I. Introduction

Is there a relationship among the three concepts of this paper – communication, governance and development? Here, we refer to communication that is effective, governance for the public good and enduring/sustainable development. Is there a meeting point among these seemingly distinct variables?

A. Communication

Communication is the transmission of information from one party to another through the use of symbols within the frame of reference of both parties. Thus, communication is useful when meaning is understood.

Rogers (1983) defines communication as “information flowing in linear, vertical fashion from an expert source through local opinion leaders and change agents, who are generally more powerful local elites, out to receivers. This accords with the N-flow theory of communication. But according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, communication is “the exchange of information, news, ideas or opinions”. Hence Opubor (1976) defines communication as “the sharing of experiences”.

According to him:

It may involve two people interacting in a face-to-face situation, it may involve one person telling folktales in the presence of a participating group; it may involve many people reading the thoughts of one person, or hearing his voice over the radio.

Uche (1990), therefore, defines communication as:

The process of disseminating ideas and for transferring information, values, attitudes and promoting new behavioural patterns that would encourage attitudinal change that is germane for creating a conducive environment for social, political and economic transformation of the individual and his social system.

Moemeka (1989) quotes a report of a working committee on communication in support of development at the annual meeting of the International Broadcasting Institute held in Cologne, Germany in 1973 as having defined communication as “the transfer of information between individuals or groups of individuals by human and technical means”. But the individual also communicates at two fundamental levels i.e. within the self (intra-personal) and without the self (inter-personal). And communication within, is invariably, the precursor to communication without, whether at personal or organizational level. In the case of inter-personal communication, the “human or technical means” or channels of effecting the “transfer of information between individuals or groups of individuals” constitute the media of communication. These media can be classified into verbal and nonverbal, traditional or what has become known as oral media as well as modern channels of mass communication.

Generally, in the communication process, two forms of information are sent and received i.e. facts and feelings. Facts, here, relate to information that can be objectively measured or described, such as the retail price of a new product; advertisement rates; number of roads, bridges, schools and hospitals in a community; and the number of community members employed by government or an organization as part of its corporate social responsibility during a period under consideration. These facts can be communicated verbally or in written documents and can be transformed into digital symbols and stored in computers.

Feelings, on the other hand, are emotional responses to decisions made or actions taken by other people. Although feelings can be communicated verbally or in written documents, they are more often communicated as non-verbal facial expressions, tone of voice, individual mannerisms or body postures. But communication is not a one-directional dissemination of information. It is a two-way process which could lead to communication effectiveness, the true measure of which is feedback. Without feedback, communication is incomplete. Therefore, communication is not to be equated to dissemination. The volume of information sent out by the government and/or its agencies does not guarantee that the target audience has been reached or influenced. Feedback is essential to any effective communication programme. This is because feedback helps to modify and tailor future messages to ensure desired audience responses.

Therefore, effective communication is not like a wink at the object of one’s admiration in the dark which of course will go unnoticed, a whisper to the deaf, a gesture to the blind or a threat of severe discipline to a corpse. Feedback completes the communication cycle.

This paper concentrates, without altogether neglecting traditional communication modes, on the mass media as the vehicles of communication bearing in mind the heterogeneity of our environment and because the mass media have become a vital instrument for social, political and economic change. This they achieve through the discharge of their primary objectives i.e. to inform, educate and entertain.

A “medium” is to be understood here to mean a technical system that helps in the transmission, distribution, or reception of messages. It enables communication take place when senders and receivers are not communicating face-to-face”. The term, “Media”, is the plural for medium and “mass media” applies to the various means of reaching out to vast and heterogeneous audiences for the purpose of communication and can be broadly classified into print and electronic media, made up of newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, radio, television, films, records, audio tapes, the Internet and so on.

The functions of the mass media are practically the same in every society. However, the type of press system practiced in a particular society will, to a large extent, determine the functions performed by the mass media in that society. They are vehicles for public information, socialization, entertainment and education, offering forums for debates and discussions, the promotion and transmission of culture through reportorial, interpretive and discursive promotions and features from a variety of sources. They facilitate social change and have a capacity not only to reflect but also to shape opinion and the forming of attitudes.

