Trust in Government: A Note from Nigeria

The relationship between trust in government and factors that accounts for Nigerians citizen trust in their government has been of interest due a dearth of literature on such issue. This study is an attempt to bridge the gap from a public policy perspective. One of the measures usually used in the literature to measure trust or distrust in government is perception of corruption, but there are other yardsticks with which to measure determinant of trust in government, such as economic performance or political participation. This study used a micro-level analysis of public opinion survey data (question by question) to ascertain empirical linkages of political trust within Nigeria. To this end, Afrobarometer survey Round Four conducted in 2008 was used for the analyses. Descriptive statistics provide background information on the sample, while multivariate logistic regression using SPSS were used to model the citizens’ trust for government in Nigeria. This study revealed that political trust or trust in governments in Nigeria stems from a number of factors. These are economy performance, media, interest in public affairs, religious membership, political participation, interpersonal trust, lack of basic needs, and management of corruption. Furthermore, the variables that influence trust in government the most are interpersonal trust and government management of corruption issue. Those that reported interpersonal trust also reported that they have trust for the government. While those that believe the governments are fighting or managing corruption nicely have a tendency to trust in the government. Although this study does not claim to provide all the answer on political trust or trust in governments in Nigeria, its attempt is to bridge gap in the literature on the topic and to assist future research in the area, as nothing exist on the topic as the moment. It is hope the subject will forms a basis upon which further analytical work on political trust in Nigeria can be carried out.