When nigeria went to the polls in 2011, a period of intense postelection violence left over 800 dead and thousands more displaced. Postelection violence and the media nigerian democratic. Trends in electoral violence in nigeria, rasak bamidele2. In this lecture, i show that in order to understand the causes of postelection violence in nigeria, one needs to understand not only the nature of elections in nigeria, the impartiality of the. To know the remote and immediate causes of the post election violence in april 2011 general election in kaduna state. The presidential committee on postelection violence that was set up by president jonathan to investigate the cause of the 2011 violence had indicted buhari, stating that his provocative remarks played a role in the bloody violence that also led to the death of 10 members of the national youth service corps nysc in bauchi state. Caleb maupin is a political analyst and activist based in new york. Nigeria is a country of overlapping regional, religious, and ethnic divisions. The research did not include terrorist attacks by islamic or militant groups with. Pdf as nigeria moves closer to its 2015 elections, there are concerns that the elections, like the previous ones, will be marred by violence. Overviewin february 2015, the author wrote an update to this memo to reflect recent developments in nigeria. Electoral institutions and electoral violence in subsaharan africa volume 46 issue 2 hanne fjelde, kristine hoglund.
Preventing postelection violence based on the kenyan experience. Nov 22, 2017 why do some elections in africa turn violent. Deadly electionrelated and communal violence in northern nigeria following the april 2011 presidential voting left more than 800 people dead, human. Preventing postelection violence based on the kenyan. Second, sad memories of the 2011 postelection violence and its accompanying heavy casualties created fear among many nigerians. The role of elections in emerging democracies and post. Origins and response the april 2011 elections were considered to be one of nigerias fairest polls. Reporting on electoral violence in nigerian news media. Pdf issues of electoral violence in nigeria find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Mar 03, 2015 the presidential committee on post election violence that was set up by president jonathan to investigate the cause of the 2011 violence had indicted buhari, stating that his provocative remarks played a role in the bloody violence that also led to the death of 10 members of the national youth service corps nysc in bauchi state. The international media looks at this crisis through the lenses of ethnic cleansing and a fight for tribal supremacy between the luo and the kikuyu. Nigeria, systems of government, electionsvoting, violence, executive. In this post, we compare violence from the 2015 national elections, starting. Here, you will see the history of electoral violence in nigeria, factors responsible for electoral violence in nigeria, effects of electoral violence in nigeria as well as solutions to electoral violence in nigeria way forward.
Electionrelated violence is not limited to physical violence but includes other coercive means, such as the threat of violence, intimidation and harassment. Postmortem reactions or elite conspiracy the violence that greeted the announcement of president goodluck ebale jonathan by. More than 250,000 people were internally displaced, made refugees in their own country. An empirical examination of existing theories gregory wallsworth october 28, 2015 abstract recent studies of election violence in africa found violence mars as many as 80 percent of african elections. The paper is written against the backdrop that, periodic elections are fundamental to the principles of democracy. O abiola and alhaji bashir tofa17election, election result and annulment of june. In this lecture, i show that in order to understand the causes of post election violence in nigeria, one needs to understand not only the nature of elections in nigeria, the impartiality of the. Postelection violence killed 800 human rights watch.
The media has a critical role to play in curbing postelection violence in nigeria, writes ojo m. In fact, recent manifestations of electoral violence, most importantly since the birth of the fourth republic in 1999 have assumed an unprecedented magnitude and changing form, resulting in instability in democratic consolidation as well as the loss and displacement of many innocent lives. During the 196465 elections, politicians were involved in wide scale murder, kidnapping and arson. Nigerias economic development, based on a close relationship with communistled china, is a clear illustration of this. In 2011, over 800 people were killed as a result of electionrelated and communal. The 2011 postelection violence, acknowledged as the bloodiest electioninduced violence. By midjanuary, six hundred kenyans lay dead in an unprecedented orgy of post election violence. Electoral violence and the survival of democracy in. This article identifies poverty, a culture of impunity, weak penalties, a lack of effective governance, and small arms proliferation, amongst others. Buhari had refused to condemn possible violent reaction to the election result, which has been interpreted as an invitation to his supporters to riot. Electoral violence in nigeria has two broad dimensions, physical and psychological. More than a dozen such elections will take place in 2010 and early 2011. Given that past incidents of violence are seen as an indicator of the potential for future bloodshed, many fear that a similar outcome. Electoral institutions and electoral violence in subsaharan.