From the functions of the mass media stated above, there is no doubt that the mass media perform very important functions in society including the articulation of government policies and programmes and the co-ordination of feedback from their audiences. In the process of performing these functions, the mass media also get involved in big business and its operations have become big business in the world as they meet people’s various needs.

B. Development

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (p. 374) defines “development” as: “the gradual growth of something, so as to become bigger or more advanced”. The same dictionary defines the word “develop” as: “To grow or gradually change into a larger, stronger or more advanced stage”.

Chambers Dictionary (2001) goes on to define the term “develop” as:

to bring out what is latent or potential; to bring a more advanced or highly organized state; to work out the potentialities of; to elaborate; to cause to grow or advance; to evolve… to make more available; to exploit the natural resources (of a region); to build on or prepare (land) for building on etc.

The dictionary, therefore, defines “development” as: “The act or process of developing; the state of being developed; a gradual unfolding of growth, evolution etc.” At the individual level, according to Rodney (1974, p. 9). development implies:

Increased skill and capacity, greater freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility and material well- being. Some of these are virtually moral categories and are difficult to evaluate depending, as they do, on the age in which one lives, one’s class, origin, and one’s personal code of what is right and what is wrong. However, what is indisputable is that those aspects of personal development is very much tied to the state of the society as a whole.

Hence Beltran (1974) is of the view that national development is: a directed and widely participatory process of deep and accelerated socio-political change geared toward producing substantial changes in the economy; the technology, the ecology and the overall culture of a country, so that the moral and material advancement of the majority of its population can be obtained within conditions of generalized quality, dignity, justice and liberty.

Uche (1990) defines development as A continuous process of harnessing all the available human and material resources of a society in a way that is compatible with the cultural expressions of its people, with the final goal of achieving a quality living standard that is based on satisfaction, justice, equality, liberty, happiness, freedom and progress.

It is the view of Tehranian (1985) that development is the growing, Learning and communication capacity of a society to empower its members to define, negotiate and solve their own social problems autonomously. Apparent in the above conceptions of development is the inevitable link between social goal attainment and communication. In referring to development, therefore, as “people changing themselves”, Schramm (1964) is convinced that:

It is not an entirely impersonal, inflexible process. If the flow of communication will permit, the people can have a great deal to do with setting goals and deciding when and how they could change and what they want their society to change into.

Rogers (1976) on his own part views development as a widely participatory process of social change in a society, intended to bring about social and material advancement for the majority of the people through their gaining greater control over their environment.

Therefore, Wilson (2005, p.127) concludes that simply put, development:

  1. a)

    Should be a collective enterprise in the hands of the people;

  2. b)

    Is not necessarily technology based;

  3. c)

    Is process based and participatory and reflects positive social change;

  4. d)

    Is goal-oriented; and

  5. e)

    Is a planned integrative process.

Derivable from the above is the fact that “development” can be viewed from the narrow perspective of economic and technological process to the wider and more complex historical, social, cultural, political, economic, ecological, psychological and spiritual occurrences of our time. However, development does not manifest in a vacuum. It does not come about from nothing. Development is the outcome of a response to a stimulus or a set of stimuli, communication being one of such and government policy, another.

Ultimately, development Implies change. According to Mowlana (1988):

Development can be evolutionary as is the case of modernization, nationalism, political and economic development as well as technological diffusion. It can also be revolutionary as in the case of imperialism and underdevelopment, revolution, liberation and human development.

Invariably, the term “development” is an umbrella under which all phenomena ranging from human and spiritual evolution to nationalism and community growth, and from organizational change to managerial techniques, can be evaluated. The term can sometimes seem an amorphous concept whose meaning is dependent on who is using it and under what circumstances. However, inherent in the meaning and philosophy of development will be the value system of any community and nation in which a variety of economic, political, spiritual, social and cultural activities are under examination. It is through these processes that specific developmental goals are identified, information content is formed, the functions and channels of communication are specified and bureaucracy, infrastructure and management are organized.

In all, development should be seen as a process of modernization leading essentially to a change of attitudes and psychological characteristics. These, in turn, should lead to competitive individual upward mobility within the parameters of social solidarity with or affirmations of cultural identity in the polity in question.

