The Singaporean non-profit group, Chandler Good Government Index, CGGI has ranked Nigeria as the third-worst governed country in the world.
The report ranked Nigeria very low in governance, leadership, and foresight, scoring the country 102 out of 104 countries with a score of 0.319 points, ahead of Zimbabwe and Venezuela.
The organisation said the index measured the effectiveness of governments in 104 countries globally, made up of 34 indicators, which are organised into seven pillars: leadership and foresight; robust laws and policies; strong institutions; financial stewardship; attractive marketplace; global influence and reputation; and helping people rise.
The index, which was the first in the series, scored Nigeria 0.44 on leadership and foresight; anti-corruption 0.45; long-term vision 0.47; strategic prioritization 0.41 and innovation 0.4.
The report also ranked Nigeria low in other parameters, scoring the nation 98 in leadership and foresight; 85 in robust laws and policies; 101 in strong institutions; 88 in financial stewardship; 97 in attractive marketplace; 72 in global influence and reputation and helping people rise 98.
The CGGI explained that the ranking came during the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the strengths and weaknesses in institutions, laws, and leadership in countries as governance decides the success of these countries.
Finland ranked number one with 0.848 points followed by Switzerland; Singapore; Netherlands; Denmark; Norway; Sweden; Germany; New Zealand and Canada.
Mauritius, which was Africa’s best performer scored 0.5670, placing it at number 38 on the index.
Speaking on the criteria for accessing the countries, Wu Wei Neng, the executive director of CGGI, said:
Governance is critical for a nation’s success. Good governance helps nations to flourish and be prosperous.
We recognise that government systems around the world are very diverse and varied and so in our index, we took care to focus on capabilities that matter to all governments.
Nigeria continues to battle mounting issues of insecurity across the nation which has negatively affected economic progress in the country.