Neoliberal consensus and Nigerian party politics

Abstract

This paper examines the role and significance of ideology for party politics in twenty-first century neoliberal Nigeria. The question it sets out to answer is: Has the market economy’s dominance led to the convergence of conservative and progressive/liberal ideologies in twenty-first century Nigerian political party contests? The importance of ideology for party politics in Nigeria seems to have declined with the market economy’s dominance over other systems. The deployment of neoliberalism as an ideology in the last three decades through common-sense rhetoric about the goodness of the free market, aided by international lending institutions, has led to a dilution of individual party ideologies.