Anthropocentric Democracy and Good Governance: Edeh’s Superservant Leadership Peace Model (ESLPM) as the African Hope for Peaceful Existence and Sustainable Development

Abstract

Democracy is a system of government founded on the major principles of justice and equality, while good or even bad governance depends on the way in which power is exercised with regard to the management and distribution of the common goods.  As such, democracy and good governance are so intertwined. Democracy has long been considered one of the best forms of government that promises liberty, justice, equality and the like which promotes and sustains the right and dignity of man as well as progressive development of the individuals and the entire segments of the society as it ensures equitable, responsible and fair distribution of resources rooted in public accountability and transparency. That was the notion of the Ancient Greek philosophers for a good functioning of an ideal state when they defined democracy as the government of the people by the people and for the people. In this recent time, it becomes notably obvious that the original understanding and practice of democracy for a good governance significantly and increasingly looses its foundational principles and praxis especially in African societies. This paper therefore examines Edeh’s Superservant Leadership Peace Model (ESLPM) as the African hope for qualitative democracy that is man-centred which consolidates man’s ontological status as the beauty of life and as “good that is”, lived in full realization of his being which guarantees good governance and restores human dignity. Rooted in the philosophy of mmadi, the paper recommends that the leaders be equipped with adequate knowledge of the quiddity of man for proper leadership skills that serve the need of the people for peaceful existence and sustainable development.