By Prince Olalekan Olagunju
Nigeria had experienced various forms of government in the course of its sovereignty as an independent nation, but the journey has been characterised by leadership without sincerity of purpose and total commitment to the wellbeing of her citizens. Despite this fact, there still remains few dynamic and imaginative leaders (past and presently) who dared to be different and determined to rule and live by good examples.
Although Nigeria has been on a democratic platform for about 25 years, a lot still needed to be done in order to stand firm, stabilised and consolidate on sound democratic structure. Democracy by definition is a “government of the people by the people and for the people”. In Aristotle’s words, “Every man is a political animal” while Plato said “The price good people pay for indifferent to public life is to be ruled by evil men”. Hence, political wellness or stability of any nation rests upon concerted efforts of all its members with good intention.
The word democracy is derived from two Greek words ‘demos’ meaning people and ‘kratia’ meaning ‘rule’ or government. In other words, democracy implies that, the government be made up of the generality or representatives of the people; formed and installed by the people and exists for the welfare of the people.
.Consequently, democracy is an open government because it is a public affair. It permits and protects human rights. It is a government by debate, consultation, persuasion, discussion; and not a rule by arbitrary will, whims and caprices or dictate of few individuals. It is the people that are made up of the foundation of the democratic polity. The legal sovereignty is vested in the people and ultimately it is they who rule. This is what Nigeria should look up to; obeying and complying with the wish of the people.
Democracy has made it possible for people to hold power either directly or through elected representatives, rather than by class, group or individual. Modern democracy has evolved out of demand for political and legal equality; economic and social equality etc.; these factors provoked/ignited American and French revolutions. Therefore, contemporary western democracy is based on competing party system, with emphasis on rule of law and freedom of expression.
Furthermore, democracy means a government by the people, especially, rule of the majority; government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held credible, free and fair elections. It includes a political unit that has a democratic government; the common people especially constituting the source of political authority and the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges. Undoubtedly, America democratic structure and precedence had been operating on these principles for hundreds of years.
Consequently, Nigerians (government and governed) should work to move the country forward for the benefits of our posterity by giving priority attention to governance with prudence management our resources and accountability.
As Nigeria witnessed another democratic cycle, it be hooves people elected and appointed to various posts or positions to adhere with the rules of accountability and transparency, see their positions as an avenue to serve, that is, delivering of good governance to Nigerians, eschew unscrupulous tendencies from their thinking, bridle their conducts by guiding their desires against financial impropriety; but filled with urge to make life better for the people; they should work toward rebuilding Nigeria economy.
Nigeria, a country endowed with abundant natural, mineral and human resources is grappling with problem of development and national cohesion. She has been afflicted by under-development and overtaking by other developing countries notably Singapore, Taiwan, North and South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Venezuela, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago etc. At the moment, she is faced with myriad of problems, such as poverty, corruption with impunity, moral decadence, insecurity, kidnapping, ethno-religious crises amongst others. These problems can be attributed as fallouts of bad governance.
The quality of public administration is important for economic competitiveness and societal well-being. The impact of good governance and effective public administrative system is to ensure sustainable economic growth and stable polity. It is undisputable that good governance is crucial to economic growth because it enhances human development which in turn is the hub around which other developmental activities revolve. Only efficient and effective public and civil administrative system can deliver the dividends of democracy.
In political science, the function of government is to secure/ensure the common welfare of the members (citizens) of the social inclusivity upon which it exercises control.
Good governance is an omnibus term used in international development literature/discourse to describe how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources. Governance is a process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented or reviewed. The term governance applies to government at all levels (local, state federal), international, national, corporate; and the interactions between other sectors of society, even down to the family levels.
The concept of good governance often emerges as a benchmark to compare effective economies of political parties with viable economies and vibrant political structure. It is centred on the responsibility and accountability of governments and governing bodies to meet the needs of the people as opposed to select groups in society. Report has confirmed and even glaring that Nigeria’s God given natural resources are in the hands of about 1percent of Nigerians of over 200 million people. This fact does not need Nigerians call for “lifting the veil of incorporation.”
As a result, good governance is the processes for making and implementing correct/right and best decisions. Good decision-making processes serve as inroads to good governance, with adjudged attributes, such as accountability; transparent; applying the rule of law (independent
of the judiciary); responsive to yeaning of the people without recourse to violence or force; participatory (no winner takes it all); effective and efficient (not wasteful or extravagant) prudent, equitable and inclusive; firm with consistent and outstanding policies etc.
As democracy allows every citizen the right to vote, Nigerians (people) of age should jettison all apathy toward elections by registering and equipping themselves with their Permanent Voters cards (PVC) and ready to cast their votes wisely without sentiments whenever the time comes.
Our politicians should put the interest of the state (country) above their personal interest; be role models, ready to deliver on their promises and create value for people, imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship, abide by the rules of the game. More importantly, Nigeria must uphold rule of law as a non-negotiable instrument of national development; our electoral system should conduct free and fair election where the results reflect the will of the people as Nigerians need leaders, not rulers, who will develop the nation human capital and material resources cautiously and transparently. And most of all, we should all work and pray for leaders and people with fear of God to make life better for our posterity.
Olagunju write from Crawford University, Ogun State, Western Nigeria.
