-
Political Leadership And Economic Development In Developing Countries
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 4]
Page 1 of 4
-
-
-
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The
staggered economic development that has characterised Nigeria and in
fact most developing countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa
is conceived by many as the outcome of leadership failure. Developing
countries are undergoing a widening split in terms of development, with
some recording spectacular improvements in the standard of living of
their peoples; expansion in urban housing, public health, modern
transportation, industrialisation, and overall growth of their national
economies, while others have unfortunately, not achieved much since
independence, despite having similar and even more favourable
circumstances, compared to those countries which have made outstanding
progress. Nigeria as one of them has become a focal point and case
studies in many scholarly researches for obvious reasons. At
independence, Nigeria was viewed in the international scene as the giant
of Africa with very high expectation to drive the economy and reach the
height that the European and Asian countries have reached today.
After
the attainment of independence in 1960, Nigeria, like several other
newly independence countries, set about to consolidate her political
freedom and tackle the challenges of economic development and nation
building. But many decades after independence, Nigeria is still
struggling to move forward in terms of economic development in spite of
its abundant natural and human resources. Hence, these have attracted
the concern of the international community and experts (analysts) in
international affairs who sought to know the problems and the causes of
Nigeria’s economic underdevelopment. Are these problems caused by
multi-ethnic configuration of the nation, if yes what about countries
like India; Malaysia and Singapore? Are these problems due to large
population size? Then, what about China and India? Are the problems
induced by long period of colonialism, then, what about other countries
like China, India, South Africa, Malaysia, Ghana, Singapore and many
others who were subjected to the same form of rule.
Interestingly
too, India as at that era (1960) was at par with Nigeria in terms of
level of development and potentials to blossom economically. Both
countries were commonly described as third World Nations or Economically
Less Developed Countries (LDC). Although India had independence in
1947, thirteen (13) years earlier than Nigeria, same could not be said
again of India’s socio-economic and industrial development. Some group
of countries collectively called the Newly Industrialised Countries
(NICs) of South and South East Asia has achieved socio-economic
development such that some of them have literally been transformed from
“Third World to First World†in one generation, to use the words of Lee
Kuan Yew (Lee, 2000). Japan became the first Asian country to modernize,
later followed by Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and
South Korea after the Second World War. Lately, China and India have
followed suit and broken through the barriers of low growth and economic
underdevelopment. At the centre of each is quality and competent
leadership committed to national development (Ajakaiye, 2007).
In the past, despots in Africa and their intellectual cronies used to
counter demands for good governance with the argument that those
countries were not all that democratic and yet achieved rapid
development. There is no doubt that the regimes in countries such as
South Korea and Thailand was not democratic and the leaders were mostly
military “strong menâ€. Evidence of authoritarianism in Singapore and
Malaysia cannot be brushed aside. Most of these countries, with the
exception of Thailand had one party or leader in office for decades.
China still remains socially communist with state control over much of
its citizens’ lives. Only India seems to be making it with solid
democratic credentials. They have led people in the past to conclude
that Africa needs strong men (dictators) to develop. But, if strong-man
dictators and despots were the secret for development of the Asian
success stories, then Africa should be a haven by now as it had more
than its fair share of both dictators and civilian despots.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 4]
Page 1 of 4
-
-
ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]At independence, the economies of Nigeria and India were dominated by primary production, mainly agriculture. However, within some decades, India transformed and overtook Nigeria, emerging as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, while Nigeria’s development lagged behind considerably. This research comparatively assessed the role of leadership in economic development experiences of these two countries from the period of their independence to 2013. The indices of comparison we ... Continue reading---
