Leadership and development in Africa: A case study of Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines the problem of leadership in Africa‘s development with particular reference to Nigeria. The aim is to rethink the existing views and beliefs on the unbreakable nexus between leadership (which is a humanistic variable) and development. This follows from the elusiveness of the latter in the country despite its desirable impact on the stability of every state. Deploying the historical method of descriptive analysis with materials derived majorly from secondary sources, the analysis that follows shows that leadership failure more than other factors accounts for Nigeria‘s development challenges. However, the work suggests the leadership model to facilitate development for the Nigeria state and its people. This is centered on the leadership of the statesmen, rather than those of the politicians that have arrested development in Nigeria. Drawing on the development experience of the Greek city-state of Athens, the study concludes that the statesmen think the state and its people before themselves and unlike the politicians, they do not seek leadership positions for self-empowerment as such can achieve development for the country.