Transparency International has helped to publicise the importance of “good governance” and brought it to discussion boards. The focus is often on third world countries, which create the impression that “bad governance” is exclusively a third world problem. Although bad governance is more pronounced in the third world countries, it is also a problem in the developed countries. There is no doubt that bad governance is the root cause of the ills that have bedevilled the Nigeria economy. Nigeria today aspires to be more developed than the Asia Tigers by the year 2020. Yar’Adua has stated the importance of good government if Nigeria is to achieve this developmental goal.

“Governance” is a word that is often used in different context. For example, you will hear of “Corporate governance”. Governance is probably as old as the human civilisation. One could define governance as the decision-making and implementation processes. One looks at governance in the context of those formal and informal factors that influence decision-making and implementation and structures or forums that have been put in place to arrive at and implement that decision. Governance varies according to the level of government with urban areas being more complex than rural areas. People tend to focus exclusively on government when the issue of governance is mentioned. The truth is that the actors in governance include:

1. Government,
2. Religious leaders,
3. Traditional rulers,
4. Trade associations (Some examples are: Employees Unions, the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Nigeria Bar Association, Nigeria Medical Council, NGOs, the Military, political parties),
5. Co-operatives
6. Financial institutions
7. Multi-national corporations
8. International donors
9. The media
10. Pressure groups

Apart from the government and the military, all other actors are together referred to as the “civil society”. Within the government there exist informal decision-making structures, such as a group made up of trusted advisers, often referred to as “inner cabinets” or “kitchen cabinets”.  Any informal decision-making structures in government are often the source of corrupt practises. 

What does a government have to do if it is to achieve good governance or what are those factors that determine good governance? I have listed below the required attributes. Any government that has the eight characteristics can be classified as having good governance.

1. Follow the rule of law
2. Effective and efficient
3. Equitable and inclusive
4. Responsive
5. Transparent
6. Accountable
7. Consensus oriented
8. Participatory

The main advantage of good governance is that it ensures corruption is minimized, the voices of every interest group (including the minorities) are heard and reflected in decision-making and it’s responsive to the needs of the society.

The rule of law is the backbone of any civilised society. Nigeria requires a truly independent judiciary as well as an impartial and incorruptible police force. The rich and the poor are equal before the law. The legal system should recognise and protect the fundamental human rights of anyone living in Nigeria. Senior Nigeria government officials have over the years treated court judgements with contempt. Some refuse to attend court when summoned. With good governance government attitude towards court judgement is that of swift compliance and leading by example. Justice delayed is justice denied. The Nigerian institutions and processes should be responsive to the need of the people within a reasonable timeframe.

In order to provide for the needs of the society and meet the goals of industrialisation by the year 2020, Nigeria must have processes and institutions that make efficient and effective use of its resources, including its natural resources. Good governance always creates a suitable environment for its citizens to prosper by encouraging rather than constraining productivity.

The new Nigeria society that we are envisaging will be one where all those who live in it will feel that they are part of the mainstream of society with equal stake as everyone else. It will be a society where all, particularly the less privileged members, have equal opportunities to achieve their potential. 

Fundamental to good governance is transparency and accountability of government, institutions and processes. Transparency also ensures that decisions taken and its enforcement are all within approved rules and regulations. There should be freedom of information on matters of public interest. There is no reason why, for example, customers of NITEL, NNPC should not have a copy of their annual audited accounts if they ask for one. This equally applies to any public company, like First Bank, Unilever, Cadbury, Nestle, Guinness, et al, because their decisions affect not only their shareholders but also the general public.

Nigeria, like other societies, has many interest groups whose views and concerns must be taken into account through a negotiation process to reach a desired broad consensus. A case in point today in Nigeria is the Niger Delta crisis, which in the eight years of democracy was not appropriately mediated. Consensus oriented government listens to its citizens, the various interest groups, when setting its development plan to ensure that the plan benefit all interest groups in the society. Consensus requires sacrifice by each interest group, it is easy to achieve where there is good governance.

