ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the nexus between democracy, leadership and development in Nigeria. It argues that the potentials of democracy to usher in development have been undermined by the nature of the leadership in Nigeria. Based on a theoretical exposition of the nature of political leadership and the experience of Nigeria thus far, it contends that Nigeria suffers from glaring leadership incapacity. Equally, it examines some of the recurrent factors in leadership incapacity, ranging from poor political culture to sycophancy to political corruption. The chapter also implicates the followership as part of the leadership problem in Nigeria since sycophancy and malleable followership produce leaders who are sectarian, partisan and generally ineffective in state-building. In order to strengthen democracy and aid the production of good leaders, the chapter, based on the review of the recent general elections in Nigeria, advocates for fundamental electoral reforms in the country. Finally, it argues that for both democracy and development to flourish in Nigeria, the political leadership needs radical transformation and reorientation to the fundamentals of state building and effective leadership.
