Proceedings of the National Assembly of the Social Science Assembly of Nigeria, 2020
DOI: 10.36108/ssan/ConfPro/0202.02
The Role of Faith-Based Organisations in Combating Money Politics and Sustenance of Democracy in Nigeria
Nasiru, Anas
Department of Sociology, Gombe State University
And
Ali, Jamila
Department of Political Science, Gombe State University
Abstract
Faith-based organisations are important in Nigerian politics both because of its large population and religious diversity. Christianity, Islamic and African traditional religion are intertwined with political activities in the country. The political office holders and politicians use money to buy votes and this becomes obvious during campaigns and voting processes. The use of money which started immediately after independence has become prominent since the return of the democracy in 1999. It has negatively influenced the electorate voting for the candidates who offer large sums of money. This has led to election incompetent candidates into the political offices and resulted in the poor performance of the political office holders thereby impeding the sustainability of the democracy national development. This paper is based on the roles faith-based organisations can play in addressing the challenge. It commences with historical development of faith-based organisations and discusses the role of faith-based organisations can play combating money politics.
Keywords: Faith-based organisations, Money Politics, Sustainable Democracy and National Development.