeria democratic governance and the quest for nation- building. Democracy aims at the exclusion of either violent action or use of force in championing supposed State policy and theoretically should render violence or use of force unnecessary, since all groups and individuals are expected to express their views and interests through a process of rational deliberation. Yet, this is obviously not always the case especially in today’s Nigerian democracy. Since there is no meaningful participation of the masses in public policy or key decisions, one may likely ask ‘is there any hope of building the nation (Nigeria) via these snobbish attitudes our leaders’? Nation-building entails concerted effort by political leaders to integrate citizens who are naturally diverse in terms of culture, language, religion, economy, and education to form one united and stable nation. The reversed is the case of Nigeria today, instead integrating the populace for nation-building; the leaders are disintegrating them the more. In this article, antithesis of democratic practices and its danger in building the nation as presented with subheading ‘Nigerian democratic governance and quest for nation- building: an aberration were also discussed and some steps if considered would make things aright were suggested such as institutional reformation and restructuring and a new discourse of politics of inclusion should be important elements of our democratic governance which enhances nation-building.