CITIZENS DIS-ALIGNMENT WITH GOVERNMENT POLICIES: PANACEA TO NIGERIA UNDERDEVELOPMENT

This study visited the underdevelopment problems in Nigeria by examining citizens dis alignment with government policies. Dis-alignment is when the citizens are unsatisfied with the system thereby separating themselves from government activities and plans, which is largely due to lack of trust and suspicion. The study adopted the systems theory which emphasize understanding and interconnectedness of the components parts within a system, while recognizing the whole, which is greater than the parts. Thus, citizens dis alignment stern from the fact that Nigeria's underdevelopment is poor leadership governance which, has resulted in her weak economy, poor policy implementation, dilapidated infrastructural facilities, poor health service delivery and low-quality education etc. However, different researches on Nigeria's underdevelopment have argued that bad leadership is not the only obstacle to Nigeria's development, and that Nigeria's citizens have in one way or the other, also contributed to the country's underdevelopment. Relying on secondary data, the study embarked on extensive and in-depth review of relevant literatures on Nigeria's underdevelopment. The study concludes that citizens should align with the country’s developmental process as proposed by the government; citizens should hold the leaders accountable for their stewardship in the aspect of policy making and implementation; and that citizens should endeavour to participate in policy making, both at the proposal state to the output stages to aid even development.