Generally, therefore, development finds expression in:

  1. a)

    National integration;

  2. b)

    Socio-economic mobilization;

  3. c)

    Political participation;

  4. d)

    Improved living standards

  5. e)

    Cultural and spiritual transformation; and

  6. f)

    Broadening and deepening of formal and informal educational opportunities.

Specifically, however, each society must attempt to define its own strategies for development particularly the participatory forms and dialogic strategies. After all, the goal of development is to meet the needs of the entire population through domestic resources and efforts.

C. Governance

Governance is as old as human civilization. In simple terms, "governance" is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance, regional governance and local governance or to the interaction between other sectors of the society.

Governance and what is required for effective governance find expression in many forms. Each form of governance is influenced by the form the network takes including the activities that influence the structure, culture and resourcing of the organizational network. In addition, even if mandated, as in participatory democracy, voluntary collaboration requires a full range of tools such as authority, inducement, persuasion and standard-setting to be successful. Depending on existing structures, each form of governance invariably inclines toward authority and formal (vertical and horizontal) lines of communication and often employ inducement as an incentive. And even when resourcing is a priority, existing cultures exert a significant influence.

An analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementation of the decisions made as well as the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decisions. Government is one of the formal actors in governance. Other actors involved in governance vary depending on the level of government that is under discussion. In rural areas, for example, other actors may include influential land lords, opinion leaders, associations of peasant farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, finance institutions, and political parties among others.

All actors other than government and the military are grouped together as part of the "civil society." In some countries in addition to the civil society, organized crime syndicates also influence decision-making, particularly in urban areas and at the national level. Similarly, formal government structures are one means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. At the national level, informal decision-making structures, such as "kitchen cabinets" or informal advisors may exist. In urban areas, organized crime syndicates such as the "land Mafia" (the ‘youth leaders’, Area Boys, omo onile in Yoruba land or in Asaba area, ndi ego di n’oshia) etc may influence decision-making. In some rural areas, locally powerful families may make or influence decision-making, and such informal decision-making is often the result of corrupt practices or leads to corrupt practices.

Good governance is an indeterminate term used in international development literature to describe how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources in order to guarantee the realization of human rights. The concept of "good governance" often emerges as a model to compare ineffective economies or political bodies with viable economies and political bodies.

Because the governments treated in the contemporary world as most "successful" are often liberal democratic states concentrated in Europe and the Americas, institutions in those countries often set the standards by which to compare institutions in other states when talking about governance. Again because the term good governance can be used to measure the performance of other forms of governance, aid organizations and the authorities of developed countries often tend to relate good governance to a set of requirement that conform to the respective organization’s agenda, thus making "good governance" imply many different things in many different contexts. However, in international affairs, any of the following relationships can be used to analyse good governance:

  • between governments and citizens,

  • between governments and markets,

  • between governments and the private or voluntary sector,

  • between elected officials and appointed officials,

  • between local institutions and urban and rural dwellers,

  • between legislature and executive branches, and

  • between nation states and institutions.

The varying types of comparisons comprising the analysis of governance in academic and practical discussions can cause the meaning of “good governance” to vary greatly from one forum to another. Hence, good governance may be viewed differently in different places but will always be designed to be genuinely inclusive and accountable, giving all the people an equal opportunity for involvement.

According to Sheng (2001), good governance invariably embraces the following eight major characteristics:

  1. 1)

    It is participatory – Participation by both men and women is a major cornerstone of good governance. Participation, which of necessity should be informed and organised, could be either direct or through intermediate institutions or representative. This implies freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an informed civil society on the other.

  2. 2)

    It is consensus-oriented – Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community.

  3. 3)

    It is accountable – Not only the government and its agencies are required to be accountable to the public and to their institutions, the private sector and civil society organisations must also be seen to be above board in this regard.

  4. 4)

    It is transparent – Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement should be done in consonance with extant laws and regulations. It also implies that information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement and that this information should be provided in easily understandable forms and media.

  5. 5)

    It is responsive – Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.

  6. 6)

    It is effective and efficient – Good governance implies that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment.

