What is good governance? At its core, it is not simply about administering government offices or signing files. Good governance means transparency, accountability, and a genuine commitment to the welfare of the people. It ensures that policies are not only written but implemented, that promises are not only made but kept. It is the art of serving, not ruling.
In contrast, corruption is the betrayal of this trust. It is the use of public office for private gain, often invisible at first but corrosive in the long run. Corruption is not only about money but also about favoritism, nepotism, and the deliberate neglect of responsibility. Alongside it lies incompetence, the failure to do what is right even when the means exist. Incompetence leaves bridges half-built, schools without teachers, hospitals without medicines, roads that don’t last a monsoon season, and policies without direction.
Moral courage is the opposite of both. It is the ability to stand up for truth even when it is unpopular, to confront power without fear, and to admit mistakes when they occur. It is the quality most lacking in public life today.
Why, then, is Nagaland facing so many issues that citizens feel they are at a breaking point? The reasons are layered. In the real world, problems will always arise, whether natural disasters, unemployment, or social tensions; but what makes these issues unbearable is not their existence, but the absence of serious efforts to solve them. Natural calamities will occur, and contingency plans are drafted with much ceremony. Yet, when disasters strike, implementation is weak or absent, leaving communities unprepared. Unemployment may grow with population, and new schemes are announced with regularity, but opportunities simply remain cosmetic, statistics on paper that do little to change lived realities. The widening gap between rich and poor only makes these failures starker. These are not the marks of a healthy, much less progressive, society.
The moral fabric, too, is fraying. When dishonesty becomes normalized and apathy takes root, society decays from within. The greatest danger is not only failed governance but a silent citizenry that endures without questioning.
Is there an antidote? There is no magic formula. Yet, one powerful remedy exists: the voice of the people. Not the fleeting anger of social media rants, but the steady, reasoned voice of citizens who speak with facts, evidence, and courage in public spaces. When people awaken to their rights and responsibilities, when they demand accountability with conviction, change begins.
Until then, the suffering will continue, and many will not even understand why. It is time for the common people to rediscover their voice, for silence has become the heaviest burden of all.
