Test of Good Governance in Nigeria using World Bank indicators

Abstract

The concern for good governance and its role in development process has increased since 1980s. Nigeria has experienced uninterrupted democracy since 1999. This study carryout a test of good governance in Nigeria using the six indicators of good governance used by World Bank. Specifically, the study determine the effect of voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence and terrorism, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption on economic development in Nigeria using per capita GDP as a proxy for economic development. Inflation rate and oil price were included in the model in order to produce a robust model. Annual data covering 1999 to 2022 were collected from World Bank website. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data while Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model and Bound tests were used to estimate relationship. Findings revealed that the performance of governance in Nigeria in all the six indicators during the period of study was weak. This consequently affect per capita income negatively both in the short-run and long-run. It was concluded that governance has negative effect on economic development in Nigeria. It was recommended that the government should use worldwide indicators to conduct self-evaluation and carry out reforms that will help to improve governance in Nigeria for the purpose of achieving development or improving the wellbeing of Nigerians.