Repositioning Democratic Governance in Nigeria: Implications on National Economy

Abstract

The value system of Nigeria’s democratic process since 1999 may have been undermined by the absence of good governance in the country’s leadership stream. And despite the craze for unprecedented development in the country even as it dreams of becoming the 20th best economy in the world by the year 2020, Nigeria leadership attitude to accountability, transparency and outright respect for the rule of law may after all remain a major challenge to overcome in the 21st century. The study adopts empirical process by means of charts towards evaluating the quality of governance Nigeria may have witnessed in the post 1999 democratic regimes of Nigeria with emphasis on the annual GDP growth rate statistics, annual GDP achieved (in US$), unemployment rates as co-published by the International Monetary Fund, annual national Budget of Nigeria as published by the World Bank Group and the country’s corruption perception index as rated by Transparency International (TI) for the years 1999 – 2016. These were all employed by the study for graphical evaluation and assessment purpose using charts. Indicative pointers from the charts shows that though the country’s annual budget has continued to rise since 1999, the country’s employment sector has not really benefitted from this acclaimed shoot up given the recent upward movement of the country’s unemployment rate and the consequent downward pace in the rate at which the economy of Nigeria is growing in recent times. Further pointers noted from the corruption perception index chart indicate that the quality of the governance obtainable in the country is a far cry from what good governance really entails. The study however preferred some sensitive policy framework and reliable approaches to these notable challenges currently engulfing the country.