The role of elections in emerging democracies and post conflict countries key issues, lessons learned and dilemmas elections have become a major factor in the stabilisation and democratisation of emerging democracies and post conflict countries. Post election violence where there is persistent and sustained sense of election fraud. The nigeria security tracker nst expanded its coverage to election related violence just prior to the 2015 elections. The implication perspective frankcollins nnamdi okafor associate professor and head, department of political science, nnamdi azikiwe university, nigeria abstract following the outbursts of violence in previous elections in nigeria, fears have been. This article examines the nigerian postelection violence with regard to the ways in which. Sep 21, 2010 overviewin february 2015, the author wrote an update to this memo to reflect recent developments in nigeria. An assessment of post election violence in nigeria. First is the perception of historic marginalization by certain ethnic groups as a consequence of. Thus, political violence has been a major roadblock to democratic stability in nigeria. Electoral violence in nigeria council on foreign relations. The link between electoral violence and nigerias 2003 and 2007 elections is analysed based on hoglunds analytical framework of electoral violence, as well as its applicability to the nigerian political situation. Thirdly, the postelection violence that erupted after the announcement of jonathan as winner claimed the lives of about 800 innocent people in northern nigeria human rights watch, 2011. The recent 2016 post election crisis in gabon12 that left scores dead seems to shows that electoral violence is an intractable phenomenon on the.
Postelection violence erupts in nigeria united states. The government of nigeria should draw upon the lessons learned from the 2007. We use cookies to make interactions with our website easy and meaningful, to better. Introduction the problem of postelection violence seems to be evermore present as complexities of nationbuilding and. The military and the nigerian societybackground to june 12 election of 199314the emergence of chief m. Breaking the cycle of electoral violence in nigeria united states. Lagos, nigeria cnn roughly 17,000 people fled their homes in eight northern nigerian states as violence erupted after presidential elections in africas most populous nation, the nigerian red. Electoral violence and the survival of democracy in nigeria. Political and economic effects of postelection violence on national.
Nigerias election history has always been marred by various levels of violence at the pre, during and post election phases, with high consequences including deaths, displacement and destruction of livelihood as was witnessed in the. Introduction it is apposite to state that political violence is the hallmarks of weakly institutionalize politics. Election violence in nigeria dates back over a hundred years, from the days of indirect rule under great britain to postindependence and a series of military regimes. Media, elections and political violence in eastern africa. Mapping, evolution and patterns june 2006 may 2014 executive summary an analysis of the nigeria watch database for the period between june 2006 and may 2014 revealed 915 fatal incidents related to elections. The role of elections in emerging democracies and postconflict countries key issues, lessons learned and dilemmas elections have become a major factor in the stabilisation and democratisation of emerging democracies and postconflict countries. The incidence of electoral violence in nigeria is as plethora as they. Jonathans base of support is the christian communities of the southern regions. One way of understanding postelection violence and the possible mediarelated imperatives is to look at the variety of contexts in which it can occur. Electoral violence in nigeria is caused by electoral fraud and manipulation of figures and data to deny the rightful winners their popular mandates given to them and certified by the elec toral process. The historical trajectory of electoral process in the post colonial nigerian is characterised by violence. Causes of electoral violence the causes of electoral violence are multifaceted, and can. The implication perspective frankcollins nnamdi okafor. Election violence in nigeria is not inevitable icrtop blog.
The postelection period 39 the complaints process 39. Arguably, the most prominent and visible form of violence, physical electoral violence has remained a recurring theme in the five general election in nigeria. This presupposes that electoral violence cuts across different stages of election starting from the registration period to post election period. Politics and election in ondo state5endnotes12chapter two. To examine whether 2011 general election were free and fair from the perspective views of kaduna state. Some nigerian experts think we are once again at the cusp of a major national crisis and that the signs are in the electoral map of nigeria, drawn from this election that seems to have highlighted.
