DEMOCRACY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA’S FEDERAL SETTING

Democracy and development are two mutually inclusive concepts in the political science discipline. Both concepts emphasized individual decisions aimed at enhancing his living standards. The current democratic dispensation that started in 1999 in Nigeria suggested there would be instant outright development, but Nigeria is still lagging among the committee of democratic nations in terms of development. The paper relied on the documentary study and collected data from secondary documents such as textbooks, journals, Newspapers, and online resources. The data collected were analyzed descriptively to realize the objectives of the paper. The paper revealed that; despite Nigeria’s oil wealth and huge potential in all sectors, there is abundant evidence of the presence of endemic poverty in Nigeria. It is recommended that to achieve federal democracy and economic prosperity political leaders and followers should have a national consensus in pursuit of a devolved federal system and democratic practice