IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP CRISIS ON NIGERIA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF FOURTH REPUBLIC
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IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP CRISIS ON NIGERIA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF FOURTH REPUBLIC
ABSTRACT
The study investigates the impact of the leadership crisis on Nigeria’s national development. It assesses Nigeria’s fourth republic’s leadership issue and its impact on national growth.
The study envisions the nature of leadership insecurity in Nigeria’s fourth republic, as well as the repercussions of mismanagement of the country’s economic and financial resources.
INTRODUCTION
Nigeria has abundant people and material resources that are vital for national development and advancement. However, Nigeria has continued to follow the path of unsuccessful, weak, and “juvenile” states since attaining political independence. Nigeria, a state that was touted to lead Africa out of the backwoods of underdevelopment and economic dependency upon independence,
is still stuck in the league of the South’s very poor, corrupt, underdeveloped, infrastructurally decaying, crisis-riven, morally bankrupt, and leadership-deficient countries. Rather than being a model for transformative leadership,
contemporary bureaucracy, national growth, national integration, and innovation, Nigeria appears to be famed for everything mediocre, corrupt, outrageously violent, and morally reprehensible.
As a result, one cannot help but concur that Nigeria is a victim of poor leadership and complicated systemic corruption, which has become endemic and malignant in the country’s national life.
This viewpoint has been strongly held in literature by scholars and writers who have highlighted the inextricable link between the country’s leadership dilemma and corruption as the continuing cause of Nigeria’s ignominious economic convulsions, political convolutions, and national underdevelopment.
Current arguments are based on the notion that Nigerian leadership is morally and psychologically depraved (Agbor, 2011; Agbor, 2012; Ezirim, 2010; Ebegbulem, 2009; Ogbunwezeh, 2007). Indeed, Agbor contends that the success or failure of every civilization is primarily determined by the mannerism of its leadership.
He goes on to say that the upshot of weak leadership in Nigeria is terrible governance, which manifests itself in constant political turmoil and insecurity, acute poverty among citizens, a debilitating miasma of corruption, and rising unemployment indices. Tipping corruption as a dinosaur syndrome in Nigerian national life (anon, 2010),
Nigeria’s nationhood has been caught in the swirl of a corrupt public sector that has remained a hub of everything immoral, slimy, and retrogressive. While not unique to Nigeria, a survey identifies corruption as one of the most persistent socioeconomic issues plaguing most African countries today (ACBF, 2007).
It is viewed as the core cause of the myriad economic and political crises that have afflicted the African area, and it continues to exacerbate not only each country’s underdevelopment, but also the citizenry’s abysmal poverty. Political corruption, for example, is the cause of sit-tight political leaders, particularly in Africa,
with constitutional modifications allowing them to run for president for as long as they want. The capacity to retain control of state power allows them to allocate national resources as they see fit. This encourages indiscriminate, poor allocation of national resources, as well as the resulting macroeconomic mismanagement, which leads to persistent economic disaster.
Although it is not a Nigerian phenomenon, the spectre of corruption appears to haunt the country and has penetrated the entire governmental fabric. Aided by the nation’s leadership crisis
CHAPITRE 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Agbor (2012) writes about the high-profile corruption of several Nigerian leaders in the current fourth republic. He claimed that the notoriety of Nigeria’s elected and appointed leaders’ corruption led to the country being placed 143 out of 182 countries in Transparency International’s 2011 Corruption Perception Index. Corruption among public officials has become a national sport.
He narrates a high-profile list of corruption in Nigeria, including the indictment of a former Kogi State governor by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for embezzling and robbing the state of N4 billion. The EFCC was investigating 31 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors for corruption in September 2006 (BBC, 2006).
The EFCC questioned a former female senator from Ogun State about collecting $100,000 stolen from the Ministry of Health, as well as the Health Minister and her deputy for stealing over N30 million from the Ministry’s unspent monies from the previous year.
The latest examples of wanton corruption are the oil subsidy and police pension scams, both of which can be traced back to the Nigerian leadership’s careless attitude. Uwujaren’s (2012) submission on this national shame clearly demonstrates a state in leadership crisis.
So far, the EFCC has sanctioned 20 people for defrauding the government through the fuel subsidy fund. Ogunbambo, Theck, and Fargo, for example, defrauded the federal government of almost N976 million for petroleum they did not furnish.
Taylor, Nasaman, and Ali were charged with N4.4 billion in fraud, while Alao was charged with N2.6 billion in fraud. Tukur, Ochonogo, and External Oil collectively scammed the government of N1.899 billion.
Nadabo, Peters, Abalaka, and Pacific Silver took N1.464 billion, while Watgbasoma, Ugo-Ngadi, Ebenezer, Ejidele, and Ontario Oil scammed the Federal Government of Nigeria of N1.959 billion (Uwujaren, 2012). The handling of the police pension programme has recently displayed insensitive leadership.
