POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND INFRASTRUTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN BENUE STATE

Abstract The study examines leadership and infrastructural development in Benue State. The study was guided by three specific objectives which include to examine the state of infrastructural development in Benue State, to find out the effect of infrastructural development on Benue economy and to critically look into the challenges facing the infrastructure development in Benue State. The study adopts a survey design with questionnaire used as instruments of data collections. The study was also anchored on the theory of a failed state. Findings showed that the state of infrastructural development in Benue State in very low and the quality of leadership in Benue State does not reflect in the level of infrastructural development. Bad governance and poor leadership is the bane to infrastructural development in Benue State. Thus, Benue State has continued to grapple with the monster of bad leadership which have been the bane of political instability and poor state of development of infrastructure in the State. The study further showed that the state of our infrastructure apart from adversely affecting the state of economic development, has also badly affected the socio environment of the State. It has also negatively affected the standard of living of Benue residents thereby affecting their overall psychological sense of well-being. In virtually all sectors, power, transportation, communication, education and health, the absence of critical and needed infrastructure has affected the deliverables and Nigerians have not enjoyed a robust system that could deliver the best of services to the people. The gap in infrastructure development has adversely affected Benue development trajectory. Thus, despite numerous plans by successive government in Benue State to address the infrastructural deficit in Benue State, the combination of paucity of funds, poor implementation, maintenance culture, corruption, weak fiscal regime and sometimes policy summersault, have worked together to ensure that Benue State is unable to achieve goal as far as infrastructural development is concerned The study recommended that good governance will be the only antidote that can bridge the wide gap. Secondly, good governance promotes accountability, reduces corruption and therefore minimizes resource wastage through inefficiency. And finally, good governance ensures stability (economic and political) and reduces the level of risk associated with large and lumpy infrastructure investments. This in turn facilitates the mobilization of both public and private sector financing resources that are critical for infrastructure development.