Educational Leadership and Policy in Nigeria: A Backward And Forward Look

This paper examined contemporary issues on educational leadership and policy in Nigeria and the prospects of leadership and policy on Universities. The paper overviewed concepts on leadership, policy and eventually anchored on the situational leadership theory. The paper overviewed analysis of educational evolution in Nigeria, government policies and some scholarly works on the issues discussed. It further explored factors impeding effective educational leadership and policy implementation in Nigeria. The paper after overviewing concepts, discussed a historical perspective of educational leadership in Nigeria, Issues discussed include, political influences on educational leadership, inadequate funding of education, insecurity and challenges confronting educational leadership and policy implementation. Drawing on a multidisciplinary conceptual framework, the paper analyzed policy implementation issues affect effective management of university education in Nigeria. The paper therefore recommended that university stakeholders should ensure proper staff recruitment procedures, adequacy of university personnel and to avoid politicizing governance in Universities.