POLITICAL LEADERSHIP CRISIS AND FAILED STATES: THE FUNCTION OF FAMILY IMAGINATION (Published)
The penury in the midst of plenty that pervade the walls of many African states is a perplexing paradox that begs for a critical evaluation. That most African failed states are richly endowed is a common cliché albeit a truthful one. But that penury is highest in Africa is indicative of the impact of corruption on the plenty present within the state- ‘with an average per capital income of roughly US one dollar a day, part of Africa remains the poorest in the world.’ Cursory survey reveals that the tempo of corruption in Africa is becoming a cultural phenomenon. In a country like Nigeria, it holds true that the spread of corruption extends to even the little infants in primary school. This paper postulates that even the most primary agent of socialization the family is not speared the marauding finger of corruption. Could Nigerian family system socialize the infant into a corrupt mentality? This paper therefore, interrogates the relationship between the family pattern of behavior especially with regard to sharing of resources and communication to pattern of leadership in some African countries (especially Nigeria) and how this debilitating framework has often been transposed as paradigms for the state leadership. More often than not, the breadwinner enjoys the best part of the share; could such pattern translate to a leadership pattern of demagogues? Operating through the prism of George Larkoff, Albert Bandura and Jean Piaget, the paper proposes that the family pattern of sharing and communication prepares the child for a pattern of leadership that is highly self-serving. Therefore, the fight against corruption in Africa must go back to addressing pattern of family sharing and communication
Keywords: Crisis, Family Imagination, Political Leadership