Garrison Democracy in Nigeria's Political Experimentation and the future of its democracy: Irene Salami Agunloye’s Sweet Revenge as a Paradigm
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Date
2024-12
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Department of Theatre and Film Studies, River Satte University, Portharcout, River State, Nigeria.
Abstract
This paper examined Garrison Democracy in Nigeria's political experimentation and the future of its democracy, using Irene Salami-Agunloye's Sweet Revenge as a Paradigm. With the use of descriptive methodology and the realist theory of conflict as framework, the study found that Nigeria's democratic practice in this fourth republic is, among others, characterized by abuse of power exercised by the governments and its political office holders. This includes brutality, use of excessive force and sometimes killing of innocent citizens who agitate for the enforcement of their rights. It is also discovered that this development could discourage the citizens from active political participation as they may not see any discernible difference between the practices of the past military governments, which they rejected and the democratic politics which they agitated for. This kind of democracy still has the imprint of the military and is, therefore, seen as garrison democracy. The study concludes that this type of democracy poses a serious threat to the development of Nigeria's democracy as violence and force are inconsistent with democratic principles. For this reason, the study recommended that the political elite should eschew garrison democracy and more dramatic creativities that lampoon and castigate sordid acts in political practice are needed now, more than ever before. Nigerian dramatists are, therefore, encouraged to publish more works that strive to correct political excesses.
Description
This article examined the deplorable attitude of the political elite which employs excessive force to make citizens dance to their tunes, even in a democracy, and condemns it as smacking of "garrisonism" of the military era.
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Citation
Agboola, M.O. (2024). Garisson democracy in Nigeria’s political experimentation and the future of its democracy: Irene Salami Agunloye’s Sweet Revenge as a Paradigm. RSU Journal of Theatre and Film Studies, vol.4: 150-163. Portharcout, Nigeria: Department of Theatre and Film Studies, River State University.