Golden jubilee without gold: the anatomy of political leadership and followership in Nigeria

Abstract

No doubt fifty years symbolize age of maturity for the individuals as for the nation-states. As Nigeria prepares to celebrate her fifty years of independence from colonialism, the expectation is that Nigeria should have matured enough politically. But the facts on the ground contradict this expectation. The level of political development in Nigeria can best be adjudged at the level of infancy. A number of factors have been attributed to this state of affairs. This paper sets out to examine the relationship between the character of the political leadership and followership and the prevailing level of political underdevelopment in Nigeria. Our major assumption is that the character of political leadership and followership determines the level of political development in any society. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to explain the character of the political leadership and followership in Nigeria and how this has affected political development of the country.