CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

It is a true that the quality of leadership and overall governance in a country directly affects the level of political stability and development that such country enjoys. Bad governance and poor leadership only result in under development and political instability (Ologbenla, 2007). It is on the recognition of the imperative of leadership and governance to a country that Nnablife (2010) avers that the survival of a system rests with leadership. All things rise and fall on leadership because leadership effectiveness is a steering that drives a nation or any organisation to heights of development and productivity by the application of good governance (Folarin, 2010). The post-independence Nigeria continues to grapple with the monster of bad leadership and governance which have been the bane of political instability and poor state of development in the country. With the diverse mineral and human resources, it is not far-fetched to expect Nigeria to soar high in consonance with the economic giants of the world. Paradoxically, Nigeria - the giant of Africa (as it is called) wallows in socio-economic, political and infrastructural decadence in all her crevices. The inability of Nigeria's leadership to harness the nation's vast resources and reserves towards socio-economic development continuously calls to question the composition of the fabric of the nation's leadership and governance. There seems to be a total collapse of ethical governance with the abuse of every moral norm of administration and a loss of conscience towards 'rightness' and objectivism in polity. To this end, it becomes a wonder if Nigeria can ever rise out of decadence and her impoverished state if those that are meant to drive the steering towards the nation's emancipation lack the morality and sanity to do so. It is against the backdrop of this that, this article reflects on the issue of political leadership and good governance in Nigeria.

1.2      STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

In countries like Nigeria where the democratization process is work-in-progress, the intellectual preoccupation has been to reflect critically on how the prevailing political conditions can foster good governance and sustainable development. It is observed that the ongoing conversations on the democracy-good governance-development nexus are a consequence of the liberalized political environment that permits dialogue and engagement. However, the bad news is that after almost two decades of democratization, the political leadership of Nigeria is yet to grapple with the development challenge. The democratization process has endured to the extent that the goal of good governance is not too far-fetched and against the backdrop of subsisting reform policies, it is concluded that the good governance project should be considered as work-in-progress. This work in progress must necessarily crystallize into an approximation of the collective hopes and aspirations of Nigerians. To this end, the social democratic option - one that can set in motion a democratization process that places emphasis on the people’s active participation in the development process.

1.3AIMS OF THE STUDY

The major purpose of this study is to examine political leadership and good governance. Other general objectives of the study are:

1. To examine the nature of the Nigerian government.

2. To examine the history of Kaduna state

3. To examine the history of Zango Kataf LGA

4. To examine political leadership and it’s bearing on good governance in Zango Kataf LGA.

5. To examine the roles of leadership towards achieving good governance in Zango Kataf LGA.

4. To examine the challenges of political leadership towards achieving good governance in Zango Kataf LGA.

5. To suggest ways in which political leadership can help in good governance Zango Kataf LGA.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The national question has remained an intractable challenge to Nigeria’s existence. The debate revolves around the demand for good governance and leadership in the country. The pattern of leadership advocated has tended to follow closely the way the national question is framed. Political leadership, the governmental framework of the Nigerian state, has been the subject of constant demands for tinkering or fundamental reform policy since when it was first adopted, but these demands have been shaped by the underlying discourse on the national question. Thus this study will help the Nigerian government and students in further research.

1.5SCOPE OF THE STUDY 

The study is based on political leadership and good governance in Zango Kataf L.G.A of Kaduna State (1999-2015)

1.6 LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Political:  Relating to government, or the conduct of government, concerned with the making as distinguished from the administration of governmental policy.

Leadership:  Leadership is the ability of an individual or a group of individuals to influence and guide followers or other members of an organization. Leadership involves making sound and sometimes difficult decisions, creating and articulating a clear vision, establishing achievable goals and providing followers with the knowledge and tools necessary to achieve those goals.

Governance: Government and governance are interchangeably used, both denoting the exercise of authority in an organization, institution or state. Government is the name given to the entity.

1.8 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Lipset (1995), demonstrates why democracy had often been conceived of as a safeguard for individual liberties in most of these polities. And, according to Awa (2004), it explains why: the spokesmen of the world power especially those of the western nations and western political analysts emphasize the need to have democracy as the open sesame to effective governance. Generally, though, more importantly, as Olowu (1995) rightly argued, “the collapse of systems such as theocracy, monocracy, fascism, Marxism and socialism has left democracy as the only option for good governance. It can also be argued, that, the realisation of this, and, the need to protest against the failure of the centralised post-colonial states to democratically meet peoples expectation due to monocracy (Olowu, 1995; Wunsch and Olowu, 1990; Hyden, 1999), equally led to “ the growth of a new social movement for democracy in Africa” (AAPS: 1995) as does the “process of democratic political change in Nigeria” (Nwankwo, 1996) With these in view, it is unobtrusively arguable that, it is now a universally accepted aphorism that the fertility of democracy is causally related to good governance and, that, the latter’s pursuit has now gained a wider currency as one of the most, if not the most important core of the operational catechism of most nations within the global political community (Akindele, 1987; Akindele and Obiyan, 1996). Put differently, today, one can hardly talk of governance of men, its goodness or otherwise, anywhere within our world, regardless of ideological orientation or partitioning, without reference to the concept of democracy. This, among other things, according to Lipset, (1995) is due to the fact that democracy shapes the realities of decision making and popular participation in government”.