  7. 7)

    It is equitable and inclusive – A society’s well-being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel marginalised or excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires that all groups, particularly the most vulnerable, are offered opportunities to improve or maintain their well being.

  8. 8)

    It follows the rule of law – Good governance requires the full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities and the underprivileged. This is facilitated by fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially, an independent judiciary and an organised civil society.

Therefore, good governance assures that corruption is minimised, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in the society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.

Obviously, good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. Indeed, very few countries and societies have come close to achieving good governance in its idyllic form. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality.

II. Discussion

Communication, in quite different ways, is an indispensable tool of development efforts and the social life of every society. Communication media affect individuals and groups within the society in various ways depending on their perception of media and their anchored latitudes. However, each community, state or country must have to find its own path in terms of its values and culture, its resources and ideals and in a way that respects human rights, basic needs, social justice, the world’s fragile ecology and national interest.

This is because different eras have been marked by different paradigms of communication and development which have suited the temperaments of the time and which seemingly proposed new dimensions, that experience suggests, had been lacking. However, each paradigm has implied the kind of changes or re-arrangement of social political, cultural and economic priorities, a factor that explains the often-bitter debate among communication researchers. According to Okigbo (1985):

In this field of study, scholars have found themselves in a vicious cycle of self-defeating prophecy. The poor result derived from applying the theory of development based on models of agricultural extension and knowledge gap have led to the abandonment of further efforts to research communication and development.

Accordingly, this abandonment “places scholars even further from formulating a grand theory of development communication” (Okigbo, 1985). And as Mawlana (1988) sums it up, development is “a field in search of itself”; because in the main, “development is everything and everything is development.”

All scholars, however, agree that communication has a vital role to play in good governance and sustainable development. The development needs and the environment in which the communication is to take place determine appropriate media selection from inter-personal through participatory (group) media to the mass media.

It is, therefore, to be noted that the sole employment of modern communication media, in the face of globalization, to reach rural communities where modern infrastructure particularly electricity and telecommunication are inadequate or expensive, as a catalyst for political mobilization, social and economic development, is neither desirable nor would it be effective.

There are no newsagents or vendors in many rural communities and rural or community newspapers are mostly non-existent. Where they do at all, their life span is short. Community radio and television stations have never existed at all. More-over, there is a declining reading culture among the populace who, disenchanted with a massively corrupt and inept political elite whose activities dominate the mass media and the absence of visible socio-economic development in the country, now patronize the electronic media more for their entertainment value than for news and commentary. CDs, DVDs “home Videos”, and the social media – Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, WhatsApp and My Space among others – with all their attendant cultural disorientation have become the primary pastime of Nigerian youths.

The importance of constant and effective communication in our daily lives cannot be over-emphasized. This is more so because events in any polity assume full social, political or economic meaning only as they are communicated to an increasing number of its members. In an age when wars, global terrorism, political brigandage, assassinations, the death of presidents, crime, kidnapping, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, mudslides, tsunamis and sports in distant lands, drama and music can be brought into hundreds of millions of homes with dazzling speed and intimacy, the role of the mass media, the manner in which they communicate these events and, hence, determine audience perception and reaction, cannot but be of special interest to the government, its agents, scholars, communicators and the general public alike.

This makes a thorough understanding of the complexities of information management not only necessary but also mandatory for government (owners of various media), government functionaries (who execute government policies), and media practitioners, who aspire to determine the future direction and focus of the media, in an era of unprecedented social, political and economic change. They cannot afford complacency. They must be prepared to help the media face the many challenges of the future and accept greater commitments to societal leadership.

The reading public demands well-produced and easy-to-read newspapers, magazines and books just as listeners and viewers of radio and television respectively expect quality programmes produced with such expertise to match the standards of international broadcasts by satellite and cable stations worldwide. Above all, mass media audiences demand participation in order that the government may, in turn, know how the governed feel about its programmes and how these programmes affect their daily lives in the face of a multitude of governmental regulations; infrastructural deficiencies; social, political and economic instability; corruption in high and low places and arbitrariness in a country like Nigeria.

