Meta-Governance and the Metaphysics of Political Leadership in 21st Century Africa: A Focus on Election Administration in Nigeria

Abstract

This study essentially considered the relevance of governance networks in election administration in Nigerian. It was acknowledged in the study that governance involves a new process of governing; or a changed condition of ordered rule, or the new method by which society is governed. Governance networks were seen in the study as instruments of public policy-making, in which policy-processes take place. Meta-governance was accepted to be the governance of governance, a tool for steering processes in self-regulating governance networks; and also accepted to be about both facilitating and constraining policy processes. It was upheld in the study that the most critical element of network governance is coordination. But in meta-governance, the most critical requirement goes beyond coordination. In this dimension, in election administration in Nigeria for instance, the meta-governor must be a repository of national interest. And indeed, Nigeria’s election administration requires a mainstream interest of governance networks. The consummation of the interests of the governance networks would be the dilution of the influence of political leadership on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). A meta-governing electoral commission is not in any way an absurdity under Nigeria’s democratic evolution. However, this meta-governing electoral administrator will not be a creation of a partisan political leadership but a natural fruition of the actions of the governance networks.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n9p177