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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

BY
SHEKWONYA KAURA

Over the years, the issue of poverty alleviation has been a recurring challenge in the nation. As one of the most populous Black Country in the world with a population estimate of over one hundred and fifty million people, the issue has been on the front burner. By all reckoning, Nigeria should have been among the first ten developed countries of the world because she is blessed with abundant natural resources. Nigeria has more in terms of natural resources when compared with other developing countries such as Malaysia, Korea, or the South American countries. Apart from natural resources, the nation also has abundant manpower .Nigeria even supplies other African countries manpower in the fields of education, law, medicine, engineering and accountancy. Inspite of all these, the scourge of poverty has been widespread in all communities across the country.
With all its human and material resources, how well are Nigerians faring? The basic human needs which must be available to each Nigerian citizen to make them comfortable are in most cases unavailable. The poverty is especially exemplified in the area of water supply with statistics indicating that less than 40% of Nigerians have access to pipe borne water. This means that more than 60% draw their water from rivers, streams, ponds and taps located sometimes many kilometers from their residence. In the area of Food Availability, less than half of the population cannot afford three square meals a day.
The present scenario where we have Government officials and well to do Nigerians going abroad for treatment for simple ailment that should ordinarily be attended to locally is a sad testimony of our health system. Many Nigerians are baffled at why we still cannot equip at most of our specialist hospitals to provide medical services to Nigerians. In the area of shelter, many Nigerians are still living in sub standard accommodation. Most of our villages have not been improved since independence in 1960. More than 50% of the people live under trying circumstances in spite of the nation’s oil wealth. In the aspect of infrastructure, many of the nation’s roads have become death traps, because they were poorly constructed in the first place and also poorly maintained. There is therefore the need to take more seriously the quest to industrialize the nation. To do this, the educational system needs to be restructured at all levels. Once this is done, the nation can move to the level of industrialization. There is no gainsaying that the nation at the moment procures all kinds of equipment from other countries. Assorted brands of cars, machines, instruments, aeroplanes etc. With little or no consideration for standardization of equipment which would have promoted local repair and production. Thus Nigeria today remains a dumping ground of all sorts of obsolete and second hand goods and machines. Indeed under development is not only a physical state, but also a state of mind. With a determination from all stakeholders and a commitment to change , there is bound to be food security, full employment, good transport and adequate shelter for the citizenry. It is also imperative for us to study closely how developed countries transformed their economics and their people. We are very familiar with the success strategies of Japan, Korea, India and China. These countries did not wait for any person or country to transfer technology to them, they know that no country in this competitive world would commit that economic foolishness, instead they adopted, copied, fabricated, bought and simulated technology to suit their culture, environment and needs. For us in Nigeria to continue hope for the day Angel Gabriel or someone else will bring technology to us is to live in a fools paradise. As the present administration is poised on revamping the economy, to make life better for her citizenry, it should work assiduously to make a difference from the past administration of witch hunting, intimidation, and harassment of political opponents. Once these factors are properly harnessed, our developmental efforts will begin to yield favorable results.

Source: Recorded live from FRCN daily commentary

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