The paper argues that the political leadership class in Nigeria cannot exonerate itself from the current travails of socio-economic underdevelopment in the country. It explores from a historical perspective the pernicious effect of corruption on public policy decisions, actions, and the management of collapsed infrastructure and the nation’s resources as well as its socio-economic implications to development. Attempt is made to assess
the impact of the phenomenon of corruption on the social and economic wellbeing of the country as a
whole. It must be mentioned here that the perspective offered in this paper does not exhaust all that there
is to be discussed concerning corruption and political leadership in Nigeria. It will only approach the
subject matter from the perspective of its contributions to public policy failure and its implications for
socio-economic development.
It is instructive to state that political leadership in the context of this paper refers not only to the
government or to the leadership of an organised state, but embrace the totality of the political class that
has the capacity to exert influence on the machineries of government even from behind the scene.
Hence, this paper shall explicate on the contributions of both the military and the civilian leadership
class that has managed and directed the affairs of the country since independence to the growth and
institutionalisation of corruption in Nigeria. This is a way of justifying the underlying thesis of this It is an incontrovertible fact that corruption has been the bane of Nigeria’s development. Thus,
without mincing words the phenomenon has ravaged the country and destroyed most of what is held as
cherished national values. Unfortunately, the political class saddled with the responsibility of directing
the affairs of the country have been the major culprit in perpetrating this act. Regrettably, since
independence a notable surviving legacy of the successive political leadership both civilian and military
that have managed the affairs of the country at different times has been the institutionalisation of
corruption in all agencies of the public service, which, like a deadly virus, has subsequently spread to the
private sector of the country.
Indeed, it is a paradox that Nigeria, the world's eighth largest exporter of crude oil, a country
endowed with many resources, still has more than 70 percent of its population living below the poverty
line as a result of corruption and economic mismanagement. Pathetically, the logic of the Nigerian
political leadership class has been that of self-service as some of the leaders are mired in the pursuit of
selfish and personal goals at the expense of broader national interests. Consequently, emphasis has been
on personal aggrandisement and self-glorification with the result that corruption has become an
euphemism for explaining political leadership in Nigeria in relation to the management of national
wealth.
History has shown that no nation of the world grew and enjoyed steady development in virtually all
spheres of its national life without experiencing good and selfless political leadership. This is largely
because qualitative growth and development has always been an outcome of good governance.
Commenting on the experience of the Nigerian nation, the renowned novelist, Chinua Achebe, insisted
that the root cause of the Nigerian predicament should be laid squarely at the foot of bad leadership.
“The trouble with Nigeria,” Achebe argued
From the definitions and explanations above, it is evident that the definitions of leadership
explain the concept from a positive perspective while the definitions of corruption locate the
phenomenon in the negative axis. Consequently, when, it becomes difficult for it to act positively to the benefit of the state and its citizens.
This has been the situation the Nigerian state has found herself since independence. The political
leadership class, in its quest to secure or retain power, suppress opposition, and have access to unlimited
funds for personal use, have sacrificed positive leadership on the altar of corruption. Indeed, from the
first generation of political leadership class through the successive military and civilian generation of
political leaders, Nigerian political leadership had grown continually in corrupt practices. Political
corruption has become a cancerous phenomenon that pervades the Nigerian state unrestrained. Over the
years, we have seen the development of a vast system of institutionalised political corruption most times
emanating from the very top and pervading all governmental institutions with perverse influence on the
entire society
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