There is no doubt that a free and fair election is a sine qua non for electoral democracy, but not every election fulfils these criteria. Against this premise this paper attempts to explore theoretical postulations vis-à-vis elections. With brief introductory remarks emphasising the importance of elections to democratic sustenance and consolidation, the paper proceeds to examine the democratic utility of elections in all regions and climes and the misconception that elections held regularly are an end in themselves and not a means to an end. The third section dwells on the necessary prerequisites for the conduct of a free and fair election, thereby bringing out the peculiar existential reality of African politics. The paper infers that democratic sustenance via elections may not be easily attainable until African politicians become democrats themselves. This is not unconnected with the fact that no polity can nurture democracy until democrats evolve.

This paper examined inadequate library services as a challenge to 21st century education in a developing economy. The paper portrayed the library as a collection of books and other information materials in various formats, properly arranged for the promotion of human knowledge, stressing that the 21st century library, with the integration of ICT and as a custodian of both books and non-book materials in diverse formats, is expected to have quantum of information available to users at all times, in order to promote constructive education. The paper takes the position that for Nigeria’s educational system to impact the knowledge and skills desired for development that endures, adequate library services must be provided at all levels of education. The paper reviewed that most libraries in Nigeria are plagued with outdated materials and lack the required facilities and resources to satisfy users’ needs, which result in inadequate library services, poor academic performance in entrance examinations, and poor reading culture which negatively affects educational development. This paper presents the absence of technological literacy, inadequate workforce, scarcity of sufficient resources, poor funding and power outage as causes of inadequate library services. The paper therefore recommends that the library staff should be trained and retrained to initiate and manage technological tools. The library should be stocked with required materials. Inter-library services should be upheld and an alternative means of power should be provided to avoid power interruption and its associated consequences on library services for the proper functioning of 21st century education.

Undoubtedly, the events of the 2007 general elections coupled with the verdict of both local and international observers clearly demonstrated that the entire electoral process was controversial, thereby making the election flawed. The concomitant effect is a crisis of political succession, which has always been the bane of Nigeria's march to democracy. Thus, the thrust of this paper is an in depth analysis of the elections vis-à-vis political succession. After an introductory overview the paper proceeds to a conceptualisation of political succession, which forms its theoretical framework. Part three dwells on the flawed elections, discussing what went wrong. The final section calls for the restructuring of Nigeria's electoral system and recommends a number of remedies. The paper, however, infers that without a credible election sustainable democracy in Nigeria may become a mirage after all.

No abstract