THE SCHEME OF LEADERSHIP AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: THE TWO SIDES OF A COIN

Abstract

In the popular consciousness of mankind, leadership has been one of the seminal phenomenon which has captured the concern of the citizens of the world. It is one of the most observed, practiced and thought provoking, yet the least understood. It exists in all societies both human and animals, even though in plants one cannot incisively identify this phenomenon.  Leadership  is seen as the capacity to influence,  inspire, rally ,direct, encourage, motivate , induce, mobilize  and activate others to pursue a common goal while maintaining commitment, momentum, confidence and courage. Therefore, leaders in any group refine, reflect , reconstruct acceptable and agreeable standards of development. But in Nigeria, it is obvious that  poor leadership is the major problem of development .  So, the major argument  of this paper is that for any meaningful development to take place in any nation , it requires a functional leadership. This implies that the quality of leadership in any nation determines the level of national development in that nation. Hence, what we require today are leaders with visions and missions who will move this country along the envisaged path of progress and embrace the challenges of modernization and globalization. Also, politicians who are pandering to ethnic interests should be rejected at the polling booth while hard work, good skills and intelligence should be rewarded strictly on merits, without regard to ethnicity and religion. This is an option that could lead the nation to a stable development and greatness. Furthermore, for leadership to take its due place in Nigeria, our conception of leadership must move from rhetoric to application of correct values.