Author: Adekunbi Johnson Odusanya

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

The welfare of the people is the hallmark of democracy and this is implied in Abraham Lincoln's definition of democracy. Government exists to cater for the citizens and that is democratic governance. The main challenge to welfarism in post colonisation Africa was touted to be the economic challenges faced by most if not all the countries in Africa. This necessitated recourse to borrowing from their former overlords, international agencies such as the Brentwood organizations. These loans or aids came with conditions and conditionalties which necessitated the adoption of such economic programmes as the Structural Adjustment Policy (SAP), austerity measures, deregulation of currencies and other International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities. These programmes or policies became the buzzwords and eventually became (un)popular with African countries since the mid-1980s. In Nigeria for example SAP was introduced in 1986. One of the dictates of SAP is the reduction of welfarism by the state. This generated protests from all segments of the nation as the average citizen questions the justification of his continuous obligation to a state which cannot longer play its role to its citizens. S. 14 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Federal Republic Nigeria 1999 (CFRN'99) provides that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. The incessant disturbances, riots, strife, unrests, agitations, insurgencies, terrorism and general insecurity now prevalent in Nigeria can be described as reactions of the average citizen to such perceived injustice. The continued existence of the state is thus threatened by the citizenry. This has in turn forced authoritarian response from the state. Such authoritarian responses pose a great challenge to democratic governance and sustainable development in the country touted as the “giant of Africa” with a teeming population of over 160 Million as at the last census. This paper assesses the responsibilities of the government to its citizens. It examines the level of state participation in provision of basic amenities for the citizenry. It argues that aside from economic challenges, corruption, ignorance and illiteracy remain the major hindrances to welfarism and consequently democratic governance in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. The paper assesses the African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) efforts at ensuring democratic governance in the continent and the sub-region respectively. The paper concludes that the Nigerian state, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) need to take important steps in stabilizing the economy of member states towards promoting democratic governance in the state, sub region of West Africa and the African region. It therefore recommends certain implications for policy implementation.