Date Published: 09/24/09
NIGERIA, THE GIANT OF AFRICA: ILLUSION OR REALITY By Henry Akubue
Over the years, I have grown with the illusion that Nigeria is the giant of Africa. Since then I tried to confirm the authenticity of such an ideology. Rather than being given cogent reasons, what I understood for such a eulogy to my beloved country was that of our size i.e. population, asides which there no other reason is.
Giant we know in reality have massive physiognomy and do great things. Their gigantic nature often makes them to be at fore fronts in action times. A classical example can be drawn right from the Greco-Roman war periods during which giants were war Lords. Also another example can be seen from the Bible where nations chose their Kings and war generals according to their body physic.
This same metaphor cannot be used in the case of Nigeria that possesses all the endowments capable of achieving a gigantic status in the world but still struggle to survive. Nigeria as a nation is highly blessed with both natural and human resources even to the envy of most developed countries. However, these resources poses as threats in disintegrating the fabrics that holds the country because of the corrupt practices that characterise the sharing of the national cake.
The exit of the colonial masters resulted in our taking over the helm of affairs. Prior to their exit, the nation was seen as one with a very bright chance of becoming a formidable force to reckon with in the world. Because of the long term goal and vision set so as to become a great nation. If there were such glimpse of Nigeria being the giant of Africa, it would probably be during the colonial period and a little time after it. This era in Nigeria was characterised with organisation, planning, discipline and integrity.
I stand to be corrected on this but I feel that the period the military took over power was the melting point of the vision our founding fathers had. The “Operation gather it all” syndrome started and gradually culminated into what we see today as a total break down of the system.
In recent times, Nigerians have suffered due to the dearth of visionary leaders we had in the past and our founding fathers like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, and Sir Ahmadu Bello etc will all be turning in their graves because the zeal which they had to make the country great has died a natural death. These set of leaders I call the first generation leaders were full of laudable visions and dreams however these visions and dreams suffered a set back in the hands of the second generation leaders characterised mainly by the military.
The juxtaposition of certain aspects of our nation with what is obtainable in other nations can be used as a yardstick to buttress more on the subject matter so as to give a clearer view:
Electricity:
As we know the modern world is power driven and it is one the factors that boost development and growth of an economy. Through a good and steady power source industrialisation is highly encouraged and thus employment is provided.
The issue of power supply in recent times is common to all and sundry and it is therefore an open secret that we have woefully failed in this aspect. Huge amount of money have been pumped into this sector yet its impact can hardly be felt. Nigeria in its acclaimed gigantic nature supply power to other countries yet our dependants enjoy the source more than we the providers. An illustration can be drawn from our neighbouring country Ghana, where power supply is relatively steady at least to the extent that one can see seriousness and sincerity of purpose. To this end, Ghana recently celebrated their ten years of steady power supply. The negative aspect of this erratic power supply in Nigeria is numerous but to suffice it down to the fact that most industries are fleeing Nigeria for other places where they can incur lesser debt in terms of power generation compared to what we have here. Labour reduction is often the aftermath.Moreso; citizens are exposed to the hazards associated with inhalation of smoke coming from the generating sets. The devastating effect of this has resulted in the death of many families. And I ask where is the love for fellow compatriots.
It has become very obvious that some powerful people are holding the sector hostage in their own interest. Nigeria needs God’s intervention and our sincerity to tackle the menace of power supply.
Expectations are high now with the recent promise by the President Umaru Musa Yardua administration of a steady power supply by December 2009 and we hope that the scheme will come into fruition unlike previous ones.
Unemployment:
The economic strength of any nation is determined by the number of its workforce. This entails the number of people who are willing and able to work that are gainfully employed. Developed countries of the world knowing the importance of this attach much importance to human potentials and as such try to tap them to the fullest. From the aforementioned, the situation in Nigeria is totally different in the sense that human potentials are seen as a source of freedom from economic and political bondage therefore efforts are made to suppress such.
The policies made for the empowerment of the youths in Nigeria are bedevilled by the high level of corruption. And it stands out to be the bed rock upon which every policy made to boost employment meets its untimely death. At this point, it is pertinent to note that the future of any nation lies in its younger generation and they are the hope of tomorrow.
