Identify five (5) ways in which democrcy was stalled any time the military took over the administration of Nigeria.

Answer Details

Whenever the military seized power in Nigeria, the practice of democracy was suspended and its institutions were undermined. Five ways in which democracy was stalled are identified below.

1. Suspension of the constitution: The military set aside the democratic constitution and ruled instead by decrees which could not be challenged in the courts, thereby destroying the supreme law that guaranteed democratic government.
2. Abolition of elective institutions: Elected legislatures at the federal and state levels were dissolved and no elections were held. Law-making, an essentially democratic function, was taken over by the Supreme Military Council or a Ruling Council.
3. Banning of political parties and political activity: Political parties were proscribed and open partisan activity was prohibited, denying citizens the freedom to organise and to compete for power through the ballot box.
4. Suppression of fundamental human rights: Freedom of speech, of the press and of association was curtailed, critics and journalists were detained without trial, and ouster clauses removed many matters from the jurisdiction of the courts.
5. Concentration of power and fusion of functions: Executive and legislative powers were fused in the military hierarchy, the principle of separation of powers was abandoned, and rule was by command from the top rather than by consent of the governed.

In these ways each military take-over halted the growth of democratic culture and institutions in Nigeria.