International Journal of Social Science : Vol. 3. No. 4, 477-482, Dec 2014

DOI No. 10.5958/2321-5771.2014.00022.2

Colonisation and good governance in Africa:

Myth or reality

Saalah Yakubu Ibrahim

Department of Public Administration, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria

Corresponding author: ysaalah@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

The paper examined the concepts of colonisation and good governance. The

argument was guided by the principles of dependency theory married with elements

of social contract theory. Secondary source of data was employed. Based on facts, it

was concluded that colonialism has distorted the African economy and since there

is positive correlation between economy and good governance, it follows that, the

issue of good governance in Africa is a myth. Among the recommendations made

is, African countries should be left to decide what suits them in terms of economic,

political and social issues rather than the west imposing what they (the west) think

is good for Africa and Africans.

Keywords : Colonisation, governance, dependency theory, social contract theory,

Africa

Introduction

Before the arrival of the white men to Africa, there existed societies with their

traditions, nature of technology, no matter low primitive and administrative set

up among others. They had their means of livelihood, trade form as well as a

mode of worship and level of knowledge. When the white men eventually came

with their missions ranging from adventure, raw materials and market outlets,

they felt there was need to introduce their foreign mode of life to Africa, which is

colonialism. This new way of life introduced by the white men equally extended

to the way Africans should organize and conduct themselves by establishing laws

such as tax payments, introduction of paper money as means exchange of goods

and services. This development, no doubt has an impact on Africans and whether

the arrangement has led to any significant change either positively or negatively

which Africans can learn from is the thesis of this paper.

Dependency theory posit that, the low level of development in less economically

developed countries (L E D C’s) is caused by their reliance and dependence on