Vol. 2, No 1, 2017 13 MORALITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA: SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM AS A PANACEA By DAVID BABATUNDE AKINOLA (Ph. D) DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA, 08055511307, davidakinola77@gmail.com & FAVOUR GLADYS AKINOLA SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED, GWAGWALADA, FCT. 08055521336, favourakinola2016@gmail.com Abstract Since independence in Nigeria, attempts to entrench democratic rule have been truncated prematurely over the years. The reasons are not far-fetched. For instance, the attitudes of the political class are often devoid of basic moral principles which are pivotal for democracy to flower. Moral principle is inevitable for our present nascent democracy to thrive as it is in advanced democracies of the world. In this paper, attempt was made to explain some basic concepts like morality, sustainable democracy and social studies curriculum. The paper also discusses historical perspectives of democratic issues in the country, the place of Social Studies in developing morals for sustainable democracy and the problems confronting social studies education in inculcating the expected morals for preserving our democracy. The paper recommended among others that moral sanctity should be one of the indispensable qualifications in electing future leaders. Introduction Democracy has almost become a household name in Nigeria but it is very clear that our understanding of the concept is very shallow. Democracy is rule by consent- the people’s choice. This is why according to Ogunkunle (2007), a military government, no matter its popularity and achievement cannot be a democracy. He argues further that a civilian government cannot claim to be a democracy unless it is produced truly as the choice of people. Unarguably, the most fundamental precept of democracy according to Odunze (2016) is the freedom of citizens to elect their leaders. He subsumes that when this is denied, any nation that truly aspires to practice democracy must, as a matter of urgency, revisit its values to make sure that it is in line with the dictates of democracy. In other words, without these values and conditions, the dream of free and fair elections will remain a distant illusion. We can begin to ask ourselves whether our current values and the behaviour of the political class promote sustainable democracy. If not, what is the necessity of morality in value re- orientation? Morality is an important tool for a sustainable democracy. Oladeji in Adedigba and Aderibigbe (2007) agrees that morality dimensions cannot be a missing link in our public