Leadership and Followership – the Bane of Underdevelopment in the 21st Century Nigeria
1K. U. Omoyibo & 2Ajayi, Olatunde O.
1Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Benin, Edo State
2Department of Sociological Studies, College of Social & Management Sciences
Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State
Email: ufomaomoyibo@hotmail.com; otunbabobo8191@yahoo.com
Corresponding Author: Ajayi, Olatunde O.
ABSTRACT
Leadership and followership are the twin problem of Nigerian underdevelopment in the 21st century. No nations can exist and truly carry out the cause of the nationalism without leadership and followership. Someone must lead and someone must follow and what this simply means is that for every leadership, there is a followership and for every followership there must be a leadership. The two are so interwoven that hardly can you talk about one without the other. It is likened to a thread and the needle which are both needed to function in tailoring a cloth without which no proper sewing can be made. In tailoring a nation, leadership and followership must be involved. For where there is bad leadership, the followership will be grossly contaminated and where there is a bad followership, the leaders will be turned sour. Both will lack the necessary inspiration, motivation and encouragement to drive the wheel national progress and keep the nation on the right track. The 21st century Nigeria is on the threshold of backwardness due to bad leadership and followership. This paper investigates into the leadership and followership structure of the Nigeria at 21st century, how it undermined development in the nation, with critical analysis and assessment, thus providing solution.
Keywords: Leadership, Followership, Underdevelopment, godfatherism, power
