LEADERSHIP, GOVERNANCE AND NATION BUILDING IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Since independence, Nigeria has suffered many and different forms of bad leadership and governance. This invariably has had its toll on the nation building process of the country as bad leadership and governance are synonymous with low development and disunity, especially when considering the dissatisfaction that arises from the different quarters of the country shaking the country’s foundation and threatening the unity of the country and disrupting real development and progress in the body polity. There are extant scholarly works on leadership, governance and nation building in Nigeria. However, it appears that the existing works have not been able to raise a louder alarm and raise a red flag against the prevailing corrupt and bad status quo in the political arena of the country which has worked against the nation building effort of the country. This paper intends to raise such alarm while warning the political leaders against impending revolution by patiently giving an account of leadership in Nigeria and the flaws of the Nigerian political leaders as they have had implications on the nation building process of the country. The paper makes use of historical methodology by analyzing data and information derived majorly from secondary sources such as books, journal articles, chapters in books, internet sources, etc. The paper has found out that many factors are responsible for good or bad governance and leadership in Nigeria which in turn have implications on the nation building process of the country. In all the paper has revealed that for there to be good and true governance and leadership in Nigeria that would affect nation building process positively, true and purposeful leaders must emerge to replace the bad ones that have existed over the years, and selfless and personal sacrifice must replace selfishness and greed in the minds of Nigerian political leaders.