The Effects of Good Leadership and Administration in National Development (a Case Study of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Administration)
Chapter One
Objective of the Study
From all that has been said and written above, it is the purpose of the study to take a closer look at the effects of good leadership and administration in national development; particularly in Nigeria. The following form the basis of this research study.
- To examine the effects of good leadership and administration on national development.
- To investigate the effect of bad leadership on national development.
- To provide/proffer solutions for positive change.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
An Overview of Literature Review
Much has been said and written about the effects of Good leadership and Administration in National Development in relation to past and present administration.
Studies of leadership, whether in private or public organizations, show that there are varied approaches and definitions. For our purposes, we shall narrow the scope of our overview in order to answer the questions we have posed and react to our suggestions. It is based on the above, that the researcher wants to review related literature in this area of study. Thus many authors in various situations regarding the leadership have given several definitions:
– It was former president Eisenhower of the United States who once defined leadership as the “ability to decide what is to be done and then to get others to want to do it”.
– President Harry Truman was even more vivid when he said – “A leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do, and like it.
These two leaders of the United States of America perceived leadership in terms of a man’s ability to manage men in such a way as to get certain activities carried out willingly (even if initially they had any doubts).
A leadership is usually responsible for establishing clear-cut goals and organizing members of the community towards the achievement of these goals.
National leadership therefore involves a core elite group which must “develop the vision and authority to call the shots, “fully cognizant of the risk in taking initiatives”, but realizing that there are greater risks now in waiting for sure things, given the current unpredictability in our global setting. Such leadership as could claim to be ‘National’ must enjoy national acceptability and respect.
In essence, leadership is a skill, that is, “the ability that comes from knowledge, practice, aptitude …”. A patterned exhibition of these ability or skills could be classified as style or leadership type.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Sources of Data
In the course of carrying out the research study under review both primary and secondary sources of data were used for the research, to gather relevant information needed for the study.
Primary Source of Data
The primary source of data for the research study was explored through the use of questionnaires, oral interviews, and observations to gather relevant data from the respondents of the research study.
Secondary Sources of Data
Secondary data here includes consultation of published and unpublished articles, materials, textbooks, journals, newspapers and other written materials relevant to the research study.
Area of the Study
The area of the research study is limited to the effects of good leadership and administration in National Development and the study is restricted to President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration.
Population of the Study
According to Ozo, (2008:41) population refers to a group of things that have certain characteristics in common. The study population for the research work comprises of (400) four hundred from the area of the research study. Among the population are government worker (civil servant), businessmen and public servants.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Presentation of Data
This chapter has to do with the presentation and analysis of data’s collected during the research process. The relevant data for the research project were gathered from the field survey. The result and analysis of the field survey were presented based on specific questions, but forward in the questionnaire by researcher. The questionnaires were distributed to the number of the public for their response, some were returned while some were not returned, the analysis will be based on the numbers returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Findings
The findings indicate;
- That the present administration have had its fair share of limitations rising from the standards that had been set by the laws and policies of long gone administration.
- That there is high rate of injustice in Nigeria i.e. No punishment for rule breakers. No reward for those who have done good works.
- That the Government’s effort bring up National development in Nigeria has not been very effective due to the level of corruption, political instability, crisis etc.
- That Nigerians do not have a good image and profile especially outside the country and that’s the major reason why we experience delay in the embassy once the green passport is seen.
- That technological underdevelopment is also a major factor that brings about stagnancy in the process of development.
- That the present government has good intentions for the country but is been set back by some obvious challenges as portrayed in the research work.
- That Nigeria with all her efforts has not successfully attained a very good leadership with National Development.
Recommendations
For the purpose pf this research work, the government in their bid to develop the country should extend their plans to the rural communities, that part of the country seen to have been forgotten. We have poor people who depend on farming, and other agricultural means to obtain their livelihood.
Researchers have also shown that most of our citizens in diaspora are not well taken care of. They die in foreign countries with or without any critical offenses committed. African diplomats often condemn their citizens even without taking any serious measure to ascertain what truly happened. Some even fail to intervene as at when due. But unfortunately, most advanced society usually protects the interest of their citizens whether at home or while abroad. This is not the case in Nigeria and thus, it tends to affect the patriotic tendency in the people toward their respective countries.
Furthermore, the problems of poor leadership comes from the various spheres in the country, which is the religious sphere, educational sphere, political and economic sphere. The government should make every effort to reach out to these sectors as the success of the country lies in them.
International organization like the United Nations Agency should ensure that at National level, their programme which is aimed at ensuring freer, fairer and more credible elections is well structured and maintained. This is because Nigeria’s under development is also caused by Misrule, political instability, mismanagement, misappropriation of public funds, official and unofficial corruption, plundering and neglect of the citizenry. The point I am trying to buttress here is that our country needs to be rescued from the hand of selfish and misguided leadership.
Finally, the solution to the problem of bad leadership could only be resolved through conscious effort on the part of the government and the governed. All clauses that give room to exploitation, corruption and domination should be amended in our constitution. In fact the government should stop compensating their political loyalties with certain key positions that requires expertise, adequate skills and economic technicalities. More so, Nigerian leaders should stop paying lip-service to the problem of corruption and poverty alleviation. For lasting solution to be sustained, the people’s constitution must not only sleek to address issue of security, human rights and economic needs at home. It must also strive to take into cognizance those factors leading to insecurity. Hence, protecting human right, fighting against Aids and terrorism. But most importantly, the people should support the government when she has undertaken the task to provide the enabling environment for economic and social development.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is vital to remark that leadership is a two way thing. It is not just the leader, but also involves the ones who are being led. All fingers should not be pointed forward to the government alone but back to ourselves, the citizens. “Edwin Biayeibo – wisdom4winning in his speech said that the two major factors a country needs to grow and move forward is “Righteousness (doing things the right way) and Justice (punishing evil and rewarding good). All efforts made by the government will prove abortive if we don’t play our part; obeying the law, respecting leadership, embracing patriotism, stop the fighting amongst us due to religion and ethnicism, standing against injustice and so on.
However, the research work do not connote that all those in government are corrupt, nor does it mean that they lack the required leadership qualities, rather, it is an eye opener that corruption and bad leadership could not lead to any meaningful change. Hence drastic measures should be taken by all and sundry in tackling the political turmoil.
Limitation of the Study
The problems encountered during this research include:
Some of the institutions who had relevant materials in their possession would not allow the researcher to photocopy the available materials out of their library. So a lot of time was wasted going to the library to draft out information needed. There were also financial constraints but despite all this, the researcher did her possible best to ensure that the research is successful.
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