SERVANT-SHEPHERD LEADERSHIP MODEL AND THE PLACE OF THE CHURCH IN NIGERIA'S LEADERSHIP OUTING

Throughout her national life, Nigeria has been engulfed in leadership-related crises. This study has diagnosed lopsided conception of leadership as the basal Nigerian leadership problem. For a solution, the study proffers reorientation of the Nigerian leadership conception on the servant-shepherd model which is built from Jesus' and pre-colonial Nigerian leadership frameworks of service and shepherding. The study describes ServantShepherd leadership and characterises its mode of operation in concrete situations. It also provides a means of evaluation of the model to test its efficacy and reveal its shortcomings and so generate implications for policy and practice. The role of the Church in fostering the praxis of this model for its ultimate utility in nurturing good interpersonal relationship necessary for authentic living is emphasised.