THE IMPACT OF NIGERIAN ELITES ON POLICY PROCESS: AN APPRAISAL OF THIS NEW MINIMUM WAGE

Unfolding events in the Nigerian political strata tend to suggest that the governing elite class both at the federal and state levels have soon neglected if not forgotten about the plights of the vast majority of the Nigerian masses who ironically voted them during the recent 2011 general elections. The nonchalant attitude of the Nigerian leaders towards people oriented policies like the new minimum wage at this material point in time, one can say is least expected of them. After employing the assumptions of the elite theory as the basis of analysis, this study submits that their attitudes are not farfetched from the protection of the corporate self interests of the few ruling minority as against the views of the general populace, a conspicuous feature of an elitist state which needs to be urgently tamed if Nigeria ever wants to witness any meaningful socio-economic and political emancipation, liberation and development of her citizens through viable policy decisions.