Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi

As an institution of governance, the parliament is the soul of democratic societies. The parliament typifies the presence of the people in the running of governmental activity. It monitors the actions of public officials towards ensuring adherence to initiatives and measures that advance the people's well-being. Relations between parliamentarians and citizens are, thus, critical on two fronts. Parliament – citizen relations are important in ensuring that elected parliamentarians are responsive to the desires of their constituents; and enable the people to hold their elected representatives accountable. In bridging communication gaps between the people and lawmakers, the Internet, social media and mobile phones, as digital technologies, have prospects in enabling the desired level of citizen engagement critical to democratic practice. This chapter explores, in comparative terms, the use of digital technologies by the national parliaments in Africa's two largest economies, Nigeria and South Africa. It examines the extent to which digital technologies are used in facilitating parliament – citizen relations in the two countries and how this connects with citizens' demands of accountability on national parliaments, and links between elected representatives and their constituents. The paper draws on data obtained through measurement of the online resources, especially websites and social media pages, of the parliaments. The chapter contributes to frameworks on how digital technologies can enhance parliament – citizen relations and good governance in sub-Saharan Africa.

The police are expected to perform functions critical to relations between the government and citizens in democratic societies. However, in Nigeria, the reality is that the police organisation suffers limitations that undermine effective and democratic policing. Although the Nigeria Police Force has a long and chequered history, its services are dogged by challenges including adversarial police–citizen relations and mutual suspicion and police misconduct. To address these problems and enhance policing, the Nigeria Police Force has deployed digital technologies through a Complaint Response Unit [later renamed the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU)]. The PCRRU allows the public to connect with the police through dedicated phone numbers for calls and SMS, and a round-the-clock presence on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Blackberry Messenger and a mobile application. Although this initiative often draws attention and commendation, it also raises doubts about sustenance and utility value. Drawing on David Easton’s input–output nexus as a theoretical underpinning on the one hand, and data sourced through expert opinion interviews and web measurement on the other hand, this article investigates how these digital policing technologies, through the PCRRU, enhance efforts at mutually rewarding police–citizen relations and police accountability, as requisites of democratic policing, in Nigeria. The findings expand discussion on the dimensions of Nigeria’s police–citizen relations and the potentials of technology in promoting positive outcomes. The findings also suggest means through which police managers can optimise technology in ways that aid strategic efforts at improving public security.

ABSTRACTThe provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which recognises the existence of a single police force and forbids parallel police organisations, have oftentimes generated controversies among actors in the Nigerian federal polity. Rising insecurity precipitates lingering questions on the utility and adequacy of a single, highly centralised and centrally controlled police force given Nigeria’s geographic vastness and demographic diversity. Conversely, arguments have also dwelt on the dangers of fragmentation considering Nigeria’s psychosocial, economic and political nature. This article attempts to balance these arguments by analysing policing and the operations of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) through the lens of the subsidiarity principle. Subsidiarity is a governance principle in federations, captured in the founding documents of the European Union (EU), which prescribes that governmental powers, authorities and duties should be held by the tier that can best perform them equitably, efficiently, effectively, suitably and based on interest and need. Drawing largely on interviews with purposively selected police scholars, political actors, civil society organisations and police personnel, the paper contends that this principle offers a pragmatic solution to the perennial problems of intergovernmental frictions on the use of the police within the context of governance in the Nigerian federation.