Paper long abstract:

Surprisingly, the third wave of democratization in Africa has endured in spite of it being nudged into the grey zone where elections are hardly free and fair. Known authoritarian states, such as Nigeria and Ghana among others have achieved democratic turn over in terms of handover of power to one civilian government by another. And despite the general alienation which the irregularities of the process have engendered on the part of the electorate, they have continued to clamour for the ‘dividends of democracy’ in ways that problematise govermentality. This paper, using Nigeria as case study will examine this phenomenon by interrogating the contingent nature of economic wellbeing on democratic consolidation.

The paper will argue that there is a general awareness by the electorate of the social responsibility of government as well as the failure of state actors to deliver the ‘dividends of democracy’. Also, it will argue that the persistent clamour for ‘dividends of democracy’ has become a soft form of resistance to policy failure of politicians as well as an expression of desired change by the electorate. In the same way, it will argue that apart from a lurking false consciousness, there is a connection between policy failure and the propensity of some of the electorate to accept financial inducement from the politicians eager to influence their electoral fortune.

The paper will conclude that democracy will be meaningful only when it improves the human condition of the electorate; and this will only come about when the democratic method, i.e., the process of electing state actors to preside over public affairs is held sacrosanct and as a consequence legitimate governments are in place.