IGWEBUIKE: African Journal of Arts and Humanities

Political leadership and moral character consistently remain one of the central determinants and topics of trust in governance, democratic stability and national development in the world today. Leadership failure predicaments in Nigeria have frequently been linked and identified as one major obstacle amidst many others bedeviling Nigeria as a country for long now, which has prevented the country from having and/or experiencing strong political stability, social progress and economic development as a sovereign nation. The study critically examines the actual relationship between political leadership and moral character in Nigerian politics. It evaluates how moral decadence such as dishonesty, corruption, abuse of power, lack of accountability and nepotism have systematically weakened political governance structures and democratic agencies and institutions in Nigeria. This work employs the philosophical method of hermeneutics and evaluation within ethical and socio-political realm to deeply investigate into Nigeria’s leadership and moral character with educational formations to ascertain where the Nigerian problem lies, and to know if those ruling or leading Nigeria as leaders are really and actually qualified or capable of leading the nation in the first place, and know if they are equipped with the necessary required human capacity, intellectual, moral and ethical development to lead. The study, therefore, reveals that the crisis of leadership clearly noticeable in Nigeria today is not merely politically and institutionally oriented but also fundamentally moral and ethically oriented. The research further argues how the sidelining or lack of ethical and moral values and virtues among Nigerian political leaders and elites has tremendously contributed to the glaringly systemic public distrust, corruption, underdevelopment, injustice and poor policy-making and implementation well seen and known in the country today. The work concludes by stamping suggestively that sustainable economic, transformational, political and institutional structures in Nigeria without a second thought require moral and ethical leadership highly embedded in public service-oriented mindset, equity, justice, capacity, accountability, fairness and integrity for the betterment of Nigeria and its citizenry as a whole.

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