Albert, Isaac Olawale1994-07-131994-07-131994-07-13http://hdl.handle.net/10539/7557Paper prepared for presentation at the Triennial History Workshop on Democracy: Popular Precedents, Popular Practice and Popular Culture", University or the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, July 13-16. 1994. *An earlier version or this paper was read at the Seventh Economic and Social Research in Africa (OODESHIA), Dakar 10-14 February, 1992.It is the boast of historical materialism that the present is best understood in light of what has taken place in the past. The future too is a product of what happened in the past and happens now. The political sytems of the pre-colonial kingdoms is considered and how democratic they were. Were the colonial masters truely democrats when they introduced Western democracy? This paper explains some contemporary problems of democrcy in Nigeria in the light of Nigeria's pre-colonial and colonial past. Traditional respect for authority reinforced by colonial authoritarianism has made it difficult to establish democracy here.enNigeriaPre-colonial NigeriaColonial NigeriaDemocracy NigeriaBritish colonial policy NigeriaColonies, administration Great BritainWorking Paper