Leadership and Nation Building: The Nigerian Perspective

Abstract

This paper examines how Nigeria has responded to the issue of nation building since post-independence. Integration theory as proposed by Myron Weiner was adopted as the theoretical framework because it considers the all inclusive nature of a system irrespective of diversity. The study further looked deeply into the meaning of the concepts of leadership and national development, it considers contributions made by scholars especially in the comparism between Nigeria and Singapore as well as the United states of America. The findings shows that despite the fact that Nigeria and these countries have similarities in history such as being colonized by Britain, experience of war and programs for post-war reconstruction. These countries have shown that they are determined towards an effective nation building and this is reflected in their 2018 misery ranking. While Nigeria was ranked 8 in the world, these countries were ranked 123 and 105 respectively. This shows how determined leaders are in ensuring the good of the people irrespective of ethnic or political divide.