The concept of democratic dividend is a peculiar one among Nigerian politicians whereby political office holders believe that their call to service is occasioned by the need to garner as much of political goods to their electors as possible from the “national cake”. Therefore, there is a popular conception (or perhaps misconception) among the local people that democratically elected public officers are only relevant in as much as they can secure and “graciously” give more of these public goods to them in the respective constituencies for their immediate and long term enjoyments. In this article, Dr. Sanubi, using events at the 2007 state and federal elections as data framework, believes that more than just securing political goods such as roads, health care facilities and education, the awakening of the local people to a civic awareness and responsibility in a growing democracy in which the people are in the driving seat of the determination of political progress in their own state is a more enduring dividend of democracy.
