DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Though political violence seems irrational, Nigeria's return to democracy in1999brought about considerable political changes, particularly in the way multi-party elections were conducted. The purpose of this study is to investigate how Nigeria's democracy has been weakened by the prevalence of political violence. The analysis uses survey data to answer the queries about political violence and democracy. The research offers a more thorough analytical investigation and builds on the theories of group violence and frustration-aggression. The study contends that certain democratic principles such as freedom, equality, accountability, and the rule of law constitute a" universal pattern" in democratic practice, making it crucial to evaluate the Nigerian and Egyptian experience critically. As a result, our findings imply that the political elite's vested interests are fundamentally a factor in the prevalence of political violence.

This study (Examination of The Low Participation of Female Students in University Politics) examines the factors influencing the low participation of female undergraduates in university politics at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Nigeria. Despite increased female enrollment in higher education, a significant gender disparity persists in student union governments and campus leadership roles. A quantitative research design was employed, utilizing a structured questionnaire administered to 150 female undergraduate students selected through proportionate stratified sampling. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings reveal a significant gap between political awareness (76%) and active participation (26.7%). Key barriers identified include entrenched patriarchal norms, with 62% of respondents agreeing that leadership is perceived as a male domain; institutional inadequacies, such as a lack of gender-sensitive policies (50% agreement) and insufficient support from school authorities (62% agreement); and a critical deficit in mentorship and leadership training, with 64% noting its inadequacy despite 86% affirming its importance.
The study concludes that the underrepresentation of female students is not due to a lack of capability or interest but is primarily a result of structural and cultural exclusion. It recommends a multi-faceted approach, including the establishment of formal mentorship programs, the implementation of gender-balance policies in student governance, the provision of financial support for female candidates, and campus-wide awareness campaigns to challenge gender stereotypes. These measures are essential for fostering an inclusive political environment that empowers female students and contributes to democratic deepening in Nigeria.

Insecurity in Nigeria presents a complicated challenge that has defied several management efforts by the government. the issues of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, ritualism, trafficking, and the like have continued to appear at the front burner of national discourse. Yet, little progress has been made to address these issues. However, one area that has not attracted sufficient attention is marginalization, which studies have established as the nexus between marginalization or its variant, exclusion, and insecurity. This study examined the relationship between marginalization and insecurity in Southeast Nigeria, using Orlu Local Government Area as a case study. Orlu was chosen due to its notoriety as one of the centres in the Southeast where insecurity is pervasive. The study utilized a structured questionnaire to elicit responses from a randomly selected 100 respondents from Orlu Local Government Area. The entire study was anchored on the frustration-aggression hypothesis that argues that when a person or group is frustrated, the result can be aggression. The study found that the Igbos are marginalized, being excluded from holding key political positions in Nigeria, disallowed from partaking in the decision-making process in Nigeria, and overlooked by the Nigerian government in many issues challenging the region; restricted from accessing basic infrastructure in Nigeria, empowerment initiatives in Nigeria, and approved loans in Nigeria; and restricted from effectively relating with other ethnic groups, as well as discriminated against due to their ethnic background. Furthermore, the study found that the name ‘Igbo’, which carries identity and stereotype, the experience of the civil war, envy for the entrepreneurial skills of Igbos, and the industry of Igbos, were the causes of marginalization of the region. The study recommends that the government need to convene a regional meeting to address specific challenges faced by the region; intensify actions towards separating genuine agitators against marginalization and opportunists; and compensate the victims of the Civil War as promised post-war.

The basis of this research was to conduct an investigation on the relationship between the legislature and the executive in the democratic system of Edo State. The investigation carries out in the course of this work revealed that indeed there exist a relationship between the legislature and the executive arms in the Edo State administration. The result from the research conducted between the legislature and executive where cordial at some point conflictual at other instance. But there was more conflictual, which brought about stability in the democratic system in Edo State

