High Cost of Governance and the Challenges of National Development in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

Abstract

There is no gainsaying the fact that, the cost of governance in Nigeria is too high and has in no small way hindered the Nation’s development both human and infrastructural. It is also one of the reasons why corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society. This is evident in the level of stark poverty of many in the midst of the provocative opulence of the few, the collapse of the health care system, education has become as unattainable as the sky, politico-economic infrastructure resulting to the pauperization and near elimination of Nigerian middle class, pollution of values and culture as shown in massive corruption and indecency, high level of indiscipline, moral decadence, the resurgence of dangerous dimension of ethnicity, insecurity of lives and property as well as political violence (Adamu, 2008). All these malaise and quagmires have become features of Nigerian state as a result of lack of meaningful development. This paper is an attempt to not only conceptualize cost of governance and national development in Nigeria, but to also bring to the fore the effects on the nation’s development and come out with possible solutions which if adhered to, will reduce the cost of governance in Nigeria and revolutionize our society for better.