Nigeria has remained classified as a developing country (World Bank, 2003). There has been no significant attempt to identify leadership characteristics of Nigeria’s presidents that might have inhibited Nigeria’s attainment of sustained economic development. In this exploratory, qualitative, historical, single case study, the demographic and leadership characteristics of Nigerian presidents that might have contributed to the economic growth or decline from 1960 to 2004 were examined. The study was based entirely on secondary data including: (a) demographic (age, gender, education, religion, ethnicity, military status, and manner of ascension/exit); (b) leadership (transformational, transactional, servant, dictatorial/authoritarian); and (c) economic growth (Real Gross Domestic Product and growth accounting indicators). The findings revealed that: (a) leadership characteristics and some demographic characteristics of Nigeria’s presidents influenced Nigeria’s economic development; (b) economic growth in Nigeria has not been sustained; (c) inadequate leadership contributed to lack of sustained economic growth; (d) military rule contributed to inadequate leadership; and (e) Ineffective leadership, not resource availability, was responsible for the lack of economic development.