But government ownership and control of state media in Nigeria negates the goal of communication as a stimulus for development. In a content analysis study by Okwechime (2008) to determine the relationship between Delta State Government’s ownership of Delta Television (DBSTV), Asaba and the news content of the station, its 8:00 p.m. news bulletins were examined as a representative sample of the station’s coverage of events. The study enabled the researcher to determine what proportion of the station’s air time is devoted to news about:

  1. 1.

    Government and its Functionaries;

  2. 2.

    Rural/Urban events;

  3. 3.

    State, National and International events;

  4. 4.

    Political Activities;

  5. 5.

    Social Mobilization;

  6. 6.

    Community Development;

  7. 7.

    Religion;

  8. 8.

    The Environment;

  9. 9.

    Sports;

  10. 10.

    Education;

  11. 11.

    Security (in a highly volatile region);

  12. 12.

    Agriculture;

  13. 13.

    Culture etc.

During the two weeks covered by this study (May 1 – 14, 2006) a total of 198 news stories were transmitted during the 8:00 p.m. news broadcast, which is the station’s most comprehensive news bulletin each day. This translates to an average of 14 stories per bulletin as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: (Stories per Bulletin)
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Some bulletins had as low as 10 stories but with prime stories running into as many as three pages, whereas on high news days there were bulletins that featured as many as 19 stories, all for duration of 10 minutes. Regarding the urban/rural rating of the stories, the distribution was heavily skewed in favour of urban-based stories. Urban stories accounted for 176 (89%) against 22 (11%) rural stories as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Urban/Rural News Rating
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News about events in the rural areas during the period under study was quite scanty. In spite of the low reportage, most of the stories were related to government activities and politics in those areas as well as happenings around traditional rulers. The exceptions were obituary announcements and stories about religious crusades, political rallies, conflicts and weddings, which obviously had some politicians or government functionaries behind them. There was too little or nothing in the news about the rural majority. This outcome is obviously a negation of the sixth and seventh objectives of the station i.e. “to bring back reactions of the grassroots or the governed to government to facilitate policies and decision”, and “to identify with the yearnings and aspirations of grass root level.”

Table 3: State/National/International News Rating
Full size table

Table 3 indicates an obvious concentration on news around and about the state in fulfillment of objectives 3 and 4 of the station i.e. “to sell Delta State in Nigeria and beyond and also to promote unity in diversity” and “to create awareness of the activities of government at various levels”. However, news about governments at Local Government level was mostly about politics and less of developmental activities and social mobilization as shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Frequency of Occurrence of News Stories
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Invariably, most of the 198 stories examined by this study fell into two or more classifications or frequency of occurrence at the same time and hence a total of 353 occurrences were recorded. For example, a story about a government functionary could also be about politics, security or education while another story on education could involve a state functionary and at the same time be part of government’s social mobilization campaign against examination malpractice.

On the whole, as can be seen in Table 4, news about the government, its agencies and their functionaries topped the list with 148 occurrences or 41.93% of total news occurrences. This was closely followed by political stories with 47 occurrences (13.31%), sports and other matters (including culture, obituaries, book launching etc) come next with 27 (7.65%) occurrences respectively, with education and social mobilization related stories each taking the fourth position with 22 occurrences (6.23%).

Community development came next with meagre 17 or 4.82% occurrences; followed by environment related stories with 16 or 4.53% occurrences; security matters, 12 or 3.4% occurrences; religion, 10 or 2.83 occurrences while the all-important agriculture took the back seat with only five or 1.42% occurrences in the two weeks under review.

Distribution of stories along senatorial district lines (there are three senatorial districts in the state) was most difficult to achieve since government and its functionaries were the most reported by the station. Asaba in Delta North is the capital of the state and all manner of visits, made to government functionaries and which form the bulk the station’s news, occur there. These included matters that affect towns and events in the two other senatorial districts. Therefore, strict compartmentalization would amount to a hazardous guesswork. Again news strictly about events happening within the rural areas accounted for paltry 11 percent. Therefore, compartmentalization of this rather insignificant coverage is not likely to yield meaningful dividend.

