Democracy And Good Governance The Nigerian Experience

This study was centered on Democracy and Good Governance; the Nigerian Experience. Democracy  is  a  system  of  government  through  which  the  people  choose their  leaders and  hold their  leaders accountable  for  their  policies  and  their  conduct  in  office.  The people decide who will represent  them  in parliament, and who will head the government at the national and local levels.  They do so by choosing between competing parties in regular, free and fair elections.  It  is  also designed to  allow  all  citizen irrespective  of  their social  status,  religion,  ethnic  or  gender  status  to  have  a  voice  in  decision  making,  thereby  promoting  good governance  and  enhance  socio-economic development  of the  country.  The  question  is,  to  what  extent  has  this principle  been  achieved  in  contemporary  Nigeria?  The  study  argues  that  issues  such  as  corruption,  ethnic militancy, pipe line vandalization, kidnapping, thuggery, child trafficking, corruption, lack of observance of rule of law, honesty, transparency and violent ethno-religious crisis are the bane of good governance and accelerated socio-economic development in Nigeria. It was suggested that for democracy and good governance to thrive in Nigeria as a parameter for achieving rapid socio-economic development, the system must observe the rule of law, transparency and accountability.