Youth participation in politics remains pivotal in the sustenance of a nation’s democracy. Participation not only ensures that the government performs its duties, but also guarantees the rights of ordinary people to participate in their community development. Activities such as voting in an election, sponsoring a candidate, petitioning or participating in a protest are forms of political participationthat
influence public policy directly or indirectly through affecting the selection process of those who govern the people. The study attempted to examine the impacts of the youths on the democratic process in Edo State: A case study of the 2023 general elections. The study interrogated the following research questions: What was the level of the youths’ turnout during the 2023 general election in Edo State? What were the different ways the youths participated in the 2023 general election in Edo State? What were the youths’ patterns of voting in the 2023 general elections in Edo State?Did the youths indulge in electoral violence in the 2023 general election in Edo State? In what ways can youth political participation and the democratic process in Edo State and Nigeria be improved? Theoretically, the study utilized the system theory to explain youth political participation and the democratic process in Edo State during the2023general election. Methodologically, the study surveyed 392 respondents inOredoLocal Government Area through a structured questionnaire. The study madethefollowing key findings. The first finding was that there was massive youths’ turnout
during the general election in Edo State. The second finding was that the youthsparticipated in the elections by joining the INEC team as ad hoc staff, sensitizingthepeople on how to locate their voting centers and ways to vote in the electionandcampaigning for their preferred candidates. The third finding shows the patterns forwhich the youths voted during the 2023 general elections in Edo State. In that order, the pattern were voting to safeguard the future of Edo State and Nigeria’s democracy as well as foster national development, voting based on religion, personality of the candidates, ethnicity and political party. The last finding shows that the youths were also involved in various forms of electoral violence such as voter inducement, ballot box snatching and thuggery. The study therefore recommends that the government should create an enabling environment that can stimulate youths’ participation in Nigeria’s democratic process, implement the various policies such as ‘Not Too Young to Run’, and speedily implemented, need for proper sensitization of the Nigerian youths on the need to participate in politics and criminal elements are not good for the growth and development of any country

This study was designed to ascertain Impact of Primary Exports on Underdevelopment in Nigeria: A Case Study of Crude Oil. Five (4) research questions were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey. The population for this study includes lecturers from the University of Benin. A total number of twenty (20) respondents comprising of lecturers
from the departments of political science and economics, within the University of Benin were drawn from the population of the study using the purposive sampling technique which were used as the respondents for this study. Nineteen (19) out of the twenty distributed questionnaires were found valid and used for analysis. The research instrument for the study was a questionnaire titled: Primary Products Export and Underdevelopment in Nigeria: A Case Study of Crude Oil (PPEUN:ACSCO), which was distributed to the respondents and collected immediately after completion from respondents. The simple percentage and mean score was used in computing the responses of the questionnaire items. To account for the reliability of the study, the Pearson’s
Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used which gave a value of 0.79. At the end of the study, the researcher found amongst others that crude oil export significantly boosts Nigeria's economic growth and development, and over-reliance on crude oil exports does not hinder the diversification of Nigeria's economy and contribute to underdevelopment. It was recommended amongst others that Federal Government of Nigeria should prioritize diversification of its revenue sources beyond crude oil export and also promote sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and technology can reduce overreliance on oil revenues and create a more resilient economy and Government should encourage the growth of local industries and businesses within the oil sector in order to create jobs and retain more value within the Nigerian economy.

This study focuses on state failure, poor governance and restructuring; interrogating the trilogy in the Nigeria state, and ourresearch questions were formulated to guidethe study. The study employed a descriptive research design. The population for the study comprised of two hundred and thirt three thousand, three hundred and sisty six(3,233,366) from the three senatorialdistrict of Edo State. Random sampling techniques were used in the selection of respondents, the sample size was made up of one hundred (100) randomly selected respondents from Ovia North East Local Government Area in Edo state. The findings show that restructuring is a panacea to poor governance in Nigeria. It was observed that Election rigging is the major cause of poor governance in Nigeria. The study conclude that that contrary to some perceptions, it is not the system in this case federalism but the process of governance that has run into trouble in Nigeria since independence. It is not the system but the operators of the system that are the problem of the Nigerian state. Hence, building and strengthening institutions, accompanied with constitutional reforms are fundamental if state failure,bad governance and ultimately if agitation for restructuring is to be avoided. This work thus recommended that an extra constitutional political arrangement for power sharing and rotation of the supreme of ice of the state (Presidency) among the three major ethnic groups on someequitable basis for a transitional period of eight years so as to allay the fear of perceived, real or imagined marginalization by certain element of the Nigeria’s federating units