In conclusion, I will be the first to admit that the characteristics of good governance are difficult but not impossible to achieve in its totality. If we want Nigeria to be the next generation of highly industrialised superpowers, we must set absolute good governance as a goal that must be achieved.

Nigerians are very industrious and ambitious. They must be set free so that they can achieve their full potential. Good governance is the key to unlock their prison door. The time is now.

Robot  Villager

# 1 The rule of law is the backbone of any civilised society. Nigeria requires a truly independ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 14.06.2007 23:48

Oghre  Villager

# 2 It is not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country: JFK Nosa, Leadership must come right after an enabled society, national responsibility, and patriotism. I must tell you why; currently Nigerians are not matured enough to produce their own “Good governance” leaders, the state of the nation is too weak. Check this out, Yar’Adua is supposed to be a moral man, a one eyed man in the land of blind leaders, yet this moral man decided to accept an illegitimate mandate! Where is the sound reasoning in that? Will it not be fair to say at least 75% or more Nigerians are mentally deranged? If we are not all wackos how is it not possible to defeat all odds and fight for a sound leader, one of the people and chosen by the people. Because we lack the necessary credentials to pick responsible leaders we lose our rights to be governed responsibly. We will go nowhere until We change our national psyche and mentality. On this occasion I have to say what we need now is not good governance but good citizenry. Posted by Oghre| 15.06.2007 05:41

Sapele Man  Villager

# 3 =Oghre;183865>It is not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country: JFK Nosa, Leadership must come right after an enabled society, national responsibility, and patriotism. I must tell you why; currently Nigerians are not matured enough to produce their own “Good governance” leaders, the state of the nation is too weak. Check this out, Yar’Adua is supposed to be a moral man, a one eyed man in the land of blind leaders, yet this moral man decided to accept an illegitimate mandate! Where is the sound reasoning in that? Will it not be fair to say at least 75% or more Nigerians are mentally deranged? If we are not all wackos how is it not possible to defeat all odds and fight for a sound leader, one of the people and chosen by the people. Because we lack the necessary credentials to pick responsible leaders we lose our rights to be governed responsibly. We will go nowhere until We change our national psyche and mentality. On this occasion I have to say what we need now is not good governance but good citizenry. Hi Oghre, I can see the point you are driving at. I want you to note that with good governance all the ills you have listed will not happen. I would want you to believe that no country, any human race, that is not mature enough for good governance. Good governance produces legitimate government. Why Nigerians will burrow into a wall when pushed against it is something I can’t fathom Posted by Sapele Man| 15.06.2007 11:23

Enforcer  Villager

# 4 =Oghre;183865>It is not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country: JFK Nosa, Will it not be fair to say at least 75% or more Nigerians are mentally deranged? If we are not all wackos how is it not possible to defeat all odds and fight for a sound leader, one of the people and chosen by the people. Hi Oghre, No, I don't agree. I have not seen any evidence to suggest that 3 out of 4 Nigerians are what you described. If you don't believe me, just take a sample test of your family and relatives. Posted by Enforcer| 15.06.2007 17:28