The outburst on the evil effect of crimes like arm robbery, militancy and kidnapping in Niger Delta and other delinquencies were necessitated by the high level of unemployment and negligence of the youths. An argument can erupt from this as to why taking to these nefarious activities instead of engaging in more rewarding ventures. Although am not trying to justify these acts but the question is, if all things were rightly put in place would situations like these occur? The surprising thing is that it is becoming virtually impossible combating these crimes, because the best brains are now channelling their knowledge to these despicable ventures since no meaningful job is forth coming. Economically, the nation is being affected since most of the companies seek for other greener nations for their operations. This has a negative effect such that the revenue generation is on the decline and unemployment still on the increase.
With this characteristic I see no real sense in Nigeria claiming a giant status among other nations in Africa whereas unemployment rate grows at a geometric order while job availability grows at an arithmetic order. The economic meltdown in its own bit see to the closure and downsizing of even the few employed. Going by this, statistics show that the crime rate has likely increased and this simply meant increase in hostage taking, armed robbery etc amongst other social vices.
To tackle the unemployment rate the nation needs to be more of a producing nation than a consuming one. Secondly, policies made should be youth friendly and its implementation done judiciously. Labour leads to human development which is a vital aspect of nation building and growth.
Education:
Development of a country is dependent on the level of education and the availability of information. It brings about tremendous development in any economy in such a way that it tends to create an opportunity where ordinarily there wont be. Therefore is the pivot on which the development of any nation is hinged hence the developed nations invest in it because of the accrued benefit in human resource and capital development hence nation building.
Contrarily, Nigeria has over the years deemphasised the importance of education in its quest for self aggrandisement. At the different levels of our educational life we are experiencing a gradual decay despite having the best brains amongst us and if not checked can be very disastrous to the society at the long run. Government at all levels play down on the essence of education and this can be referenced with the poor salary package of teachers. Teachers are vital tools in nation development since we have contact with them at the different stages of our lives and they help to mould behaviours and talents.
Developed countries hold their teachers in high esteem and treat them as a means to an end in nation development. As against this backdrop, in Nigeria teachers are treated with little or no regard since they are not seen as agents of nation building. Its resultant effect is the lackadaisical attitude which they display in carrying out their duty and the after effect is the poor performances experienced in schools.
I was greatly embittered when I heard over the radio on the setting up of a committee by the minister of education to investigate the reason for the poor performance of students in the concluded SSCE/WAEC examination especially in ENGLISH LANGUAGE and MATHEMATICS. That I tag another strategy to siphon money. On this I know that a market woman will comfortably pin point the incessant strike action that sent their wards away from school for a period of time as serious contributory factor to this decline. The United Nations sees education as a sine qua non to the development of any nation, therefore a good part of a country’s budget should be channelled towards this.
Health:
Health is synonymous with wealth, thus the saying that a healthy nation is a wealthy one. The well being of the citizen of any nation surpasses all other issue or agenda pursed by the government. This is simply because their mandate gave rise to such a government and as such the health of the citizen should of utmost importance and priority to the government.
At present, the health sector is basically suffering from the poor state of medical equipments and lack of technical know-how to handle certain tasks. This is charcterised by the incessant travels to developed countries for better medical treatment by our leaders and other affluent citizens.
The bad attribute of the health sector has greatly contributed to the embezzlement and diversion of funds to such irrelevancies by our leaders.
The common man who cannot afford the huge amount of foreign medical check up is left at the mercy of the corrupt and bastardised health care system in the country for their treatment whereas the wealthy ones who contribute to the dilapidated state employ the services of foreign professionals.
It is also appalling that even some of the medical professionals abroad come from within the African continent especially Nigeria. The question then is, why can’t we use the millions of dollars spent yearly on foreign medical check ups to revitalize our health sector.
By this short coming on our health care standard, one can refute the claim that Nigeria is the giant of Africa.
In conclusion, I believe strongly that Nigeria has what it takes to be a great nation vis - a - vis its human and natural endowment. The militating factor towards attaining this greatness is the corrupt practices that hold the country hostage.
Until corruption is highly checked and curtailed we are still day dreaming about being the giant of Africa.
Secondly, all necessary factors both human and natural resources must work in tandem to achieve the desired aim since one cannot work in isolation of the other. Human capital needs to be given the main attention since other factors depend on it for its coordination and when this is done our dream will surely come through.
Therefore, I sincerely look forward to Nigeria being the GIANT OF AFRICA if all hands will be on deck. We will thus work together with one mind and sincerity of purpose and as such this illusion will metamorphose into reality.
GOOD PEOPLE, ONE NATION
