International Journal of Social Sciences & Economic Environment

ABSTRACT

A catalyst from biochemical and general scientific perspective refers to anything that accelerate or facilitate the accomplishment of a given process. It is imperative to state that science and technology education is actually a catalyst in the transformation of any nation. Infact, economic indices of development of countries are hinged on the level of their scientific and technological advancement. Democratic developments are not exceptions within this context also. Looking at Nigeria’s situation, we could say that our democratic evolution has undergone different metamorphosis over the past two decades. This paper therefore is an attempt to juxtapose the understanding of some vocabulary from pure science background of the authors to explain the democratic journey as a nation so far. The paper will examine the role played by science and technology literacy on the overall transformation of our democratic experience since the beginning of the fourth republic. Furthermore, the paper will also find a correlation between the different democratic dispensations the nation has passed through with a view to understanding the impact of communication and information technology as one of the scientific catalyst of our democratic development. The place of social media in youth sensitization and participation, introduction of innovations like card readers in the recent elections, involvement of different election monitoring mechanisms will be discussed briefly too. In conclusion, the paper will make an appraisal of the gains recorded and areas needing improvement.