A Socio-Christian Study of Leadership and Poverty in Nigeria
Abstract
It is arguable that whilst poverty is one of the realities of life, some leaders of nations have managed it so well by reducing its incidence to the barest minimum through quality leadership. This onerous task of driving avoidable poverty away, struggling with it or allowing it to overwhelm the nation is a choice any leader must make. Good and effective leaders usually grow the economy to the point of keeping poverty at bay.  In Nigeria’s own case, it seems that leadership is seriously struggling with poverty to the level of breaking point. A nation is adjudged poor when it is characterized by high rate of unemployment, low purchasing power of the currency, lack of good health facilities, low economic growth, and imbalance of macroeconomics. It seems to us that the problem of poverty in Nigeria is not as a result of policy formulations because a lot have been done in this respect.  Some of such interventions included the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in 1986, Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural infrastructure (DFRRI), the Better Life/Family Support Program, and the Family Economic Advancement Program.  It will attempt to review the poverty trend in Nigeria pre- and post SAP, the possible influence of leadership on poverty of the nation, and the causes of ineffectiveness of National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) in Nigeria. Considering all of these, this paper intends to assess and interrogate the nation’s leadership concerning the poverty in Nigeria. It will also invoke and analyze the structure and impact of selected biblical leadership models for comparison. Generally, we will argue that leaders are the ones who will drive growth and development of a nation by not just making policies but by monitoring, assessing and evaluating such policies and projects.
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