Good Governance as the 'Pivot' for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Abstract

The need to tackle the scourge of poverty, reduction of inequality, protection of the environment and promotion of well-being of citizens has made scholars and researchers to shift attention to good governance. The aim of this paper is to give an overview on the issues of the sustainable development and to outline its link with good governance. The paper adopted a conceptual approach to elucidate how sustainable development in Nigeria could be achieved if good governance is factored into relevance by the leadership of the country at all tiers of government. In a society still in search for solutions for sustainable development, good governance has always been recognized to be a critical tool for advancing sustainable development and a crucial element to be incorporated in sustainable development strategies to cope with the development agenda. Sustainable development argues that the current use of resources should minimize the level of harm to the future use of resources. Governance is capable of common sense and the versatile planning that is required for sustainable development in Nigeria. Good governance’ is recognized as a complex and multidimensional concept that incorporates a guiding philosophy or set of operating principles, a preferred process or way that people interact with each other, and a desired situation or outcome. The partnership between government, civil society and science offers useful insights into the attributes of good governance and the way that this underpins and facilitates prudent resource management. The success of governance in any organized political system is determined by the quality and quantity of change brought about by such governance, which means that the development of any organized political system is determined by the quality of leadership in government. This paper therefore posits that good governance is a sine qua non of development, and can therefore be the pivot and the vitally needed catalyst for sustainable development in our country.