EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP, A PANACEA FOR RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
Abstract
Rural development has remained a burning issue in development effort, and may remain so for the simple reason that overwhelming majority of the people live in the rural community. Rural communities have unique features, as well as ideals, values and resources that make them very important in both political and economic development of Nigeria. Unfortunately, most rural communities are in trouble today. Issues and forces facing them are enormous and more specifically is the issue of underdevelopment and neglect by relevant authorities. This paper posits that effective leadership is a catalyst through which positive transformation can occur. The paper argues that there is a nexus between effective leadership and rural community development. It identifies lack of dedicated and committed leadership, lack of leaders with requisite qualification, communal conflicts and violent crimes, corruption, bad policies and lack of political will as the bane or barrier to both rural community and national development. The paper therefore recommends that there is need to train and retrain local leaders and overhaul the process of selecting or electing leaders in the Country. Agencies of government should be strengthened with relevant laws to check activities of leaders. Finally, bad leadership could be resolved through conscious efforts of both the government and the governed.
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