Good Governance And Good Leadership

Normally with elections there is always a lot of fanfare-promises and party politics. We must agree that no nation can dream of development without good governance. Good governance is a culture that makes people act responsibly, thoughtfully and conscientiously.

Politicians and people in power should behave with restraint and avoid abuse of power. People in authority should act within the parameters of the law and take upon themselves the country's concerns, difficulties and hardships. They should remain impersonal in the discharge of their duties and imperturbable in front of critics.

Another important principle of good governance is that the leader/politician/ruler must be sincere and of impeccable character. He must consider himself not a ruler but a servant of the people. Similarly, he should be mindful of his every act, that it should not harm his subjects in any way and he must always act in their best interest.

As a leader, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the people that we serve, in order to feel and empathize with their needs. We have to be open-minded towards any criticisms or complaints and treat them as opportunities to improve ourselves.

We should not dismiss the critics as being overly critical or to think badly of them, without reflecting on the merit of their words. When asking for feedback or in listening to criticism, we also need to be humble, and not to be obsessed with our position or status, and therefore dismissing others.

Even as individuals, we all have our own unique responsibilities of leadership. No matter how small that position of leadership is, we need to observe and understand the required attributes that we should have, in order to carry out our responsibilities well.

(Olaide Usman Atanda. Email add: [email protected])