Includes references (79 -84 p.)

'ABSTRACT In other to measure if a country is progressing or not, the major predictor used as a yardstick is how developed the country is, or at what pace that particular country is developing. This work is of a particular reference to Nigeria on the abysmal relationship with Britain, despite the abundance of man and material resources in Nigeria, she still suffers hardship, instability, and poverty. The natural resources the country is endowed with are being enjoyed by a relative few, while the majority are placed in the cold hands of hunger and squalor. Religious and ethnic upheavals become regular scenes in Nigeria, whereas the almighty corruption keeps eating deep into the fabrics and bone marrows of every average Nigerian day in day out. The objective of this study therefore, is to diagnose the variables that account for all these. To ascertain the extent, the existing unequal relationship between Nigeria and her colonial master Britain, led to underdevelopment hence all these vices, and probably prophecy that development and underdevelopment are two sides of a coin. Data collection for the work was done through a qualitative research method; the findings also point accusing fingers at the British for being responsible for all these through several ways. The lopsided political structure bequeathed to Nigeria by Britain, and the unequal relationship therefrom was intended to make underdevelopment, corruption, and instability regular features of the polity so that they will continue to enjoy undue access to the resources of Nigeria. Keywords: Underdevelopment, Inequality, Corruption, Colonization, Periphery, Core'