Leadership Styles and National Development; A Study of some States in South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria

Leadership style significantly influences the success or failure of any government. A leader is someone who guides, directs, and motivates others to accomplish specific tasks while inspiring their team to achieve organizational goals effectively. Leadership style encompasses the methods and approaches used to provide direction, implement plans, and motivate individuals. National Development is understood as the enhancement of the overall well-being of the populace. According to Iremeka (2023), National Development should be interpreted as the process of liberating individuals from poverty, fear, exploitation, poor living conditions, and reliance on foreign aid. It involves not just the improvement of physical infrastructure, which is often evident in urban areas, but also the advancement of social, economic, administrative, and governmental aspects. This study evaluates leadership styles and their impact on National Development in the South- South region of Nigeria, focusing on three specific states. The Taro Yamane formula was applied to determine a sample size of 740 due to the large population, and a correlation coefficient formula was utilized for analysis. Findings indicated that competencies, including personality traits, play a crucial role in developing followers, thereby contributing to national development in the South-South region of Nigeria. The characteristics of a leader’s personality foster leadership traits such as empowerment, commitment, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, trust, and motivation among followers.. The paper recommended among others, a uniform leadership style comprising a combination in bits of many other leadership style while democratic leadership styles take the prominence in practice, not just in theory whereas the leaders must be made accountable by law in breaching the act of leadership style.