“Why Nations Fail” to Develop

This article focuses on the forces that prevent nations fromdeveloping politically, socially, and economically or why some of them have failed toachieve their purpose. It draws profusely from two inspiring books: Why Nations Fail andLeading From the Emerging Future to explore as to whether or not the political leadersof Nigeria can learn any lesson from the seminal work. The books concentrate onpractical approaches that empower political leaders to shift their mind-sets to enablethem to transform their extant extractive political and economic institutions thathinder national development. Unlike previous studies on leadership and development inNigeria, which have observed that the system has been rendered unproductive by poorleadership, this article argues that the problem with Nigeria is that the politicalleaders have failed to shift their engrained mind-sets from “ego-system awareness toeco-system reality” to enable them to build and maintain effective institutions andinfrastructure that drive the economy and develop the nations. It also argues thatdiscussion about the leaders’ mind-set and national development deserves a differentapproach to transform the nation’s ossified institutions into innovative and creativeones. This will encourage the leaders to collectively shift their mental models todesign and implement growth policies that will fit into the 21st-century economy andempower them to lead from the emerging future