Abstract

Bad governance provides a breeding ground for poverty and backwardness. Good governance by implication should enhance development in terms of economic, social and political development. Although many scholars agree that the main problem with Nigeria, as with many African countries, is that there is something wrong with their political office holders, it is nevertheless not strange to discover that in between the two opposites of good and bad governance, scholars continue in hot debates on where to place the blame of the defects of democratic practice in Nigeria. The foregoing debate notwithstanding, this paper addresses itself to a more fundamental issue. It argues, on the one hand, that regardless of whether democracy merely facilitates or necessarily produces economic or social prosperity, and on the other hand that whether or not Nigeria has adopted the right codes in the practice of democracy, some fundamental conditions under which good governance necessarily flows from democratic practices have not yet been met or established in Nigeria. Therefore, it is not sufficient to have good practitioners even where good practice necessarily produces good ends. It is also necessary to put the right and enabling conditions in place. Otherwise, it will be tantamount to employing the best machinery in the wrong direction. However, the paper refrains from prescribing how to or who will ensure establishment of the identified missing quality.