It is shocking to learn that over N200 million (two hundred million naira) will be spent to validate the overseas pensions of only twenty police officers. The point is, what is the entire pension of those retiring officers if over $200 million is spent to verify them?
The EFCC has prosecuted several of the state officials implicated in this scheme. EsaiDangaba, AtikuKigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yusufu, Veronica Ulonma, and ZaniZira are being charged for stealing N32.8 billion from the police pension programme (Uwujaren, 2012).
According to Ike (2010), previous Nigerian governments looted or misappropriated $407 billion (225 billion pounds) by 1999. This sum is equal to all Western aid to the African continent.
He further stated that the immediate past Chairman of the Nigeria Economic and Financial Crimes Commission revealed that 220 billion pounds were squandered between the country’s independence from Britain in 1960 and its restoration to democracy in 1999.
This stolen treasure corresponds to the 220 billion pounds in Western aid handed to Africa between 1960 and 1997. This was six times the amount of aid provided by the United States to postwar Europe under the Marshall Plan for Reconstruction of Europe. Ike also highlighted the World Bank’s list of Nigeria’s fund depositors in four Western countries,
which was submitted to Nigeria’s then-President in 1999. Five of the depositors on that list alone were responsible for a large portion of the stolen monies on the World Bank’s list of 21 heavy looters. The total sum placed in western banks by the top 21 looters is the equivalent of $150 billion.
He concluded that, on the whole, the leaders of the first and second republics were relatively clean, however evidence in the third and fourth republics has gradually shown byzantine kleptomania and “lootocracy” by individuals nominally entrusted with national leadership.
As a result, corruption in Nigeria has ensnared the entire public and private sector matrix while also deepening its vice-like grasp on society. As a result, the research will look into the impact of the fourth republic’s leadership issue on Nigeria’s national development.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The study problem is to assess the impact of the fourth republic’s leadership crisis on Nigeria’s national development.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIOS
2 What is the nature of Nigeria’s fourth republic’s leadership crisis?
3 What is the impact of Nigeria’s leadership crisis on national development?
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
1 To assess the nature of Nigeria’s fourth republic’s leadership issue.
2 To assess the impact of the leadership crisis on Nigeria’s national development.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study will forecast the negative effects of a leadership crisis on the country’s national development in order to identify strategies for minimising and removing the threat in the nation’s leadership.
1.6 HYPOTHESIS STATEMENT
1 H0 The country’s level of development is low.
H1 The country’s level of development is high.
The fourth republic of Nigeria is experiencing a leadership crisis.
The fourth republic of Nigeria has a low level of leadership crises.
3 H0 The impact of Nigeria’s leadership crisis is minimal.
H1 The impact of Nigeria’s leadership crisis is significant.
1.7 THE STUDY OBJECTIVE
The study aims to assess the influence of the fourth republic’s leadership crisis on Nigeria’s national development.
1.1 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
LEADERSHIP
According to Cole (1997, p. 54), leadership is a dynamic process at work in a group in which one individual motivates the other group members to freely commit themselves to the attainment of group tasks or goals over a specific length of time and in a specific organisational setting.
CORRUPTION
Amuwo (2005) and Obayelu (2007) define corruption as the use of public positions, resources, and authority for personal gain. Corruption is defined by Fieldstad and Isaksen (2008, p. 3) and Ogundiya (2009, p. 5) as “the betrayal of public trust for individual or sectional gain.” Obayelu defined corruption as “efforts to secure wealth or power through illegal means for private gain at public expense; or misuse of power for private benefit.”
Corruption encompasses a wide range of behaviours, including fraud (theft by misrepresentation), embezzlement (misappropriation of corporate or governmental funds), and bribery (payments used to obtain an advantage or avoid a disadvantage). Aiyede (2006, p. 5) defines corruption as “the abuse or misuse of public or governmental power for illegitimate private advantages.”
His viewpoint supports Lipset and Lenz’s (2000) contention that corruption is an attempt to achieve riches or power by illicit means for private gain at the expense of the public. Tanzi (1998) adds that such misuse of public authority may be for the interest of one’s party, class, tribe, or family rather than for one’s personal benefit.
Although corruption is widespread, it is more prevalent in developing countries due to weak institutions. It is minimal in industrialised countries because to more developed and effective institutional control mechanisms.
DEVELOPMENT AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
According to Imhonopi and Urim (2010), national development is a country’s or countries’ ability to increase the social welfare of its people, specifically by providing social amenities such as good education, power, housing, pipe-borne water, and so on.
Economic development, socio-cultural empowerment and development, and how these affect human development are all components of country development.
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