Reinventing Democracy in a Postcolonial State: E-Democracy and the National Assembly in Nigeria

ABSTRACT
This study adopts the concept of reinventing democracy to refocus attention on the theoretical
framework of postcoloniality (in the humanities and social sciences). The study further highlights the
eminent position of e-democracy in the current formations for moving contemporary society forward.
In examining these issues, a case-study of the National Assembly in Nigeria has been made. We found
that in this country, there seems to exist a sacrosanct brand of legislative institutionalism, which
contradicts the current global revolution in information and communications technology (ICT). In the
process, some level of immobility is introduced to critically desired service delivery in the country and
attempts are made by the people‟s representatives (of all people) to turn the nation into a colony of
mere patriotic listeners. The study concludes that the postcolony must not convert to such a society of
the underclass. A complementary concept of e-democracy is e-government. Further embedded in egovernment are the dual components of e-readiness and e-participation. We found that this nation‟s
National Assembly appears to be deficient in e-readiness. The legislative body seems distrusful of eparticipation. The study finally recommends that the rights of the citizens under e-democracy must be
safeguarded by the central lawmakers, as it would guarantee the crucially expected reinvention of
democracy, in such democracy-needy nation-states.

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WSN 36 (2016) 138-152