The study examined universities students’ perception and attitude to patriotism in Nigeria with the deteriorating economy. Three research questions were raised in the study. Survey design was adopted for this study. The population for this study comprised all public universities students in Nigeria. The sample for this study was 1000 respondents from three universities namely Delta State University, Abraka, University of Benin and University of Port-Harcourt. At the first stage, stratified random sampling method was used to select 1000 undergraduate students to participate in the study. Secondly simple random sampling technique (balloting) was used to select three universities. The instrument used for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire titled “Students Perception and Attitude to Patriotism Questionnaire (SPAPQ). The instrument is divided into part A and B. Part A is concerned with personal information about the respondents. Part B solicits responses on all the research questions. Each item was anchored on a four rating scale of: Strongly Agree (SA), Agreed (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD) with a corresponding nominal value of 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. The instrument was administered by the researcher and two research assistants who are familiar with the study area. 1000 copies of questionnaire were administered and were all retrieved and used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics of simple percentage, mean score and standard deviation was used to answer research questions. From the study, it is concluded that the deteriorating economy’s impact on students’ perception and attitudes towards patriotism as a result decreased national pride, increased cynicism and disillusionment, growing sense of hopelessness, reduced trust in government and institutions and increased desire for emigration. However, because of the deteriorating economy, students feel that being patriotic is a waste of time. They see patriotism as outdated or irrelevant. It therefore recommended that the government and policy-makers should revitalize economic activities and job creation. Improved governance and accountability etc.
Keywords: Nigeria, Patriotism, Perception, attitude, deteriorating economy
