The Concept and Practice of Good Governance: Lessons from Nigerian History

Abstract

The crisis of the Nigerian statehas largely been attributed topoor leadership and governance deficit. This is epitomised by the large-scale corruption, waste of public resources, misplaced priorities and sheer buffoonery displayed by public office holders. Poor leadership has been a bane largely because there are no benchmarks for leadership and governance. This paper interrogates the concepts of governance and good governance in comparative contexts and highlights attempts by some Nigerian leaders to conceptualize and actualize good governance during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.Reflecting on thewritings and leadership record of Chief ObafemiAwolowo, and contemporary developments, this paper seeks to provoke a conversation on the vexed subject by proposingsome yardsticksfor engendering and benchmarkingminimum standards of good governance in Nigeria at the national and sub-national levels.