Book excerpt: At the heart of the litany of Nigeria’s public sector problems is a fundamental crisis of governance. The current crisis of development in Nigeria can be attributed in part to a history of poor governance characterized by corruption, social injustice and political instability. Effective leadership and governance are critical to a country’s economic and sociopolitical development. During the 1950s and 1960s Nigerian public sector was regarded as one of the best in Africa, today it is ranked among the worst in the world. The factors isolated include ineffective control of corruption, lack of rule of law, poorly articulated government policies, and poor policy implementations. The implications for Nigeria have been a regressive leadership, poor governance and the lack of social and societal development.