Auspicious  Villager

# 5 =Oghre;183865>Check this out, Yar’Adua is supposed to be a moral man, a one eyed man in the land of blind leaders, yet this moral man decided to accept an illegitimate mandate! Where is the sound reasoning in that? Hi, Oghre! What would you rather he did? Would you rather he said no, so that: 1>. Atiku will take over? 2>. Buhari will take over? 3>. Orji Kalu will take over? 4>. Yawa takes over, such that: E-verybody run, run, run! E-verybody scatter-scatter! Some peepo nearly die! So-ome ju-ust die! Police dey come, Army dey come Confusion dey every-where (Blah-Blah-Blah) Dem leave Sorrow, Tears & Blood Dem regular tra-ade mark! Dem regular tra-ade ma-ark! Brotherman Oghre, I think Yar'Adua rose to the occasion. I think the current outcome is the best that can come out of a warped arrangement. I think we are lucky it didn't turn out worse. I just hope and pray that Umaru Musa Yar'Adua finds the will, the courage, the integrity, the wherewithal and the sincerity to correct the mess that Olusegun Obasanjo bequeathed him. I hope Umaru does away with Segun's garrullous methods of using evil to do 'good' - of dinning with the destabilizers and usurpers like Adedibus and the Ubas of Oyo and Anambra. I hope he restors the integrity and sanctity of the Presidency, which was reduced to shamless bickerings in the last few years. I hope he continues to respect the Rule of Law as he has shown through his response to the latest Supreme Court verdict. I hope he doesn't allow power corrupt him. I hope he is not a willing or unwilling tool in the hands of the Vipers around. I wish him the best as he tries to win the hearts and minds of the people of the Niger Area. Auspicious. Posted by Auspicious| 15.06.2007 17:48

tonsoyo  Villager

# 6 =Auspicious;184070>Hi, Oghre! What would you rather he did? Would you rather he said no, so that: 1>. Atiku will take over? 2>. Buhari will take over? 3>. Orji Kalu will take over? 4>. Yawa takes over, such that: E-verybody run, run, run! E-verybody scatter-scatter! Some peepo nearly die! So-ome ju-ust die! Police dey come, Army dey come Confusion dey every-where (Blah-Blah-Blah) Dem leave Sorrow, Tears & Blood Dem regular tra-ade mark! Dem regular tra-ade ma-ark! Brotherman Oghre, I think Yar'Adua rose to the occasion. I think the current outcome is the best that can come out of a warped arrangement. I think we are lucky it didn't turn out worse. I just hope and pray that Umaru Musa Yar'Adua finds the will, the courage, the integrity, the wherewithal and the sincerity to correct the mess that Olusegun Obasanjo bequeathed him. I hope Umaru does away with Segun's garrullous methods of using evil to do 'good' - of dinning with the destabilizers and usurpers like Adedibus and the Ubas of Oyo and Anambra. I hope he restors the integrity and sanctity of the Presidency, which was reduced to shamless bickerings in the last few years. I hope he continues to respect the Rule of Law as he has shown through his response to the latest Supreme Court verdict. I hope he doesn't allow power corrupt him. I hope he is not a willing or unwilling tool in the hands of the Vipers around. I wish him the best as he tries to win the hearts and minds of the people of the Niger Area. Auspicious. Exactly brother! Posted by tonsoyo| 15.06.2007 20:23

Oghre  Villager

# 7 Auspicious, As a realist I accepted Yar-Adua for “rising up” to the occasion, yes, he was the best of the bunch and I applaud him for being “educated” and “moral” compared to the likes of Orji, Atiku and Buhari. But what bunch, the constituted self appointed bunch? Could Nigerians not have rebelled and decide with their life blood what bunch they want to pick from could have been? The essence of my post, I mean the one you guys did not grasp in your typical Nigerian mentality (devoid of average democratic reasoning), is that, a nation of 150 million people, one with such international repute for producing noble laureate, brainy scammers, educators, professionals in many fields of endeavour scatters all over Nigeria and the world. The biggest black nation on earth, one the rest of the international black community was looking up to; we surely have not risen to the occasion and continue, if you like, to go backwards rather than stagnant or forward. How can any intelligent person tell me Yar-Adua is the best thing Nigeria can do? Where did that illiterate school of thought emerge from? Nosa Olotu may tell me we are all sane in the country, but I must remind that man there must be parts of our conscious reasoning missing. Sir, it cannot be compared to average “sound reasoning” and if you have not got one of those then we are all NUTS. Auspicious has written so many reasonable posts on this website only to come here and tell me Yar-Adua rose to some occasion, what occasion Sir, The one that will decide your future and that of you future generations? Is it this the national lottery, How doltish can one be? As great as Nigeria is are we saying we cannot produce a decent leader? Where is the morality in all this, where is our national identity and conscience gone, who stole our reasoning faculty? The Nigeria people can go out and face Orji Kalu, babangida, OBJ, Atiku and Yar-Adua; the can defeat any army or police and thereafter demand decent leadership. We are not a monarchy and don’t deserve a coronation. It is not the Nigerian leadership losing us national and international respect; it is Nigerian citizens continuously proving to the world we are not capable of picking decent leadership. Posted by Oghre| 16.06.2007 04:18

