We present this issue in the aftermath of the passing of Nelson Mandela – a leader whose commitment to the liberation and rennaissance of Africa and to equality and social justice remains unrivalled; a leader who many around the world associate with good governance and development on the continent. As we reflect on Mandela’s legacy, we think of him as a good leader whose charisma could inspire people to do more and better, and thus achieve desirable results towards development. It is common knowledge that the success or failure of our development policies occur through the lack of good leadership rather than lack of capacity, know-how or skills. Corruption, self-enrichment and nepotism are some of the undesirable acts that prevail when leadership and accountability are absent. During his presidency and
post-presidency, amid technical and obviously human limitations, Nelson Mandela gave his best to shape policy and influence the world. As the world mourns this iconic leader, his words are echoed unchallenged by every continent: “I would like it to be said, here lies the man who has done his duty on Earth. That is all.” (Nelson Mandela) The African Journal of Governance and Development draws on Mandela’s commitment to governance and development on the African continent and seeks to unpack, interrogate and critique these values and concepts. This issue is no different and, drawing largely from West Africa, examines underlying factors impacting governance on the African continent. In the first article, Bolarinwa discusses the challenges of democratic sustainability in Nigeria with respect to good governance and economic development. Bolarinwa observes that promotion of good governance at all
levels of authority remains the greatest antidote to the problem of democratic sustenance in Nigeria.

We present this issue of African Journal of Governance and Development against the backdrop of the recently released MDG Report of 2013: Assessing progress in Africa toward the Millennium Development Goals. The forward to this Report states that: “Africa must commit to inclusive, transformative development that reduces income poverty, creates decent jobs, enhances access to social services, reduces inequality and promotes resilience to climate-related hazards”.The Report notes that while Africa has made great strides towards reaching the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) the continent’s low development has required more effort to make meaningful progress and that while Africa is the world’s second fastest growing region, its rate of poverty reduction is insufficient to reach the target of halving extreme poverty by 2015. For this reason, Africa must thus put structures in place to sustain its development well beyond the MDG timeline.

It is our pleasure to inaugurate The African Journal of Governance and Development, a newvoice in the evolving conversation regarding the fate of the African continent in this era of globalisation. The editorial team wishes to thank the University of Saint Thomas of Maputo, Mozambique for offering the opportunity to provide a new outlet for those wishing to contributeto our understanding of the human condition in Africa. This journal aspires to be a multi-discipli-nary publication that seeks to bring researchers and governance/development practitioners from around the world to share social scientific knowledge focused at the intersection of governance and development. The journal aims to provide space for debating issues from an academic perspective, and for policy consideration as well. What is the nexus of governance and development? Development in the broadest sense,encompassing economic, social and political dimensions has been the preoccupation of the countries of the global South since the end of World War Two. By development, we simply mean the improvement in the quality of human life. After the war, countries emerging from colonialism and many that were not such as China or Ethiopia, suffered from political weakness and mate-rial scarcity in comparison with the European descendant states from the Northern hemisphere. Development was what those latter states presumably had achieved and it was that comprehen-sive societal development which the South sought in order that their peoples might reclaim theirs overeignty and their dignity. There has been uneven evolution across the south in the quest for development. Large parts of East and South Asia, and areas in Latin America are developing quite steadily over the last two decades, though significant areas of underdevelopment also remain in those regions. In Africa, strides have been registered in a number of countries toward stable democracy and sustained economic growth. Yet, a substantive and meaningful development still eludes far too many African countries, as widespread poverty remains a seemingly intractable problem in far too many places