Book Description

Laying the Foundation for Nigeria’s Democracy: My Account of June 12, 1993 Presidential Election and Its Annulment is a factual, gripping, and compelling insight into the most authentic analysis and explanation of the nation’s political environment under which the June 12 election was held and how the result was tragically annulled, even as it was accurately adjudged as the freest and fairest in the history of the country. The theoretical thrust deals with the crux of the problems that face the task of nation-building in Nigeria which is legitimacy. Prudently, the author examines how the Nigerian leadership tends to attract legitimacy and its acceptance from the generality of Nigerians. He documents the centrifugal and centripetal forces that combined in the various ways to shape as well as influence President Babangida’s transition program. The program is analyzed and compared with the previous transition program, and the process, its special features like its phased nature and its inbuilt learning process are identified. Professor Humphrey Nwosu concludes the book by stating unequivocally that Nigerians found a great deal of opportunity for real and genuine democracy during June 12 presidential election and they grabbed it. The outcome of the election and its annulment had whetted the appetite of both the majority and the minority ethnic groups of Nigeria. There is therefore a burning desire for equality, fairness and freedom for all Nigerians. Suggesting how Nigerians can solve their present political problems, he reiterates that the June 12 presidential election lays a strong foundation for democracy in Nigeria, and also maintains that June 12, 1993 election was indeed the Real Democracy Day in Nigeria while May 29, 1999 was its offshoot. This broad-ranging book of stimulating account is commended to students of political science, political leaders, democrats, all public office-holders as well as independent readers having the interest of Nigeria’s development at heart.