Restructuring for Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria: The Role of Political Education and Information Communication Technology

Abstract

The study examined the role of political education and Information Communication Technology (ICT) for sustainable democracy in Nigeria. The paper conceptualized political education and IC T for sustainable democracy. The paper adopted observation and secondary methods of data gathering. The paper argued that electoral violence and fraud that marred conducted elections in Nigeria was  due to decades of military rule that militarized the psyche of most Nigerians, and lack of continuous political education to redirect the militarized mentality they do display in electoral process, to democratized mentality to sustain democracy in Nigeria. This is because the anti-democratic mentality of most Nigerians has created loopholes for politicians to manipulate the electoral process which portents a threat to democracy in Nigeria. The paper revealed that continuous political education through the use of ICT tools like social network sites will create political awareness that will enlighten Nigerians to deter them from electoral violence and fraud, and other related anti-democratic behaviour to bring about sustainable democracy in Nigeria. Therefore, the paper recommends among others, that the Nigerian government should liaise with advanced countries that have successfully built ICT in their democratic governance, to see areas where they can collaborate to ensure stable use of ICT facilities in Nigeria.

Keywords: Restructuring, Sustainable Democracy, Political Education, Information Communication Technology (ICT)