STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AND DEMOCRATIC FRAGILITY IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FOURTH REPUBLIC NIGERIA

Abstract

Democracy represents the mass participation of citizens in governance. However, since the advent of Fourth Republic Nigeria in 1999, it has been confronted with myriads of challenges principal among which is that of violence in various shades and dimensions. This ranges from socio-economic violence, political violence to structural violence. This paper investigates the challenge of structural violence and its implication on democratic fragility in Nigeria since the commencement of the Fourth Republic. The paper adopted the theory of conflict transformation, human needs theory, and the theory of positive and negative peace which find relevance in Galtung’s work on “violence, peace and peace research” to anchor this research. One common denominator to these theories is the clear distinction made between direct violence and structural violence. The paper employed the qualitative methodological approach which relied mainly on secondary source of data from journals/articles, library and archival materials, among others. The paper found that because of structural deficiency of the Nigerian State, violence have been entrenched in it through provision by government, of an unequal playing field for its citizens which translate into unequal life chances. The paper therefore concluded that Nigerian citizens have vital role to play by calling on government to account for every policy action. It is in this regard that this paper recommended the urgent need to revisit and rework the 1999 constitution so as to address the challenge of structural violence and democratic fragility being experienced by the Nigerian state.