Mo Ibrahim Index…Nigeria’s governance ranking drops

The 2013 Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) released yesterday revealed that Nigeria’s ranking has fallen eight places since 2000. The index shows that 94% of Africans, including Nigerians, live in a country that has experienced overall governance improvement since 2000. But the IIAG, available on the website www.MoIbrahim.org, noted that “Although Nigeria’s overall […]

The 2013 Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) released yesterday revealed that Nigeria’s ranking has fallen eight places since 2000. The index shows that 94% of Africans, including Nigerians, live in a country that has experienced overall governance improvement since 2000. But the IIAG, available on the website www.MoIbrahim.org, noted that “Although Nigeria’s overall governance score has improved since 2000, its ranking has fallen by eight places.”
The report which scored Nigeria 41st out of 52 countries noted that the country has seen a decline in its score for human rights, and rule of law, among others. It scored Nigeria 43.4 (out of 100), lower than the African average (51.6), and 13th position out of 16 countries in the West African region.
It provided full details of Nigeria’s performance across four categories of governance: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
It reads: “Nigeria has seen a notable decline in its score for Participation & Human Rights. Participation & Human Rights measures the protection of human rights, civil and political participation, and gender issues.”
Since 2000, the report observed, “The strongest improvements at continental level are registered in the categories of Human Development, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and, to a lesser extent, Participation & Human Rights. Meanwhile the Safety & Rule of Law category has declined worryingly, showing year-on-year declines since 2010. The IIAG shows a growing diversity in governance results on the continent. There is a widening span in performance between the best and worst governed countries; increasingly noticeable differences between the performance across different categories; and conflicting trends within the categories.”
Also, for a second straight year, no leader has clinched the $5 million Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The foundation’s prize committee announced Monday that it had decided not to award the prize, making it the fourth time there has been no winner in its seven-year history. In 2009 and 2010 there was no winner, but in 2012 the foundation awarded Archbishop Desmond Tutu a one-off $1 million special prize for his lifelong commitment towards “speaking truth to power.”
Previous winners of the Prize for Achievement in African Leadership are President Pedro Verona Pires of Cape Verde in 2011, Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique in 2007 and Festus Mogae of Botswana in 2008. Nelson Mandela was made an honorary inaugural Laureate in 2007. The Ibrahim Prize, which is paid for by Sudanese telecoms billionaire Mo Ibrahim, but decided by committee, is the largest cash prize in the world, amounting to $5m (roughly N800m) over 10 years and then $200,000 (approximately N32m) annually for life.
All efforts to get the Federal Government’s response proved abortive, as the Information Minister, Labaran Maku, did not take his calls and was said to have been in a meeting at the State House. Also, e-mails sent to the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Prof. Chidi Odinkalu and the Executive Secretary Prof. Bem Angwe have not been replied as at press time.
Mo Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said: “Neither Afro-pessimism nor Afro-optimism do justice to modern Africa. This is now the age of Afro-realism – an honest outlook on our continent. It’s about a celebration of its achievements but also a pragmatic acknowledgement of the challenges that lie ahead.”