Nigeria: A rich country inhabited by poor people

By relevant indicators of progress and development, Nigeria is a poor country. A sorry situation! The country has virtually lost control of the commanding heights of its economy. That is why the country is paradoxically so rich, yet so poor.

Those days are now gone when the concept of measuring economic progress relied on the index of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the only tool.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) introduced the concept of “Human Development” as a more realistic measure of economic progress.

This shift in concept is justified from experiences in many countries which record stupendous growth in their GDPs while the majority of their citizens wallowed in abject poverty. This is a classical example of what is often termed as “economic growth without human development.”

It is against this background we should further examine in some details, the current state of the Nigerian economy after five decades of efforts to develop it.

Using these Human Development indices, various surveys conducted by National and International Agencies have concluded, rather sadly, that Nigeria’s socio-economic progress remains very unsatisfactory.

This unfortunate state of affairs is as paradoxical as it is embarrassing especially in view of all known indicators that Nigeria would become a great African country within a very short time after independence in 1960.

It was anticipated that political freedom at independence would usher in new thinking and new policies which together would bring rapid transformation of Nigeria from exploitation and under-development as a former colony.

Nigeria’s poor development performance could be explained from a number of perspectives including the facts that since 1960 to date Nigeria.

had not experienced the kind of stable political atmosphere necessary for orderly continuity of good governance for development and growth expected in truly democratic societies.

Also, Nigeria’s colonial history and heritage unfortunately provide the conducive atmosphere for neo-colonial interests to manifest and thrive.

These interest have been deeply entrenched and have so far continued to undermine Nigeria’s self esteem and self reliance.

They have aggravated the country’s over-dependence on foreign ideas and foreign technology, depriving her the freedom from control and manipulation of neo-imperial agencies like the World Bank, IMF etc.

That’s not all, instability in the Nigerian polity could be both the cause and the effect of bad governance with all the other attendant ills such as corruption, inept leadership, poverty and general insecurity.

Though it is easy to look back into the history of Nigeria and its development, it is far more difficult to look into its future in the face of all the odds that have so far continued to challenge it.

Whilst some hold the view and genuinely believe in the Nigeria project, there are those who believe that it could not possibly succeed and therefore the sooner it is terminated the better for its component parts.

On an optimistic note, some however are of the view that nations are not necessarily built overnight, arguing that nations usually evolve from the hard work, sacrifices and resilience of their own peoples.

Whichever side of the position one takes, we cannot ignore the fact that the most important factors against a politically stable Nigeria since 1960 are becoming more virulent than ever before.

These include tribalism, ethnicity, bigotry, corruption and sectionalism in our national life.

These core diseases which today deny good health for the Nigerian State are gradually being enlarged to incorporate additional factors such as religious differences and exclusiveness in the ownership of resources which in normal international law and convention should be shared as common heritage regardless of their location.

No one can conduct the affairs of any office satisfactorily whether in government, private business and even civic organisation if the first, middle and the last concern of such an individual is how he or she can extract ultimate personal material benefit from routine transactions.

This description typifies common practices in most private and public organisations. The country has ethical problems of monumental dimensions, which are presently the product of political instability, miss-application of resources and unethical behaviour.

Morality is weak and in existence are deprivation, stagnation, poverty. The enormity of the challenge posed by this state of affairs appears underated by successive governments over the years as the menace developed.

Amongst the greatest social and economic problems in Nigeria which must be tackled is that of breakdown in morals, work ethics, discipline, social responsibility and general civility among its citizens.

These negative vices affect the soul of the nation. The Nigerian state is no doubt unwell, and when the soul suffers, the body complains.

Norbert N. Ogakwu,(Esq.) is managing partner N.N.Ogakwu & Co. Asokoro, Abuja.