COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FOR BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE AND CITIZENS’ PERCEPTION OF THE GOVERNMENT’S POLICY ON SUBSIDY REMOVAL

This study identifies communication strategies for behavioral change and citizens’ perception of government policies on subsidy removal. The objectives of the study were among others, to ascertain the effects of subsidy removal on the masses. Theoretical framework of the study is drawn from the perception theory. Using a cross–sectional survey design, data were collected from a diverse population in Port Harcourt Township. The findings reveal that the removal of fuel subsidy has increased the cost of living, hike in transportation and other essential commodities. As a result, prices of industrial and consumable goods have now sky-rocketed beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians. Despondency and lack of trust in government’s clear policy directions seem murky. The study recommends that government should have sensitized the masses on the economic gains of the subsidy removal and, the ‘temporary’ hardships that would be experienced by the citizenry. Thus, the government ought to have relied on critical stakeholders, civil society organizations and opinion leaders and so forth, to provide vital information on the alternative sources of energy that is cheap, affordable and reliable to cushion its hash economic effects on the citizens.