The Critical Role of Citizens in Nigeria's Failed Development
Keywords:
Citizenship, Leadership, Development, Failed Development, Third World CountriesAbstract
This paper revisited the developmental problems in Nigeria by examining the role of citizens in the country's failed development. Relying on secondary data, the paper embarked on extensive and in-depth review of relevant literatures on Nigeria's developmental problems. It adopted the modernization theory and observed that the major cause of Nigeria's underdevelopment is poor leadership and governance which has resulted in weak economy, poor institutions, dilapidated infrastructural facilities and low quality education. However, unlike previous researches on Nigeria's underdevelopment, the paper argues that bad leadership is not the only obstacle to Nigeria's development that Nigeria's citizens have, in one way or the other, also contributed to the country's developmental failures. It concludes that without the citizens being patriotic to the country; without the citizens holding the leaders accountable for their stewardship and, without the citizens showing genuine interest in the country's development, Nigeria may remain underdeveloped. Accordingly, it identifified, among other things, the need for a change in citizens' orientation and the need for citizens to participate in policy making, both at the input and output stages.
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