The human rights law, which evolved over the years has necessitated adrift in international law towards humanitarian intervention. Hence in the Post-Cold war era, increasing global consciousness of human rights relations has come to the front burner of the international community as never before. Therefore, the issue of intervention in another state for humanitarian protection purposes has been very contentious.Consequently, humanitarian intervention has been transformed accordingly. The doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is the aftermath of many years of diplomatic bargaining on how and under what situation or circumstances the international community can intervene in another sovereign state to protect the lives of citizens. The doctrine of R2P was advanced by Kofi Annan, the then UN Secretary General and propagated by states in the international community, NGO’s prominent individuals to address the issue of mass atrocity crimes occasioned by intrastate conflicts usually perpetuated by dictatorial governments. It emphasised the sanctity and the immunity of sovereign human rights, as well as the moral obligations of the international community to intervene in extreme cases of convulsions that boggled human existence, conscience and reasoning and consequently altered the general understanding of sovereignty by giving a novel redefinition of the concept as ‘responsibility to humanity’. Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine is a three major pillared consensus paper that was created and authorised at the New York World Summit meeting in 2005 by all member states of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to act as a structure, standardized operational framework, mechanism or guideline for preventing the occurrence or commitment of mass atrocity crimes by state leaders against their own people. The research problem under investigation is focused on the accomplishment of the application of the third pillar of R2P principles which is that “United Nations Security Council (UNSC) are legally permitted to use military force as a last resort to prevent atrocity crimes globally”. Unanimity was achieved for a forceful military intervention in Libya. Contrarily, fragmentations due to core national strategic interest of the permanent five UNSC members states has hampered the collective execution/implementation of the third pillar of R2P belief in Syria. Utilizing political realism, game theory and chicken game as a framework to operationalize the literature; the main aim of this qualitative and quantitative case study is to investigate the instrumentalities of R2P in enforcing peaceful resolution of crises in Syria since the civil war started in 2011. The research question of this study evaluated the enforcement of R2P third pillar principles in Libya and Syria since 2011-2024 to prevent atrocity crimes. This research study used both primary and secondary qualitative structure to source, collect, examine and analyse vital information on R2P principles. Descriptive coding design was used to code the data and similar words, phrases and philosophical values or perspectives were analysed and created into patterns and themes for a proper analysis. The research outcomes reveals that the complications and disparities of implementing the third pillar of R2P doctrines in Libya and its non-enforcement in Syria notwithstanding the humanitarian crisis particularly meted on the vulnerable civilian casualties and mass displacement of the population has resulted in the non-intervention in Syria to save the civilian populations and lack of will to implement international relations policy objectives between states to unanimously resolve crises in the UNSC floor which is a failure of the doctrine and what the future holds for R2P is now questionable. It is therefore recommended that there is need for the R2P doctrine to be fine-tuned and restructured and should in case the UNSC is hamstrunged to acts where action is required to perform its duties as in the case of Syria, imposition of arms embargo on major warring parties and actors as an alternative international bodies, groups or regional organisations shall be considered, accommodated and empowered enough to be effective to enforce the tenets of R2P third pillar in order to safeguard and protect
mass civilian population lives against mass atrocity crimes and for the overall maintenance of international peace and security according to the UN Charter.

This study examines the impact of political godfatherism on electoral outcomes in the 2024 Edo State gubernatorial election, focusing on how political godfathers influence voter behaviour, candidate selection, and the perceived credibility of the electoral process. Godfathers dominated candidate selection and party processes, weakening internal democracy, elite theory explains this as power concentrated in the hands of a few, while patron – client theory highlights the exchange relationship between godfathers and loyal supporters. The research adopts an empirical approach, utilizing structured questionnaires administered to 250 respondents across selected local government areas in Edo State (Egor local government, Esan west local government, Etsako west local government). Data were analyzed using empirical tools and
regression analysis to determine the extent of relationships between variables. The findings indicate that political godfathers continue to shape electoral dynamics by influencing voter turnout through endorsements, mobilization efforts, and strategic directives targeted at their loyalists

Social media has become a force in democratic ideals around the world, drastically changing how people communicate politically and engage in public discourse around the world. Scientific analysis has focused on the exponential rise in social media users over the years. There were 5.24 billion social media users globally at the start of the year 2025, with annualized growth of 4.1 per cent of new users. In July 2024, for instance, about 123 Nigerians (more than half of the population) are registered internet users, with about 84 per cent of internet traffic generated through mobile devices. Among the users, the youth dominate the demographic population of internet users. This study attempted to examine the impact of social media on youths’ political participation in the 2023 presidential election in the Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. Participation in politics remains pivotal in the sustenance of a nation’s democracy. The study utilized a structured questionnaire to draw data from a random sample of 400 respondents. A theory of Uses and Gratification was deployed to assess youths' motivation for social media use during the election. The findings showed that different forms of social media technologies were used by the youth to participate in the 2023 presidential elections in the Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, such as WhatsApp, TikTok. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Secondly, the findings showed that social media use facilitated the youth’s dissemination of political information in the 2023 presidential election in the Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State by enabling them to get and send information, campaign for their preferred candidate and debate with their social media users. The third finding showed that social media use influenced the youth’s choice of candidate in the 2023 presidential election in the Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State by helping them to choose their right candidate in the 2023 presidential election in the Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. The last finding revealed that different challenges were encountered by the youths while using the social media platforms. These include the government’s unnecessary social media censorship, high data tariff, persistent network glitches, epileptic power supply, fake news and cyber stalking and bullying. The study recommends a need for increased advocacy on the use of social media during elections; a need to address the menace of fake news, cyberbullying and stalking and false information using social media platforms; and a need for the Nigerian government to ensure that the youths’ fundamental rights of free speech and association are preserved.