NIGERIA'S DEMOCRATIC DILEMMA: POLITICAL ECONOMY AND THE RISE OF CRITICAL CITIZENRY

This research work is situated at the evidence that a vast percentage of Nigerians resent political participation, abandoning the political process entirely to the political elites, their social and business backers. The situation sees the continual erosion of the social contract and to be apt democratic deficit. To this extent, leadership descends to self-service, policy clueless, corrupt, and developmentally deficient; in fact a social burden. Nonetheless, the bye product of the critical exercise of citizenship is nothing but good governance; therefore it is of moment to infuse a new paradigm into Nigerian political perception – equating both followership and leadership on equal pedestal on Nigerian polity; deficit which equals ‘de-development’. However, toeing the line of political democracy and its classicalist implications, the continuous renewal of the social contract is just but necessary by all citizenry and in all strata of the society, through active participation. ‘Democratic intermediates’ – civil society, political parties, and religious organizations as well as academic institutions should fine-tune themselves playing the significant role of mobilization towards political transformation vis-a-vis development