Corruption and Leadership Crisis in Africa: Nigeria in Focus
Joseph C. Ebegbulem

Abstract
The independence of African states from colonial rule from the middle part of the 20th century signaled strong prospects and hope for a better and prosperous continent. Today that hope is dashed by bad leadership and corruption. That, after decades of independence, Africa is still home to majority of the world’s poor irrespective of the availability of both human and material resources is an embarrassment. The continent is unarguably one of the most fertile regions of the world and the richest continent on earth in terms of natural resources, but today, the image of the world’s most resource rich continent has been damaged by corruption and inept leadership. The corruption level of many African leaders in Africa is beyond imagination. The continent’s resources are personalized at the expense of the people. Using Nigeria as a case study, we see that abject poverty, inadequate health facilities and unemployment pervade the land and these are borne out of the failure on the part of leadership, and corruption. This paper argues that leadership crisis and corruption are the greatest obstacles to Africa’s development. It examines the concept of leadership and corruption in the context of Nigeria; the effects of corruption on Nigeria’s democratic stability and economic development. The paper concludes that corruption and inept leadership are responsible for democratic instability in Nigeria.

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