Elite Political Culture-A Link to Political Violence: Evidence from Nigeria

This article examines the prevalence of organized political violence in Nigeria and in the process explores its causative and sustaining factors. Literature on the discourse of organized political violence in Nigeria is robust in its analyses. This article proposes that the emergence and sustenance of organized political violence in Nigeria is a direct result of elite political culture in Nigeria. A qualitative approach was used in sourcing and analyzing evidence from the field and historical records to examine key arguments that support this assertion. It was discovered that the political environment of Nigeria has defined elite political culture to be largely grounded on zero sum politics, politicization of violent and nonviolent conflicts, and identity politics. These observations underscore elite political culture as a consistent phenomenon in the development and sustenance of organized political violence in the State. This article serves as a framework for the examination of identified elements of elite political culture that foster the emergence and sustenance of organized political violence in Nigeria.