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LEADERSHIP AND IT'S EFFECTS ON PERFORMANCE, ACHIEVEMENT AND GOAL REALIZATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Out of the twenty three (23) local government councils in Kaduna State none has met the expectations and aspirations of the electorate who voted them into office. Some people blamed the disappointment on the council leaders. Studies in leadership is as controversial as the concept itself. At the local government level there are numerous leaders. The Local government chairman is a leader, just as the Director of Human Resources. The Treasurer is a leader just as the Director of works. Nobody will declare the Head Driver, the Head of security, the Head Messenger etc as non-leaders. They are all leaders in their own rights.

Even if this research is concerned mainly with political leaders it may seek to find out if leaders are born or made. In other worlds, is good leadership a product of appropriate training or talent from God? For instance, is Muritala Mohammed good leadership a product of his training? Is Obafemi Awolowo’s credible leadership as premier of the defunct Western Region a reflection of his training? President Nelson Mandela spend 22 years in prison. After was this the outcome of his training while in detention? This research will try to establish the role of fund, personnel, cooperation, fellowship and of course, leadership in the delivery of dividends of democracy at the gross roots level.

This study on the relationship between leadership and its effects on performance, achievement and goal realization is carried on at the Kaduna South Local government as a case study. There are many theories and principles on leadership styles and their application in organized private set like banking, manufacturing, industry etc. Can these also apply and work out the same way in a politically influenced and controlled like the local government particularly in a federation such as Nigeria?

In carrying out any collective task leadership is a major element which bring about either success or failure leadership plays central role in offering direction and purpose towards achieving set goals of an organization including Kaduna South Local ;government. It is also an important element in the social relationship of groups of work. Leadership is the main factor that determines and sharpens group behaviour especially when it is correctly applied. In his approach, each employee enjoys a feeling of strong commitment and dedication towards achieving organizational goals. Regardless of inequality of members of staff appropriate leadership style can serve as a maginet drawing every body to the centre there by providing a formidable workforce. As the saying goods unity is strength.

However, Kaduna South Local government goals can never be achieved without proper leadership style in place. It is important not that the effective performance of an individual employee is a function of both his personal characteristics and the individual environment. A careful consideration of knowledge, skills, experience, attitude and motivation of an employee enhance maximum productivity and efficiency in the job. Since leadership deals with the human resource element, it provides the basis for effective utilization of material resources in an organization through individual skills, know ledge and ability.

According to Merenu (1988) Leadership is the most influential person in an organization who provides direction, guides, group activities and ensure that group objectives are obtained. Leadership is the life wire of an organization. Douglas Mc Gregor theory X and theory Y is of the view that leaders, attitude towards subordinates has a large influence on how such workers behave both on the job and towards their leader. It is how ever important to note that no single leadership style is likely to be effective in all circumstances. Leadership styles vary based on social political environment and other circumstances.

Finally, an effective leader is measured by his ability to manage and withstand forces around him and how to effectively utilize human and material resources to ATTAIN ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVE. DOUGAS MCGREGOR, put it clear that there is a close relationship between leaders’ expectation and the resulting performances of the subordinates. A pertinent question which this research seeks to answer is “can leadership style enhance or hinder the delivery of dividends of democracy at the local government level.”

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 

The problem identified by the researcher is the perceived poor service delivery by the various Local Government councils in Nigeria. Many Nigerians are dissatisfied with performances of Local Governments in the country. It could be assessed that more than 80% of the 774 Local government councils in Nigeria have nothing to show for their existence in terms of executing public policies within their areas of jurisdiction, especially from 1999 to 2011. This research is therefore set out to investigate factors which are responsible for poor or low productivity in Kaduna south local government area.

Several factors are suspected to be responsible for this political factor such as shortage of fund and qualified staff, state government interference etc. however this study picked one of the factors, leadership. One thinks that of all the factors promoting high productivity or satisfactory delivery of dividends of democracy, leadership is the most important.

This is so, because, he has to combine, control and direct all other factors to achieve the set objectives. In other worlds, this work wishes to isolate concentrate on local government political leader and his administrative style with the view to identifying the degree or level of his contribution to the delivery or non-delivery of dividend of democracy from year 2000 to 2010 in Kaduna south local government area of Kaduna state.

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