Democracy, Development, and the Questions of Moral Crisis in Nigeria: A Critical Reflection

Abstract

Since 1999, the concept of ‘democracy’ has become one of the most cherished concepts both in practices and in the litany of Nigerian scholarly discourses. It is often believed that democracy is synonymous with development. A true or holistic development, however, encompasses human capacity and material developments. Moral thinkers have argued that if there must be a realistic democracy and development, a strict observance of the rules, principles and ethics of democracy and its values are germane. On the contrary, Nigerian democracy literally defies these rules, especially, the disregard to the importance of morality in its practice of democracy. The paper therefore, argues from the point of view of moral philosophy, by insisting that the success of Nigerian democracy and its quest for holistic developments lies in its adherence to ethical norms which will serve as remedy to Nigerian continuous desire for stable democracy and pragmatic development. In his submission, the author therefore is of the opinion that in this 21st Century, as a way of fizzling out of this partial democracy and epileptic development, Nigerians, must treat the questions of morality with an utmost priority.