Abstract
The persistent political leadership crisis in Nigeria is basically a crisis linked to value orientation, as the scramble for power takes pre-eminence over the service of humanity. Many political literature examines Nigeria’s political leadership merely from the perspective of structural lacuna, corruption or ethnic conflicts, and by so doing, neglect the deeper philosophical gap at the centre of governance. In view of the need to mediate between material demand of governance and the ethical obligation of protecting the human well-being, this research examines critically political leadership crisis in Nigeria in the light of integrative humanism. As a philosophical framework, integrative humanism emphasizes harmonization of individual human dignity, cultural values and communal responsibility. This research states that integrative humanism can go beyond merely being an intellectual theory to serve as a pragmatic substructure for transformation of Nigeria’s political leadership. The establishment of National Di-Centric Leadership Institute (NDLI) to implement “Existential Auditing” for seekers of public offices is recommended.
Author(s):
Matthew Joseph Akpan, Ph.D
Directorate of General Studies
Federal University of Technology, Ikot Abasi, Nigeria
akpanmathew85@gmail.com