The Role of Language and Literature in Solving Leadership Challenges in Contemporary Nigeria

The Role of Language and Literature in Solving Leadership Challenges in Contemporary Nigeria

*Abubakar A and Falode, I.A

Department of English, (School of Languages) Federal College of Education, Iwo, Osun State, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.908000243

Received: 28 July 2025; Accepted: 04 August 2025; Published: 05 September 2025

ABSTRACT

Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa with a population of about 200 million people and is blessed with abundant natural resources. However, poor leadership has led to several developmental challenges in the different sectors of the economy such as security, education, health, transportation and in its infrastructural base. According to National Bureau of Statistics, 63% of persons living within Nigeria (133 million people) are multidimensionally poor, with poverty levels across States ranging from as low as 27% in Ondo to as high as 91% in Sokoto. The political will to address these developmental challenges and ensure sustainable development is grossly lacking. Previous studies have attributed bad leadership to absence of sound ethical leadership that is rooted in respect, service, justice, honesty and community with little attention to the role of language and literature. Hence, in this paper, an attempt was made to examine the role of language and literature in solving leadership challenges in the contemporary Nigeria. The paper recommends the need for building language and literature teachers through better training and retraining for improved communication of government’s policies and programmes.

Keywords: Language, Literature, Leadership, Leadership Challenges.

INTRODUCTION

The 1999 constitution created the Fourth Nigerian Republic, a federation with democratic rule. It remains in force today. Part of the reason was to secure peace, and provide good leadership. Warren (2005) describes “Leadership as the capacity to translate a vision into reality.” Leadership is the ability to evaluate and or forecast a long-term plan or policy and influence the followers towards the achievement of the said strategy (Adeoye, 2009). Leadership can be the act of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. “Leadership is a purposeful relationship, which occurs episodically among participants, who use their individual skills and influence, to advocate transformational change.” Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down, respect for one’s superiors; and care for one’s crew. When the Nigerian civil war ended in January 1970, the federal government articulated the five main national development goals of building a free and democratic society; a just and egalitarian society; a united, strong and self-reliant nation; a great and dynamic economy; and a land full of bright opportunities for all … Now, how many of such set goals have been achieved?

As mentioned above, and with the optimistic beliefs that if a nation is blessed with both natural and materials resources, such a nation has what it takes to be great! Unfortunately, the principle does not apply in Nigeria This situation has been described as resource curse in the dutch sense and linked to the different kinds of leadership experienced by the nation since the fourth Nigerian Republic. Leadership all over the world is faced with diverse problems and challenges which no doubt emanates from internal or external forces. This paper however, examines the ways through which language and literature can be used to tackle such problems and challenges.

Concept of Language

The term language is defined by many scholars thus, The Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary define language ‘as the system of sounds and words used by human beings to express thoughts and feeling’, it is a particular language system used by a people of a nation. Language can be described as the most powerful, most evident and most sophisticated medium of human communication. It is the principal element of cultural identity, the most evident factor in distinguishing one culture from the other. In both the Oxford Advance Learners (2000 Edition) and Chambers 20th Century, Dictionaries, (New edition,1983), language is the system of sounds and words used in human speech, both oral or written to express their thoughts and feelings. It is virtually in human speech alone, oral or written, for instance that any language can be identified. The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (2004) provides several definitions for Language. They include: (i) the speech of a country, religion, or group of people including its diction, syntax and grammar; (ii) a system of communication with its own set of conventions or special words; (iii) the way human beings communicate using words, whether written or spoken. The most effective engine of people’s culture is language: It is the indicator of history and self-identification (Solanke, 2006). Nwadike (2004:5) cited in Olaoye (2013:738), posits that it is the key to the heart of people. If we lose the key, we lose the people. According to Isayev (1977:10) as cited in Yusuf (2012:898).

“Language is a nation’s most important asset. There is nothing as a nation without a common linguistic basic”.

LITERATURE

Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role. Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, and diaries. English Dictionary fourth edition defines language in a number of ways: (1) The body of all written works,

(2) The collected creative writing of a nation, people, group or culture. (3) All the papers, treatises etc. published in academic journals on a particular subject. According to Britannica “literature is a form of human expression. But not everything expressed in words, even when organised and written down is counted as literature”. “It encompasses various forms of written expressions, such as novels, poems, plays, essays, short stories, and other literary works”. Literature is the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, etc (dictionary.com).