Auspicious  Villager

# 8 Hi, Oghre: You said Nigeria is full of people - intellectuals, geniuses, scholars etc. Yet, in the last elections, "the best" they came up with was Shehu's brother who has a "funny" accent, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua - that quiet and soft-spoken but relatively decent and honest guy from a desert sharia state up north called Katsina. Well, check this out: the very advanced (democratically o!) America is full of brilliant people - laureates, scholars, geniuses like the Einsteins et al. Yet, the best they came up with in 2000 and 2004 was a befuddled deer in the headlights - George 'Dubya' Bush - from some desert state down south with the highest statistics of capital punishment in America. That should tell you something - that the emergence of a certain type of leader does not automatically reflect the 'mentality' of a people. Fate or circumstances put certain people in certain situations, fortunately or unfortunately, and such people have the options of either walking away from such situations or "rising to the occassion" for the general good. Perhaps, you should try and understand why it might have been seen by many, as selfish of Mr. Yar'Adua'< to reject the so-called 'poisoned chalice' given him by Mr. Obasanjo. If I were in Mr. Yar'Adua's shoes, I would reflect deeply on my choices and may end up accepting the responsibility - for God and my Country. The man may have risked his integrity (by accepting the situation that providence placed on his head) so that peace may reign. If he is lucky, he might just win the hearts and minds of Nigerians and leave with his integrity intact. Sometimes in life, we have to make such critical decisions which we have to grin and bear. And, what exactly is so terribly wrong about Yar'Adua anyways, that you, Oghre, feel it is an "illiterate" mentality to believe he is the best suited for President? Fine, he may not be the best but..must a society come up with the so-called "best" to forge along? Was Bill Clinton the best for America? Was Tony Blair the best for the United Kingdom when he arrived? I ask because, a lot of their people do not think these people are the best - that a man who solicits Blow-Jobs in the Oval Office and has the Whitewater Scandal to his name is just not fit to be their leader. That a man who followed a bumbling GWB to a stupid war in Iraq does is undeserving of leading Great Britian. Yet, these leaders have their own legacies and achievements despite that, technically, they were NOT the best their societies had to offer. I believe the same is possible with Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. Is he not a considerable improvement over the recklessly brash, garrullous and coveting Obasanjo - talk less of his superior educational background? Oghre, don't be too quick to diss your people - a people so pummelled, exploited, decieved for so long that the willpower to stand and fight will be better chanelled to feeding and clothing themselves. Ever wonder why strike actions hardly last past the third day in in Nigeria? The Syrians, Lebanese and Ukranians, I heard, go to rallies with bottled water and fresh apples and camping gear, wearing Levis jeans and Timberland shoes. Well? Beat that! I do not make excuse for the situation - wether on the part of the people or on the part of the so-called ruling elite; I am simply saying there is time for everything. A time for peace and a time for revolution. God forbid the exploitation goes on in Nigeria but if it does, a time will come when the nation will implode, from OPC to Arewa to MASSOB and MEND. June 12 was the closest to that era and, had that gap-toothed buffoon not stepped aside..tut-tut-tut! Alas, right now, the time just isn't right - but it is not so much as a time issue, but the frustrations peoples of the Niger Area has not reached its boiling point yet. And we should count ourselves lucky for that - that their may not be a need for a violent uprising to arise, because a few good men may emerge from amongst the band of looters and thugs across the land. The best may actually be the worst. A President Soyinka or Fawehinmi or Achebe may end up far worse than President Obasanjo or Yar'Adua because of his radicalism or 'intellectual arrogance'. In Yar'Adua, I see what may be a simple, honest and unassuming man who can possibly be tough when the occassion arised. I see a disciplined, measured and thoughtful man. And I hope to God I am right. We understimate the complexity of that land called Nigeria, where there is little unity amongst the various constituents and hence, organizing a unified force against the status-quo is almost impossible to achieve. The land is full of distrusts and animosities that the leaders have exploited over the years. It is not Lebanon or Ukraine, my friend. Pray, that the revolution you ask for does not come in that land, Oghre. Pray that we continue to inch forward, albeit painfully slow. Because if or when a revolution comes, it will swallow your family and mine - it will be bloody. It will be felt everywhere, from Ghana to Kenya; from Egypt to South-Africa. It will be Armageddon in Africa - one which will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of everyone. Let's be thankful for little mercies. Auspicious. Posted by Auspicious| 16.06.2007 11:19

