Abstract
The prevalence of structural violence in one country and the absence of it in another country is a choice made by the political leadership of the society. This research investigates how political leadership creates structural violence in Nigeria. The study employed the documentary research method secondary sources of data. Over one hundred pieces of literature were downloaded via Google Scholar in searching for related literature, however, about forty (40) works of literature that are very much related to the content of the work were later used for this work. The study revealed that the Nigerian political leadership creates structural violence by engaging in primitive accumulation through mismanagement of state resources, corruption, inadequate infrastructural development, political consideration and uneven distribution of state resources to deny the majority of Nigerians human needs that impede the realization of the anticipated quality of life that individuals are invented to delight in. The study recommends that civil society, religious organizations and the mass media should work cooperatively to sensitise the masses on the need to hold members of the political leadership (Nigerian State, governmental leadership or political elite) like Local government chairmen, State Governors and the Nigerian President among others accountable to prevent them from engaging in primitive accumulation that produces structural violence for Nigerians. The suggested solution will discourage the primitive accumulation of wealth by Nigerian political leadership and ensure effective redistribution of wealth to address the challenge of structural violence.
Keywords: Nigerian state, political leadership, poverty, state, structural violence, civil society