Democracy and good governance: Nigeria’s dilemma
Despite its enormous resources and huge potentialities, Nigeria remains grossly undeveloped.
Consequently, political instability, abject poverty, acute youth unemployment, heightened crime rate,
poor health prospects and widespread malnourishment have been the main features of Nigeria’s
political economy. The development tragedy in Nigeria fits into the trends of political instability for
which Africa has become infamous for in the past three decades. This further lends credence to the
arguments by some students of African politics that governance is one of the major problems in Africa.
This paper argues that the problem of development in Nigeria is a problem of governance; when
defined in term of the proper, fair and equitable allocation of resources for the achievement of the end
or purposes of the state, which is the promotion of the common good. The paper submits that for good
governance to be feasible in Nigeria, sound anti-corruption policies devoid of mere speeches must be
put in place. Furthermore, the paper recommends a functional legislature, a viable and independent
judiciary, and the attitudinal transformation on the part of the political elite, the absence of which good
governance and development will continue to be a mirage