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 9 Haba Auspy!! The way you are sermonising is enough to make Ula-lisa jealous and Paul green with envy. I sincerely hope you will be given the pulpit on Sunday!! You richly deserve it. Now to your initial question What would you rather he did? Would you rather he said no, so that: I appreciate his saying Yes, but after that what next? A honest man would tell the world the elections was a fraud and would not sit down looking for ministers. The first thing he would do is to embark on dismantling all the fraudulent structures that brought him to power, and instead erect a more fortright structures in their place with a view to conducting another elections in the nearest future. He does not need more than six months to do this. If after that Nigerians, in a free and fair elections decide to elect him, good. He would then have the moral right to act as the elected President of Nigeria. Accepting his fraudulent imposition on Nigeria as if it is the most natural thing to do is to make him an accessory to the evil. Posted by Mikky jaga| 16.06.2007 15:45

Auspicious  Villager

# 10 =Mikky jaga;184251>I appreciate his saying Yes, but after that what next? A honest man would tell the world the elections was a fraud and would not sit down looking for ministers. The first thing he would do is to embark on dismantling all the fraudulent structures that brought him to power, and instead erect a more fortright structures in their place with a view to conducting another elections in the nearest future. Hi, Mr. Jagga! Na wa for sermonizing and pontificating o'jere! It is about time some of us hijack those sermons from those who purport to preach it, and do more balanced job at it. As our people would say in Yorubaland, enu dun r'ofo - it is easy to boast of your cooking skills - - it is easier said than done. It is easy for either Auspy or M. Jagga to come on NVS to compel Mr. Yar'Adua to order dissolutions front, rear, right, left and center. What, is he a Military Head of State? Nope. Will he operate by Decrees? Absolutely not! Like I said, Nigerians are a complex people - the country is a complex society. A lot of people will protest such a move, such that a man whose legitimacy is in question in the first instance may not survive the likely outcome of any rash move on his part - just as June 12 consumed the gap-toothed mor-on, and the '3rd Term' business almost consumed Oga with the "big fat stomach" (Respects, Fela). A lot of people have spent so much time, energy and resources on recent politics and such people would protest such move. I am not talking of those with stolen mandate in Anambra and Oyo o (who would most-likely join in the protestations too) - no . I am talking about the people with genuine mandates - because some do have them here and there. You think they would keep quiet? I don't think so. Mr. Yar'Adua appears to know the cross he bears here, otherwise he would not have addressed the issue of his controversial election in the very first paragraphs of his inaugural speech. Handling the issue requires thoughtful, level-headed approach; not an activist or radical approach that may set-off the kind of chain-reaction that certain powerful forces within the polity will only be too glad to exploit. I believe that is what is guiding his approach so far. Let's be thankful for little mercies. Posted by Auspicious| 16.06.2007 16:21

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