Leadership Crisis And Its Implication On National Development

Leadership Crisis And Its Implication On National Development

Chapiter 1

Introduction

1.1 The Study’s Background

Leadership, crisis, governance, nation-building, and development administration all interact in a complex and interdependent way. This is true because the context of leadership, both theoretically and practically, has an effect on how governance is carried out at the global and national levels. Leadership, according to Warren Bennis, a renowned expert on the subject, is “like beauty: it’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.” That is the furthest thing from the truth.

The public sector in Nigeria has evolved into the very definition of dishonesty, fraud, and egotism. Self-egoism is favoured over national interest, and the impasse has been made worse by widespread leadership crises at all levels of decision-making. The act of exercising authority or influence within social collectivities, such as groups, organizations, communities, or nations, is known as leadership. Leadership is a pattern of conduct that involves influencing a big group of people to organize or focus their efforts on achieving specific objectives. As a way of thinking, leadership describes the personality attributes that give a person the power to influence others. Thus, charisma, which is the personal allure or ability to lead, is connected with leadership.

Bad leadership can have unintended consequences such as consolidating power, which can result in corruption and tyranny, which is why democratic societies demand that leadership be subject to accountability checks. It can also foster a climate of subservience and difference, which may deter people from participating in matters that affect them and, as a result, discourage them from taking ownership of their own actions. The Health Minister and her deputy were questioned by the EFCC for stealing over N30 million from the Ministry of Health’s unspent monies from the previous year, and the EFCC also questioned a former female senator from Ogun State for collecting $100,000 stolen from the Ministry of Health. The oil subsidy and the police pension scam are the most recent examples of blatant corruption that can be linked to the leadership in Nigeria’s attitude of carelessness (Ayodele & Olu-Adeyemi, 2015).

The difficulty of a leadership crisis has been exacerbated by issues like the difficulty in identifying a national leader, corruption and mismanagement, a lack of proper accountability on the part of Nigerian leaders, religious crisis, ethnicity, socio-economic inequality, terrorism, threat of secession by ethnic groups, and a corrupted process for hiring leaders, among other things. Because of the combined impact of all these elements, Nigeria is partially responsible for its tendency to stagnate or even regress rather than advance, making stability, true nation-building, and development elusive for the Nigerian people as a whole. As a result, this research’s foundational assumption is that the leadership crisis has significant implications for nation-building.

Situation Of The Problem

Nigeria has a long history of democratic experimentation, but it has never succeeded. The primary structural barrier to the actualization of democratic leadership in Nigeria was the authoritarian role played by an institutionalized oligarchy group of individuals.

Nigeria, according to Adefarasin (2015), is endowed with both natural and human resources, but it is clear that political and economic independence have not kept pace with one another. Nigeria has steadfastly refused to advance and join the Community of Nations due to ineffective leadership. It is encouraging to observe that the bulk of the Nigerian leaders to emerge since independence have demonstrated inadequate leadership qualities, which results in insufficient or no growth at the end of their terms. The leaders don’t care about our nation’s progress because lawlessness, poor governance, mediocrity, and weak democratic values have taken hold and are direct threats to democracy, economic justice, and law and order. He continued by saying that despite Nigeria’s abundant resources and enormous potential, the country is still underdeveloped, embellished with extreme poverty, unemployment, and terrorism, as well as the persistent problems of favoritism and ethnicity in resource distribution. According to Agboola T. Olumuyiwa, Lamidi K., and Shiyanbade (2017), the majority of Nigerian leaders have abused their power to siphon off financial resources, a process that frequently involved mass destitution of the “subjects” and a strengthening of their reliance on the patrimonial favors of the “ruler”. Since stagnant endemic issues have eaten away at the chains of nation building, only strong leadership can provide integrative direction and action.However, it is in response to these persistent issues that this study is geared toward looking at Leadership crisis and its impact on nation-building.

1.3 STUDY’S OBJECTIVE

This study’s major objective is to analyze leadership crises and how it affects nation-building. In particular, it aims to investigate the character of leadership in the Buhari-led administration. It will look at the causes of the leadership crisis in the Fourth Republic of Nigeria. It will include recommendations for steps that can be made to end the threat of bad leadership in Nigeria.

1.4 Research Problem

The study will be guided by the following research question:

1. Is Nigeria’s leadership style detrimental to the country’s development?

2. Does ineffective leadership by the leaders impede nation-building progress?

3. To what extent has the Buhari-led administration experienced a leadership crisis?

4. What steps may be implemented to stop the threat of Nigeria’s leadership crisis?

1.5 Relationship To Other Studies

Politicians, policymakers, and statesmen will find this study to be valuable. It will highlight the contributing reasons to leadership crises as well as potential remedies. As everyone is equal before the law, this study will give information on the scope of corrupt leader instances, enabling law enforcement agencies to continue going after those responsible and bringing them to justice. It will raise awareness of the obstacles to fostering a strong nation and national growth. As this affects how far our country may expand and how to increase their efficiency, the government and leaders will recognize the necessity to adequately equip themselves and represent better through quality leadership. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge, serve as a resource for students learning about leadership crises and their effects on nation-building, and act as a manual for future researchers who might be interested in leadership research.

1.6 The Study’s Scope

This study’s focus is on leadership crises and how it affects nation-building. It will look into the causes of Nigeria’s current leadership dilemma. It will include recommendations for steps that can be made to end the threat of bad leadership in Nigeria. The study is only focused on the fourth republic’s leadership dilemma, namely the Buhari-led administration.

Limitations of the research

1.7 Study Limitation

Financial restraint: A researcher’s ability to collect data (through the internet, a questionnaire, and interviews) and locate relevant materials, literature, or information is often hindered by a lack of funding.

Time restraint: The researcher will do this investigation together with other academic activities at the same time. As a result, less time will be spent on the research project.

However, despite the aforementioned restrictions, the researcher devotedly worked to make sure that the study’s goal was achieved.

1.8 Term Definition

Leadership is a dynamic process at work in a group where one person over a specific period of time and in a specific organizational setting persuades the other group members to freely devote themselves to the accomplishment of collective tasks or goals.

When a complex system (such as the family, economy, society, or political system) is in a crisis and not functioning well, an immediate choice must be made. A crisis is an uncertain or important moment in time or a situation in which a significant change is about to occur.

Building relationships between the state and society as well as implementing external interventions are all parts of nation-building. Nation-building, also known as “Nation formation,” is the general process by which nations are created. It involves creating or shaping a national identity through the authority of the state. Nationbuilding strives to bring the people together within the state so that it can stay long-term politically stable and viable.

The ability of a country or countries to improve the social welfare of the populace, namely by providing social amenities like high-quality education, power, housing, pipe-borne water, and others, is referred to as national development. Economic development, sociocultural empowerment, and development, as well as their effects on human development, are all aspects of national development.