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There has been a lot of crises in Nigerian politics and Administration - a crisis of confidence in our elected officials, a lost of faith in our democratic government and an increasing frustration at government, and more also, an increasing frustration at the irrelevance of individual's vote in our political process. All these crises are crises caused by the unholy alliance of godfatherism (Ikejiani, 2006). This study is an appraisal of godfatherism in Nigerian politics and administration with reference to the problems which includes - creating a political process in which vested interest predominate, and the public interest is forgotten and influencing the outcome of public policies to the interest of few (godfathers) and to the detriment of the Nigerian populace. This study recommends that if godfatherism must be stamped out of our political and administrative systems, corruptive tendencies which increases the financial base of the godfathers by creating a wide range of problems in our politics and administration must be tackled head-on because they use such moneys to place their godsons and protégés in various positions of government. The study concluded that there is the need for an increased confidence in the duly elected officials and also increase faith in the democratization process. Electorates should be allowed to vote for their preferred candidates during elections without intimidation by political thugs who are part of the instruments of godfatherism
Introduction
In Nigeria today, the activities of godfathers have been on the increase and it is a very sad irony that a country like Nigeria through which trillions of petroleum dollars have passed since the 70' s have the most miserable infrastructures, medical services, educational system and standards. The worst are unemployment, deplorable roads and non-existent transportation system. The living standard of the average Nigerians does not reflect the oil wealth of the country. The country is quite below in the world's poverty marginal index because as at 2005, 70.8 percent of the population was estimated to be living below poverty line of $1 per day. (UN Human Development Report, 1990-2005).
The above-mentioned crises and the problems of confidence in our political system offer an opportunity for advocates of new ideas. The barriers to true democratic participation in the political process are serious, landscaping...