PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION ON ARISTOTLE’S CONCEPT OF GOOD GOVERNANCE IN RELATION TO NIGERIAN LEADERSHIP

Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources in order to guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, with due regard to the rule of law. Aristotle is of the view that a good governance governs for the common good and happiness of the people, but in a bad one the rulers govern for their own private or selfish gain. In view of Aristotle, this work tries to look at what good governance ought to be. It tries to analyze Aristotle’s notion of good governance relating it to how it affects Nigerian societies. Using the Aristotle principle of good governance, we intend to solve the problems faced by Nigerian political leadership and its challenges such as: political instability, lack of accountability, unethical behavior and corruption thus all as a result of lack of good governance, all of these raises the questions: who is a ruler? What is the best form of government? What should be the aim of a leader? This research aims to address these questions using analytic method of philosophical inquiry. It also reveals that Nigerian leadership undergoes political instability and societal decay. Its relation to Aristotle’s concept of good governance represents a tool for the growth of a country with sustainable development. This work concludes with the achievement for a government that exists to promote and foster virtue in a way that leads to the good life of its citizens.