Party Politics and Democratic Practices: The Bane of Under-Development in Nigeria

This study takes a look at the activities of political parties in a democratic system and how it affects the Nigeria state of under-development in the fourth Republic. The paper takes cognizance, of parties and democratic roles in the development of the developed Democracies; on the other hand, most developing societies like Nigeria are not so lucky in charting this trajectory, rather, the advent of the new wave of Democratic experience which is decorated with multi-party configuration that emerged in 1999, has done infinitesimally, in its quest of charting the path of progress for the people. These assertions are better explained through some factors that are prominent within the political space at the period, these includes; the inability of the system to effectively integrate the ethno-cultural divide in the state, the failure of the system to enhance the living standard of the people, also, the absence of good governance play a prominent role in this regard, the inability of the political parties to encourage participation is another key factor and the consistent failure of the political leadership to perform its core webberian functions of securing lives and property as well as engendering an enabling environment that is devoid of crisis. The paper depends heavily on qualitative materials which are carefully analysed. The sustainable development theory is deployed for the study as it better x-ray the nitty-gritty of the paper. Finally, the study proffers some salient recommendations which includes; the need for political parties to be structured in a way as to integrate the divergent forces in the system, the political leadership must vigorously pursue policies that would enhance the peoples living standards, political participation must be encouraged at all levels and the issues of insecurity must be tackled and given its pride of place in the scheme of things in the system.