Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T17:07:26.549Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

21 - Reformist Option: Grassroots and Political Activism

from Part V - Reforms and Revolutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2021

Toyin Falola
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin
Get access

Summary

“Reformist Option: Grassroots and Political Activism” situates grassroots or community power as the locus of the democratic essence. Through these parts, it engages the narrative of Nigeria focusing on the existing grassroots structures and their formation; it suggests how grassroots efforts can work in a global comparative context while identifying possible ways to move the country forward as it is a mobilizing tool operating from a bottom-up approach, rather than a top-down one, to implement policies, effect change, and drive development. A combination of poor education, repression from the military years, and the unconscious perception that politicians are untouchable prevent the people from revolting against poor governance. These, coupled with factors like corruption, ambiguous division of power, citizen apathy, and political patronage systems have turned the beneficial concept of grassroots governance on its head, and benefits to the citizens are severely limited. However, through participative governance, the citizenry can be empowered and re-energized to make active commitments and contributions toward achieving collective growth and sustainable development. This active political engagement helps to emphatically reject poor governance, which would allow disciplined and visionary leaders, and an active and involved populace, to work together for relevant socioeconomic projects that improve the country's indices in all sectors and improve the welfare of its citizens.

Type
Chapter
Information
Understanding Modern Nigeria
Ethnicity, Democracy, and Development
, pp. 510 - 538
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×