Nigeria has emerged  35th out of 54 African countries in overall governance ranking, according to a report  released recently in Dakar,  Senegal by The Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

Although the 2017 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), says Nigeria has shown significant improvement in governance in the last five years, it scores Nigeria  48.1  out of a possible 100.0, a score lower than the African average  of 50.8 and  the West African regional average of  53.8.

The 35th ranking is only a notch better than   36th position Nigeria held last year, despite improvements in some areas of governance.

Nigeria achieves its highest category score in Participation & Human Rights (52.5), and its lowest category score in Sustainable Economic Opportunity (42.3).

Nigeria achieves its highest sub-category score in Rule of Law (63.1), and its lowest sub-category score in Accountability (32.7).

Overall, the report reveals that the continent’s Overall Governance trajectory remains positive on average, but in recent years has moved at a slower pace.  As many countries struggle to build on recent progress or to reverse negative trends, and as concerns emerge in some key sectors, the Foundation is calling for vigilance on the continent’s future.

The eleventh edition of the IIAG looks at both country and indicator trends over the last five years (2012-2016), within the context of the last decade (2007-2016). By evaluating more recent progress on governance alongside long-term performance, the 2017 IIAG provides the most nuanced assessment to date of the evolution and direction that countries, regions and specific dimensions of governance are taking.

“Over the last ten years, 40 African countries have improved in Overall Governance. In the last five years, 18 of these – a third of the continent’s countries and home to 58% of African citizens – including Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria and Senegal, have even managed to accelerate their progress. In 2016, the continent achieved its highest Overall Governance score to date (50.8 out of 100.0),” the report says.