Armed Politics, Small Arms Control and Electoral Violence in Nigeria

Abstract

The article interrogates the impact of armed politics on small arms control and electoral violence in Nigeria. It conceptualises armed politics as a form of political and electoral competition where the deployment of violence and coercion is decisive in securing electoral victory. Based on secondary data collected through books, reports, journal and newspaper articles and interpreted using both thematic and content analysis, the argument is that Nigeria’s electoral democracy may aptly be described as characterised by armed politics since the process of political leadership emergence is mainly through the bullets and guns rather than the ballot. The paper makes three claims regarding how the logic of armed politics affects small-arms governance, control and political legitimacy. Firstly, the legitimacy of the electoral and democratic process is contested, and people’s influence on the actions of emergent political leaders is weak, resulting in continued dependence on armed actors for support and victory in elections. Secondly, political accountability to the people on the part of the ruling elites, including accountability in issues of small arms control, is generally weak and lacking. Lastly, emerging through bullets and guns adds further twists to the democratic process of controlling weapons in post-electoral victory and leadership with implications for the proliferation of small arms in Nigeria.