The Impasse of Democracy and Human Rights Abuse in Nigeria (1999-2019)

Abstract
Despite adoption of democracy in Nigeria in 1999 and its constitutional provisions for human rights, there is still a colossal human rights violation in the country. Human rights in Nigerian democracy have been subjected to unabated violations by Nigerian government, security forces Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen. The study explored the impasse of democracy and human rights abuse in Nigeria and provided workable suggestions on how to confront the menace. The study provided feasible indicators of human rights abuses in Nigerian democracy in order to brace the claims in literature review. Documented evidence served as source of data while Pareto, Mosca and Michaels’ Elite Theory of state served as a framework for explication. The paper divulged that the syndrome inflicted on the Nigerian political system by the military dictatorship abounds and eats deep in the fabrics of Nigerian democracy. Corruption of the elite class and military involvement in Nigerian politics, therefore, formed the major problem to human rights and Nigerian democratic governance. Restructuring the Nigerian political system in order to do away with the bad eggs among the Nigerian elites becomes the way forward. More importantly, the reorganization of the Nigerian political system should be done in such a way that the military elites are denied access to political powers.
Key Words: Democracy, Human rights, Human rights abuse, Nigerian Democracy, Nigerian Governance.