The desire for the advancement of human rights, the creation of world peace and the need for safety and security within and across national borders has, in the past five decades, increased the need for international cooperation. This is evidenced by the creation of supranational and regional bodies with political and economic interests. The United Nations, the African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are cases in point. While countries generally maintain their sovereignty, most of their legislations and domestic policies experience a degree of international influence. In other words, the traditional approach of sovereignty that posits its values on territorial integrity, is being, in the main, gradually replaced by the need for countries to develop the capacity to act and win acceptance from the regional or international bodies. One can argue, however, that the acceptance of sovereign states by the fraternity of regional and national bodies is very much a reflection of the acceptance of these states by their own citizenry. Put differently, states that are not accepted as promoting human rights and good governance at home are unlikely to receive favourable acceptance on the international scene. It is thus vital for countries to strike a balance and work in close cooperation with their citizenry while advancing close cooperation with international structures.

In this issue, although discussions are mainly country specific, elements to which they refer resonate with what happens in most African states. The essays of the issue reflect on the successes and challenges faced by four member states of the African continent, namely Ethiopia, Morocco, Mozambique and Nigeria. As in the past, this issue provides analyses of the various countries’ societal matters, ranging from economic, educational, health and popular political issues. The analyses are based on research evidence. The opening essay of the journal, Okeke’s essay, critiques the purpose of political power within the continent and introduces these issues by simultaneously examining the ways in which these facets have broadly affected the citizenry of the African continent. In the same breath as Okeke, co-authors Odigwe and Aibieyi, in the essay that analyses Nigeria’s economic development pursuits, raise very cogent questions. The opinion of these authors is that if nothing is done to ensure efficiency and accountability, and if nothing is deliberately embarked upon to protect the sovereignty of the ordinary African citizenry, African democracies face an uncertain future.

This edition comes out at a time when in the latest general election held on 15 October, Mozambique made history by electing the first president who has not been directly involved in the war of liberation. After Samora Machel, Joaquim Chissano and Armando Guebuza, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi will become the country’s fourth president. The election of Filipe Nyusi opens a way for him to lead the historic ruling party, Frelimo. While one can look at the election of the new president of Mozambique as a simple democratic process, it should be noted that the dynamic of the democratic state imposes the need of leadership to be more innovative and outreaching and to develop economic and social policies to meet the demands of the masses. The greatest challenge that any leadership, in Africa, face (Mozambique is not an exception) is the ability to maintain peace and political stability as well as the ability to develop and implement social and economic policies that are inclusive and responsive to the short, medium and long term needs of the country.

In its pursuit for economic development and human development in particular, Africa’s position relative to international systems is considerably weak. Poor performance of African countries is, in the main, brought on by social upheaval, political instability and a pervasive undermining of democratic regimes in favour of authoritarian ones. The causes of this state of affairs are numerous and multifaceted, originating from inside and outside Africa’s boundaries. Therein too  rests the solution – from inside and outside Africa’s boarders. The articles in this issue of the African Journal of Governance and Development resonate with the all too familiar cliché “African solutions to African problems” and show how local solutions offer more effective and sustainable solutions to a diverse range of settings than those developed externally

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