Vol. 1, Issue 4, Part A (2015)

Abstract
Democracy is the most popular concept in the world today. Democracy has been seen as a perquisite for whatsoever assistance the developed countries and the international community would want to give to the third world countries whether loans etc. This has led to the process of democratic experiment in Nigeria. This paper examines democracy and democratic experiment using the Nigerian experience as a reference point. It also analyzes the challenges facing democracy and the process of democratic experiment in Nigeria, with historical analysis of First – Fourth Republic (1960-date). The study adopted the use of secondary data and historical analysis in data collection and analysis.rnHowever, it was discovered that ethnicity has been a major challenge to the Nigerian democracy and democratic experiment right from Nigeria’s First Republic 1960’s. The study however, made recommendations to the problem.