Abstract
Democracy has been critiqued severally in literature for its impact in sustaining development of countries that have adopted that system of government. This paper therefore analyses Nigeria's democratic experience as it relates to these vital development indices with a view to ascertaining the extent these indices have translated development since the country adopted democracy in 1999. Inverse relationship between Knowledge Economy Index (KEI), Human Development Index (HDI) and democratic governance were also found as the country has experienced weak KEI and low HDI over the years. Findings revealed a negative relationship between democratic governance and gender equality. The study recommends that programs to reduce poverty should target the poorest of the poor and government should strengthen anti-graft and law enforcement agencies as well as legal institutions to reduce corruption. The educational sector should be strengthened and sufficiently funded to improve KEI and HDI and conform to global best practice.
