A Quantitative Analysis of the Health, Education and Security Perspectives of Election-Related Violence in Nigeria

Abstract

Election Related Violence (ERV) constitutes one of the major challenges facing democracies around the world and is mostly common among developing countries with young democracies, these countries are often left with debilitating effects from ERV. While there are many dimensions of ERV, this quantitative study explores the health, education and security perspectives of ERV. A total of 500 questionnaires were administered and 287 questionnaires were received, female participants constituted the minority (32%) while participants within the age bracket of 31-40 made up over a third (38%) of the respondents, furthermore, majority (38%) of the respondents possessed a Bachelor’s degree while a strong majority of the respondents (76%) were senior civil servants between the grade levels of seven to fourteen. Over a third (40%) of the respondents agreed that various types of trauma were the most common health challenges of those who experienced ERV. Another majority (60%) of the respondents believe that the absence of viable political education among the masses was largely responsible for ERV. Over a third (40%) of the respondents opined that the security lapses from security agents was one of the key factors responsible for ERV. The results drawn from the study indicated that ERV in Nigeria may have been amplified by poor voter education among the masses and shortfalls in the provision of adequate security structure employed for the purpose of the peaceful conduct of elections, the study also showed that there was a dearth of adequate health policies that would have helped address the attendant health related aftereffects of ERV. This study provides insights on the health, education and security perspectives of ERV. This could help in creating a deeper understanding of the ERV phenomenon as well as the development of strategies and policies that could lead to the effective control of ERV in areas where it is prevalent.