Postelection assessment of conflict prevention and. In the postelection stage, politicians may destroy electoral. Postelection violence where there is persistent and sustained sense of. Election related violence is not limited to physical violence but includes other coercive means, such as the threat of violence, intimidation and harassment. Such violence could also be a postelection phenomenon which comes consequent on the manipulation of election results. Violence broke out across nigeria between supporters of the two candidates. As nigeria becomes more aware of its ability to assert itself, the wall street imperialists do not aim to reconquer and rebuild. Report of the commission of inquiry into the 1 august 2018.
Young supporters of the runnerup, former president muhammadu buhari, claim that the elections were rigged and that jonathan was not the true winner. When nigeria went to the polls in 2011, a period of intense post election violence left over 800 dead and thousands more displaced. Postelection violence and the media nigerian democratic report. Also, there were gross irregularities in the conduct of the elections that precipitated the military to stage a coup that ended nigeria s first democratic experiment. Best practices for the prevention of electoral violence reliefweb. Most of the violence occurred after the election, as the results of the presidential poll began to become. According to human rights watch about 140 were killed in political violence before the election alone, between november 2010 until 17 april 2011, the day after the election. Given that past incidents of violence are seen as an indicator of the potential for future bloodshed, many fear that a similar outcome will come to pass when the now postponed elections are held on march 28 th 2015. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah. Nigeria s election history has always been marred by various levels of violence at the pre, during and post election phases, with high consequences including deaths, displacement and destruction of livelihood as was witnessed in the 2011 general elections. The 2011 post election violence, acknowledged as the bloodiest election induced violence. It is an attempt to willfully compromise the integ. Up to 1,000 people could have died in post election violence. Political violence, which constitutes a major challenge to stability in nigeria and africa in general, is a combination of pre and postelection.
One way of understanding post election violence and the possible mediarelated imperatives is to look at the variety of contexts in which it can occur. Postelection assessment of conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms in nigeria. To investigate the effect of post election violence on the economic development of kaduna state. Related material download pdf file of this report 61 pages, 219 kb download pdf of. This paper examines the political violence and democratic stability in nigeria. It also looks at the effects of instability and violence in nigerian society and proffers a number of solutions. Electoral violence reared its ugly head again during the highly. Nigerias 2011 polls will mark the fourth multiparty election in nigeria and, if a power. This incidence of election violence in africa is so high that even an election considered being free, fair and transparent the outcome may not have been free of violence. A more deepseated provocation is the established pattern in nigeria that the presidency should rotate between a christian and a muslim. As i detail in this book, more than half of all elections held in africa experience some form of violence or intimidation either. By midjanuary, six hundred kenyans lay dead in an unprecedented orgy of postelection violence. The electoral process was generally peaceful until the 1st of august 2018, when many demonstrators took to the streets of harare demanding the immediate release of the election results.
Electoral institutions and electoral violence in sub. For example, nigeria, in 2003 federal election, at least 100 people were killed and many more were injured, 600 people were reported killed in the december 2007 presidential election. Commission nhrc, electionrelated violence killed 58 people between december 2014 and february 2015. An appraisal of precipitating factors in nigeria olayiwola victor ojo m sc political science, university of ilorin, ilorin, nigeria abstract nigerias electoral politics from independence has been tumultuous. In this post, we will discus the issues behind electoral violence in nigeria. Nigeria, in 2003 federal election, at least 100 people were killed and many. Lesson for 2015 general election osimen goddy uwa, ologunowa christopher sunday department of political science and international relations, achievers university, owo, nigeria i. Elections in africa are periods in which the stability and security of african states hangs in the balance, due to the threat of election violence ibid.
Electoral violence has regularly been reported in nigeria and manifests in the 3 electoral stages, namely pre election, during election and post election, in various forms. Zimbabwe held its national elections on the 30th of july 2018. The major thrust of this paper shall be geared towards analyzing both the preelection and postelection violence at the. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah gabriel sous dir.
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