Leadership

Stogdill (1974, p.259) describes a leader as a dealer in hope. “Leadership is a process of influence between a leader and those who are followers.” (Hollander, 1978) “Leadership is an attempt at influencing the activities of followers through the communication process and toward the attainment of some goal or goals” (Donelly, & Ivancevich, 1985, p.362.).”Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good”(Ciulla, 1998). Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down. Respect for one’s superiors; care for one’s crew-Grace (Admiral 1987).”Leadership is a process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose” (Jacobs & Jaques, 1987, p.281). “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influence a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. (Northouse, 2004, p.3). Leadership is the ability to evaluate and or forecast a long- term plan or policy and influence the followers towards the achievement of the said strategy (Adeoye, 2009). According to Warren (2005), “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”- Bill Gates. Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behaviour and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Adair (2002) defined leadership as the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal. Thus, leadership is the capacity to lead others towards the achievement of the set objectives.

Leadership Challenges

Leadership challenges can be seen as various difficult, problems and obstacles encountered by leaders in the course of discharging their duties. According to Diwe (2017), bad leadership has been the greatest problem inhibiting Nigeria from realising her full potentials. He contended that once Nigeria got over it’s leadership challenges, nobody would be interested to know who occupies the presidential or governorship position and urged Nigerians to shun tribal and partisan politics to elect the proper people at all the levels of governance in the country. The greatest problem Nigeria has been having over a decade is the problem of bad leadership.

Most of the Nigeran leaders be it at all levels: local, state, federal and even at all the various respected ministries and agencies (MDGs) have been mainly people who are there based on their selfish interests. Many of them never had the interests of the common masses who either elected or appointed them into those various valuable offices or positions. They are there mainly to enrich themselves and their children overnight. Corruption is a sign of governance at all the levels including the MDGs and it has eaten so deep in the fabric of them. No wonder Obandina (1999) observed that Nigeria has been dogged by corruption since independence. Abuse of power and transparency reached mind boggling proportion in the 1960s. This has really caused setback to the nation and resulted to the hardships and other immoral activities in the country.

Nwachukwu (2013) posited that anyone watching the on-goings in the country would conclude that the leadership in Nigeria suffers from primitive acquisitive tendencies and believes solely in the acquisition of wealth at all costs. He also said that the leading notion guiding the leadership at all levels in Nigeria is the promotion of material acquisition to the detriment of the collective well- being of the people and the nation. Though some of those leaders were elected or appointed not based on their ability or capacity to deliver the dividends of democracy, but simply gave money to the electorates during election campaign in order to canvass for their votes. No wonder, since Nigeria gained independence on the 1st October, 1960; became a republic in 1963 and has gone through almost every leadership plague common to African countries and other continents, development has remained slow. Also, during this period of time, the country has suffered from multiple military coups, a civil war, tribal/ethnic violence, militancy, insurgency which has resulted into grave consequences with respect to the standard of living, economic growth, stability, and a general decay in the standard of governance and governance structure.

The Implication Of Bad Leadership On The Populace

A good leader in any nation or society should be able to provide: security, good employment, infrastructure such as education, roads, electricity supply, railway and others, unfortunately,

Nigerian leaders have not been able to meet up the expectation. The effect of bad leadership in Nigeria on her citizenry are visibly openly. They include the following:

Insecurity

Insecurity is the state of being open to danger or risk and the feeling of being unsafe (The NROC Project, 2021) posits various types of insecurity which include: bodily insecurity, emotional insecurity, food insecurity, economic insecurity, political insecurity, and environmental insecurity among others have been faced in Nigeria, for instance physical insecurity which resulted from insurgency, terrorism, and other forms of violence. involves killing and maiming people. Nearly 25 million Nigerians are at risk of facing hunger between June and August 2023, if urgent action is not taken, according to the October 2022 Cadre Harmonisé, a Government led and UN- supported food and nutrition analysis carried out twice a year.

Nigeria in recent times has recorded unprecedented security challenges attacks such as banditry, kidnapping for ransom, unknown gunmen, armed robbery, cultism, farmer/herdsmen clashes, Yahoo boy’s crime, extrajudicial killings, environmental agitation, the Boko Haram Terrorist (BHTs). Insecurity in Nigeria has claimed thousands of lives and extensive damage and loss of property. For some years now, the insecurity and terrorism index in Nigeria rose from 6.95 in 2011 to 8.31 in 2019.

Moreso, nearly 25 million Nigerians are at risk of facing hunger between June and August 2023 if urgent action is not taken, according to the October 2022 Cadre Harmonisé report.

According to experts, insecurity affects economic growth by drying out investments, increasing unemployment, and reduces government revenue, among others. Nigeria is now regarded as the world’s poverty capital and has an estimated 91 million people living in extreme poverty which is projected to reach 106.6 million by 2030. The inabilities of the leaders to take decisive actions such as investigating a crime, punishing culprits, and taking proper measures to prevent its reoccurrence has really made the crime to continue.