The skewed nature of news stories in DBSTV, Asaba is typical of news emanating from government owned and controlled broadcasting organizations in Nigeria. Most of the news (55.24 percent on DBSTV) is about government functionaries and political activities as these affect the respective governments. Too little attention is paid to other social issues of public interest, particularly agricultural development, social/political mobilization and economic emancipation. Agriculture, community development and social mobilization are central to the overall development of the state. However, as is obvious in Table 4, news on these development-oriented events account for paltry 1.42 percent, 4.82 percent and 6.23 percent respectively. This scenario can hardly encourage productivity or facilitate socio/economic development.

The urban/rural news ratio leaves much to be desired. The 89 percent urban news content as against 11 percent rural events reportage recorded in Table 2 is definitely antithetical to the promotion of mass participation in the affairs of the state. Invariably, this leads to a feeling of alienation and neglect on the part of rural dwellers. This is not in consonance with the generally accepted rationale for public service broadcasting systems set up by law and financed by public funds. According to McQuail (2005):

The general rationale for such systems is that they should serve the public interest by meeting the important communication needs of society and its citizens, as decided and reviewed by way of the democratic political system.

McQuail (2005, p. 179-180) outlines the main goals of public service broadcasting to include:

  1. 1)

    Universality of geographic coverage (reception as well as transmission):

  2. 2)

    Diversity in providing for all main tastes, interests and needs as well as matching the full range of opinions and beliefs;

  3. 3)

    Providing for special minorities;

  4. 4)

    Having concern for the national culture, language and identity;

  5. 5)

    Serving the needs of the political system;

  6. 6)

    Providing balanced and impartial information on issues of conflict;

  7. 7)

    Having a specific concern for “quality” as defined in different ways;

  8. 8)

    Putting public interest before financial objectives.

In general, these goals are ways of achieving compliance with expectations of serving a “public interest”. Rather, the DBSTV, like most public mass communication media in Nigeria, mostly serves the narrow interests of public office holders and their political interests. But public service media should exhibit wider responsibility to their audiences than the promotion of partisan politics and politicians. In the communication world-view, according to Nerone (1995, pp. 70-71):

The media should seek to engender a like-minded philosophy among the public. A revitalized citizenship shaped by community norms becomes the press’s aim. News would then be an agent of community formation.

III. Conclusion

One concept that is central to good governance, sustainable development and effective communication is the fulfilment of basic human needs. People can realise their full human potentials only through communication. The same applies for groups and communities. It is for this reasons that communication has been called a personal and a social necessity and, therefore, a human right. Communication is indispensable to good governance and cannot be divorced from development in a forward-looking society.

But we live in perhaps the most difficult and trying times in Nigeria’s social, cultural, economic, political, spiritual and scientific life. In specific terms, Nigeria:

  • Was ranked 151 out of 171 countries in the United Nations Development Index in 2004.

  • Is currently ranked 41 out of 53 countries in overall governance quality rating in Africa.

  • Is rated the 35th among the most corruption-riddled nations of the world (was once rated 1st, then 4th), with an estimated US$300 – 400 billion dollars stolen by corrupt government officials .

  • Boasts of a 2010 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$315 billion (target for 2020 is US$900 billion).

  • By 2010, had a per capita income of about US$1500 (target for 2020 is US$4000).

  • Earns more than US$300 billion annually, without any evidence of development.

  • Has a current debt profile of US$60 billion (about 21% of the 2015 budget [about 953 billion Naira] will be used to service debts).

  • Spends a staggering N67.34 billion on salaries and other allowances of federal lawmakers each year and this excludes the lawmakers’ constituency votes.

  • Spends 74 per cent of its annual budget of N4.5 trillion (US$29 billion) on recurrent expenditure to maintain an over bloated bureaucracy.

  • Privatises national assets in order to enrich very few individuals in the society.

  • Was forced to implement an N18, 000.00 minimum wage Act signed by the government (the labour unions and some state governments are still at war over its implementation).

  • Its Human Development Index indicates that 70 per cent of its population live below the poverty line.

  • Is rated among the top ten oil producing countries in the world and yet imports most of its petroleum products, refined outside its shores.

  • Depends heavily on electrical generators for power, while its national power supply serves as a standby source of electricity.

