Aphorisms on Meningitis of Leadership Accountability in Nigerian Public Service

Abstract

This paper identified and discussed some aphorisms which constitute meningitis on leadership accountability in Nigeria. The dominant methodological paradigms of the paper are interpretism and historical research used at arriving at plausible explanations. The paper contended the leadership responsibility is only meaningful within the context of leadership accountability. It also posited that the failure of leadership in every level of Nigeria public service is a metaphor of failure of accountability. Some of the aphorisms, identified as meningitis are: constitutional lapses, failure of the machinery of law; blame game, retrospective and retrogressive accountability; culture of silence and corruption; followers’ mentality, dual conscience, promotion of mediocrity, and derogatory value system. The paper concludes that effective leadership accountability is the way out of Nigeria development tragedy, and suggested the publication of allocation and executed projects value of constituency projects, and expulsion of section 6(6)C of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It also listed behaviour modification through stiffer measures against misdemeanous acts in leadership accountability in Nigeria.