Unemployment

Employment rate in Nigeria increased to 76.7 percent in the first quarter of 2023 from 73.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 as stated in www://tradingeconomy.com>emp. In the meantime, KPMG has stated that the Nigerian unemployment rate had increased to 37.7 percent in 2022 and will further rise to 40.6 percent, due to the continuing inflow of job seekers into the job market. This is because of bad leaders who have no plan to create employment for the teaming youths. For instance, institutions of higher learning: Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education discharge students every year without provision of jobs to those graduates.

Poverty, unemployment, crimes and all sort of criminal activities increased in Nigeria. The multinational consulting firm, in a newly released report tagged ‘KPMG Global Economy Outlook report, H1 2023,’ said unemployment will continue to be a challenge due to the slower-than- required economic growth and the inability of the economy to absorb the 4-5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year. Thus, a good leader will make plans that will cater for the graduates to be gainfully employed.

Poor Educational System

According to Odia and Omofonmwan (2007), Nigeria educational system is characterised by poor funding, poor educational infrastructure, inadequate classrooms, inadequate professional teachers, poor supervision, corruption, weak administrators, poor quality education, overcrowding, brain- drain and insecurity were identified as the problems facing the educational system in Nigeria.

Other educational problems are high cost of Education, irregular payment of teachers’ salaries, poor teacher’s welfare at all the levels, politicization of education and inadequate allocation to education, less than 26 percent as stated by United Nation (UNESCO, 2015). These problems remain unsolved because the well to do send their children to private schools; the leaders on their own part, use national resources to cater for their children to study overseas. But simply and squarely frustrating our own educational system. Therefore, to address these, such negative attitude must be stopped.

Poor Infrastructural Facilities

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has identified poor infrastructure as Nigeria’s greatest challenge to socio-economic development after corruption. This was disclosed by the President of the LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, during the 2022 ICTEL EXPO in Lagos with the theme, “Ensuring Efficient Digital Infrastructure in Nigeria.” Olawale-Cole said: “Over the decades, next to corruption, poor infrastructure is Nigeria’s greatest socio-economic development challenge. Power, roads, health, education and many more are of paramount importance to the survival of the citizens of every society or nation. A true leader will never joke with such aspects of life as it definitely affects the economic growth of a nation.

To my dismay however, our leaders have not been able to rise to their responsibility in this area. For instance, “road traffic crashes are a leading cause of death and disability in Nigeria and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says over 40,000 people die annually from road traffic crashes in Nigeria” (https: www.premiumtime.ng.com). Worse still, a simple journey by road of 30 minutes would take up to 3 hours because of bad road. This is simply because the leaders and well to do never take road transport for their trip.

Corruption

Corruption has been defined by the World Bank (1998) as ” the use of public offices for private gain.’ Nigeria is the 150th least corrupt nation out of 180 countries, according to the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. The new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, will inherit no fewer than 25 high- profile corruption cases involving former governors, ministers and senators, (2023). Furthermore, based on Sunday PUNCH findings (Sanusi, 2024), the amount at stake in the high-profile cases is not less than N772.2bn and another $2.2bn, alleged to have gone missing through money laundering, fund diversion and misappropriation.

At this time when people in developed world are generally living longer with a global average life expectancy of 73 years, the average Nigerian will be very fortunate to attain the age of 60. With a life expectancy of 55 years, Nigeria is one of the four countries with the lowest life expectancies in the world, after the Central African Republic, Lesotho, and Chad, based on the latest data from the United Nations. At the root of early deaths in Nigeria is a healthcare system that has virtually collapsed due to a lack of investment. The latest World Health Organisation survey ranks Nigeria’s healthcare system as the fourth worst in the world (Alaribe, 2023).

Furthermore, Nigeria’s average Score in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. 2014- 2030 is 27 out 100, it ranked 145th most out of 180 countries.

PWC says corruption could cost Nigeria up to 37 percent of GDP by 2030, if not addressed urgently (PWC, 2023).

World Bank Development Indicators and PwC analysis

Health

The doctors’ strike is symptomatic of the many challenges facing the health sector at both state and federal levels. For decades, Nigeria’s health sector has suffered from acute underfunding, whilst the leaders jetted off to the UK, America, China, and United Arab Emirates, to get the medical care they have callously denied the people.

Role Of Language And Literature In Solving Leadership Challenges In Contemporary Nigeria

Language and literature have been the process and means for eradicating war, and establishing peace. Language and literature promote social contact whilst reducing social tension. Language and literature promote inter- ethics relationship thereby reduces over 90 percent of the inter-ethnic crisis in the country.