  • Is now rated fourth most kidnap-prone country in the world.

  • Is currently rated the 7th most terrorized nation in the world out of the 158 countries assessed according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) and hence, worse than Sudan and Mali, which are ranked 11th and 34th respectively.

  • Owes civil servants salaries up to four months, while the super rich who have corruptly milked the country dry have private jets parked at the Abuja and Lagos airports, own luxury yachts, private estates and high rise apartments in expensive areas of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, and even private universities.

Obviously these hallmarks are bound to affect the overall policy thrust and developmental programmes in the country and have led to a regime of “double speak” by government functionaries in spite of the much touted transformation agenda.

But essentially, the effectiveness of communication is measured by the feedback which a sender receives from the receiver. Thus communication cannot be effective when the public is informed, with glee, that power generation in the country has hit an all-time-high of 4,000 megawatts when for upward of two weeks to one month there is no public power supply to their homes. How does the public translate and respond to government’s claim of spending billions of Naira on highway development when the bumpy and flooded roads leading to their communities make movement difficult, if not impossible, all year round? With vast and fertile land, how can the government explain hunger and starvation in the land as well as the importation of basic staples and raw materials for the wobbling industries in the land?

Development is about touching the lives of the governed in a positive way and putting smiles on their faces. Development finds expression in the growth of the primary and secondary sectors of the economy (agriculture and industry), employment opportunities and the development of basic infrastructure. Thus, development is not about being chased off the roads and highways (or splashed with muddy water) by siren-blasting government officials riding in a convoy of expensive cars acquired at public expense. Development is not about lop-sided distribution of amenities. It is not about existential tokenism. It is not about corrupt enrichment and profligacy by officials of government. It is not about glamourising governance and elite ego massage. It is not about public officials perpetually embarking on medical pilgrimages and sending their children off to schools in foreign lands because the medical facilities and schools in the country do not work.

Rather, development is about opening up new core development centres across the length and breadth of the country. It is about imbibing a maintenance culture that will ensure that the hospitals and health centres are kept clean and give hope to the sick. Development is about making the public schools the envy of private investors in the education sector. It is about providing infrastructure that will facilitate agricultural and industrial growth.

Development must not only be heard about. All five senses must experience development. In addition to hearing about developmental strides, the people should see, feel, smell and taste development. That way, good governance can impact on the people and the people can, in response, sing “hosanna” to the government of the people.

IV. Recommendations

Effective communication, good governance and sustainable development are inextricably linked one to each other. Effective communication has become the engine house of good governance which manifests in humane and exemplary leadership, prudent management of human and material resources, just and equitable distribution of wealth and respect for the fundamental rights of the citizens. Thus, good governance can be measured in the level of enhancement of the well-being of the people – in sustainable development.

Various communication methods can be employed to engage people and find out their aspirations, views and possible contributions. Governments that are able to engage successfully with the rural majority and urban communities alike will continue to meet the needs of its citizens and earn their respect. In the light of the above, this paper recommends as follows:

  1. 1.

    Irrespective of the perception from place to place, good governance should manifest in:

    • genuine respect for the people

    • a commitment to providing a voice for all residents – whether they are active participants or the silent majority (the significant silences)

    • transparency and effectiveness in decision making

    • encouraging people to become involved and take leadership roles

    • a commitment to a collaborative process

    • taking responsibility to monitor and evaluate outcomes of government developmental policies and programmes

    • an openness to learning from poor decisions or approaches

    • a means of feedback from the citizens on decisions that couldn’t change

  2. 2.

    Good governance, hallmarked by beneficial development policies and programmes should ensure that decisions and activities are accountable to the people. This can be achieved through:

    • providing well publicized routes for citizens to make their voices heard

    • making information widely available through domestic and international media

    • publishing the outcomes from consultation processes

    • making known what decisions were taken and why

    • providing opportunities for “scrutiny” of proposals (which can be informal) within the decision making process

    • setting up mechanisms for the governed to provide feedback

    • creating interactive opportunities for the people to contribute directly to decision making

    • providing opportunities for the people to have a say in how money is spent in accordance with local needs

    • avoiding extravagance, profligacy and wanton display of material wealth