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United Kingdom-based Nigerian Professor of Leadership, Christian Harrison, has blamed the apathy of the Nigerian public on weak institutions and a succession of poor systems.

He made the submission while analyzing the country’s perennial socio-political challenges, noting that the relationship between the citizens and the state has fractured due to unfulfilled promises.

According to Harrison, Nigeria’s crisis has evolved beyond individual failures into a deep-seated structural issue. He explained that citizens traditionally approach national transitions with immense optimism, hoping for tangible progress.

“What is happening right now in Nigeria is a leadership challenge. People are losing faith in leaders.When election comes, everybody has hope that things weill get better. There is so much excitement. But at the end, things don’t play out the way it should and people get disappointed, and they lose trust in their leaders,” he said.

This repetitive cycle of heartbreak, he noted, is the primary driver behind the public’s widespread loss of faith in government.

The leadership scholar emphasized that the true measure of effective governance lies in institutional legacy arguing that leaders should build robust frameworks that can outlive their tenures. “Leaders are not able to build strong institutions and systems that would outlast them.”

Harrison also decried the prevailing political culture in the country, where merit is frequently sacrificed on the altar of partisan loyalty.

He observed that the electorate often prioritizes political parties over the actual competence and capacity of the candidates during elections. This flawed reward system, he argued, only serves to entrench mediocrity within the corridors of power.

To salvage the nation, he called for an urgent mindset shift regarding how leadership is perceived, practiced, and rewarded. He stressed that any superficial attempt at reform would fail unless the country addresses the foundational rot from the grassroots up.