In essence, language and literature are two sides of the same coin, working together to enrich our understanding of the world around us and our ability to express ourselves. Whether we are reading a novel, listening to a poem, or engaging in a conversation, we are constantly utilising language and drawing on the rich history and evolution of literature to make meaning of our experiences.

Writers act as the consciences of the people, they mirror the happenings in their society and encourage the positive development of human minds. For instance, Achebe (1983) lamented seriously about the poor state of public utilities in the country.

” Look at our collapsing public utilities, our inefficient and wasteful parastatals and state-owned companies. Citizens buy their own generators to generate electricity, sink their own borehole to produce water and set up their own airline to travel.”

Clark (1985) collaborates what Achebe observed in one of his poems titled “Here Nothing Work’. The poet drew the attention of Nigerians to the fact that general public facilities do not function in Nigeria:

‘Here Nothing Works, services taken for granted elsewhere either breakdown or do not get started at all when introduced here’

No doubt, this clearly portrays how language and literature educate the citizens about the shortcomings of their leaders.

Leadership is not about personality; it’s about behaviour, an observable set of skills and abilities. The co-authors of The Leadership Challenge, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, first set out to discover what effective leaders do when they’re at their personal best, they collected thousands of stories from ordinary people, the moments they recalled when asked to think of a peak leadership experience. Despite differences in culture, gender, age, and other variables, these “personal best” stories revealed similar patterns of behaviour. The authors discovered that when leaders experience their personal best, they display five core practices: they Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. Jim and Barry called these behaviours the five practices of exemplary leadership. We can vividly see how language and literature assist in solving leadership challenges.

Without language, literature would not stand as it is the foundation upon which all literary works are built. Language and literature provide a means of expression which really enable leaders to resolve disputes, to reach agreement and to restore peace and order. For instance, most attacks were conducted by Boko Haram or Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) and occurred in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States in the North East. There have also been significant attacks in other states, including Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Taraba and Bauchi State. The risk includes the capital city Abuja, and the surrounding Federal Capital Territory area in 2022, but, with the proper use of language and literature the leaders have been trying to minimise the spread of such group and their wrong doing.

In addition, we can all bear witness that it is because of its vital role as an instrument towards achieving national harmony, and a means of solving leadership challenges in Nigeria that the English language and literature were used in order to maintain the national harmony in the administration of Tinubu’s newly elected government (PTC 2023) Presidential Transition Committee opines thus: “Let’s maintain unity as one people and nation . Let’s support the new administration and build a Nigeria that we can all be proud of “

Language and literature are linked to human activities, the bedrock of development and advancement of a nation. In a multi lingual nation like Nigeria, language and literature serve as a weapon in promoting unity, making the citizens to respect cultural diversity and the only significant medium through which the manner, moral and heritage of the society are passed from one generation to another (Aliyu, 2010). By understanding each other’s language for instance, the three majority languages: Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa, can make it easy in eradicating most forms of tribal hatred, discrimination and sectionalism in Nigeria and allow even the minority languages to live in any part of the country without fear or intimidation, discrimination, tribalism thus maintain peace and national harmony among the populace.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Language and literature are two intertwined concepts that are essential to human expression and communication. Literature is essentially an art form that utilises language to express thoughts, emotions, and ideas in a beautiful and meaningful way. As popularly alluded to in published literature, language education is a prerequisite in any policy formulation. This means that, the role of language in solving leadership challenges in Contemporary Nigeria cannot be overemphasised. The government should encourage teaching of language and literature in schools especially in the three major languages: Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba and for the students to know their norms and values since none of the language or tribes preach insecurity, corruption and all the immoral acts which will help to aggravate leadership challenges.

The leaders should see that the lives and properties of the citizens are secured, jobs are provided as stated by the incumbent Vice President Kashim Shettima ” Let’s create jobs and give hope to the populace. Once we create jobs, all the madness of insecurity will disappear. There won’t be Boko Haram banditry if this is done, especially for us from North. We can blame the bandit, but we in leadership positions owe it to posterity to address this.”

He furthermore stated that they (the poor) are the most neglected segment of our society. You can hardly differentiate them from their animals. Even the animals they rear belong to those in the city. So, there have to be kinetic and non-kinetic solutions to all the problems. Be it the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) agitation in South-East; be it the challenges in the South-South; be it Boko Haram or rural banditry in the North-East, North-West, and North Central.” The paper therefore re-emphasises that the leaders should make immediate action to stop all acts of challenges and act accordingly thereby implementing what they plan before the situation gets uncontrollable and to the wall!

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