Nigeria Notes

The challenge of governing without a national consensus

At the heart of the crisis of governance in Nigeria is the problem of devising mechanisms for governing a country that lacks a national consensus.   By national consensus we mean a widely shared agreement within a state/nation on certain basic values and norms on the one hand and a set of goals and objectives on the other.  In comparative politics, countries characterized by serious problems of ethnic, linguistic and religious differences tend to lack a national consensus and operate national or coalition governments.  Examples are Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.  Some scholars refer to these countries as consociational democracies in contrast to Western democracies that operate a government and opposition arrangement except during periods of national emergencies such as the depression of the 1930s and the immediate years following the Second World War.  These countries tend to have a national consensus.

The concrete realities of Nigeria suggest that it should seek to develop as a consociational democracy and not as a Western democracy.  In other words, in the absence of a national consensus, Nigeria should seek to operate a national or coalition government at the federal level and not a government and opposition arrangement.  At the level of the federating units, there could be a choice between a coalition government arrangement and a government and opposition arrangement, depending on whether or not there is a shared agreement on basic values and norms as well as on goals and objectives within a given unit.  For example, in countries where there is no national consensus (there are problems of ethnic/racial, religious and linguistic differences), there has been a continuous succession of coalition governments since independence (for example, Mauritius).  This permanence of coalition governments is widely regarded as the major explanatory factor for political and policy stability, maintenance of law and order, and successful conflict prevention.

It is important to stress that the unending debate in the country on the choice of the form of government – presidential, parliamentary, or a hybrid a la francaise - needs to be closely related to the point about the lack of national consensus in Nigeria and the necessity for national or coalition governments at the federal level.  The related issue is the inevitability of devolution, meaning the reduction of the powers, functions, and resources at the federal level to the benefit of the federating units.  While the ruling party appears uninterested in the subject, two of the main opposition parties have flagged it as a priority subject.  The outcome of the 2007 presidential elections will determine when the challenge of devolution would be tackled.