Nigeria Among African Countries With Worst Governance Records, New Report Reveals
By Okafor Joseph Afam
October 24, 2024
A new report has revealed that Nigeria is among several African nations facing a sharp decline in governance. The 2024 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) has listed Nigeria, alongside countries like Botswana, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Senegal, Sudan, and Tunisia, as experiencing worsening governance conditions.
The report paints a troubling picture of the state of governance across the continent. “For the remaining 21 countries, hosting 47.9% of the population, the Overall Governance level is worse in 2023 than in 2014,” the report states. It continues, “For 11 of those – Botswana, Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Guinea, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda – home to almost 1/3 (29.3%) of the population, deterioration is even worsening over the second part of the decade.”
The findings highlight that the decline is largely driven by the deterioration of the Security & Rule of Law dimension, which has been the most affected area since 2014, showing a reduction of -1.6 points. The report also notes setbacks in the categories of Participation, Rights & Inclusion, which fell by -0.2 points from 2014 to 2023. Specifically, Security & Safety and Participation saw the steepest declines, with losses of -5.0 and -4.5 points, respectively.
This comes on the heels of a World Bank report that criticized Nigeria’s economic management under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update described the government’s spending as wasteful and urged it to cut non-essential expenditures, such as vehicle purchases and overseas training programs, in order to focus on more pressing needs.
The governance crisis has been underscored by Nigeria’s persistent leadership challenges, which continue to hinder development. Alongside governance concerns, Nigeria is grappling with a worsening security situation, marked by frequent kidnappings and killings in different parts of the country.
SaharaReporters recently revealed that despite the government spending a staggering N3.2 trillion on security, the situation has failed to improve significantly. The insecurity and the government’s inability to curtail it have left many Nigerians frustrated, as the impact of poor governance is felt in their daily lives.
Although the government insists that it is working to improve the state of the nation, the findings of both the Ibrahim Index and the World Bank suggest that Nigeria’s governance is at a critical crossroads, with urgent action needed to reverse the declining trend.
