As the country cruises to the end of the year, time is ripe for us to look outside the political drums that are being beaten around us and begin to sum up what we have achieved so far and where we have failed in our efforts to further improve the economy of the country with a view to knowing those things that we must put in place to further drive the economy forward in the years ahead.
Recall that the International Monetary Fund had predicted a Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 1.9% for Nigeria for 2018. But, the economic management team of the country, hopeful that the country will continue to ride on the crest of rising oil price in the international market, boasted that Nigeria will hit a figure of about 2.5% GDP growth for 2018. Now, oil price that almost hit $80 per barrel at that time is gradually coming down again, an indication that the economy may not achieve the projected 2.5% GDP growth rate for this year.
Recall too that Nigeria’s current population, now put at about 182 million, is cruising to hit the 200 million mark in a few years time. The government must tap into the wealth of knowledge of its teeming and highly enterprising, innovative and highly creative 200 million people, to further grow the economy of the country. The government must put in place the necessary support programmes to help grow small businesses and engender the development of the country’s social and physical infrastructures.
The global economy is fast moving and translating this new initiative into reality requires a great collaboration between the public and private sectors, it involves getting our education sector to be more attuned to a new spirit of public – private sector embrace of creativity, innovation, technology and change in the way we do things.
In the new dispensation, every Nigerian must embrace science and technology education that can make the country leapfrog to development within a few years. China and India did it and they succeeded. We must learn from their experience since both countries are our friends and they have done it and succeeded.
At the crossroad that we are, there is a dire need for us to think aloud. China is building our rail line without our engineers and steel makers learning anything from their experience. We ought to insist on making the local steel companies in Nigeria to build the steel to be used for the rail tracks. There are local companies that can do it. We would be able to save some money if the steel used for the tracks are manufactured locally.
Again, if anything, the rapid economic growth of China and Indian are worthy of our study and emulation. Both countries based their economic growth on innovation and technology and were at the same time adjusting and improving their governmental structures as well as their public – private sector initiatives for economic growth, building massive industrial establishments and were quickly resolving general constraints in their economies. They also ensured constant technological improvements, set achievable national goals and they are also very patriotic and have very strong belief in nationhood – all of which helped in fostering strong economic growth of both countries.
Every day, we talk about the problems of mass poverty in the country. It stares everybody, particularly the federal and state governments in the face. Yet, one thing the government must understand is that education is the most effective weapon against poverty.
If we embrace technology and innovation the way India and China have done, we can become more technology savvy, our financial inclusion will dramatically increase and we could within a few years become an emerging technological base country in the like of India, China and other fast moving emerging Asian nations.
The government must also realise that access to quality education is important so that we can equip the work-force with modern skills, new knowledge and creative ideas needed to make them compete in the IT and knowledge-based global economy that we are today. Recall that China and India invested in technology and innovation which enabled them to also build modern factories with machineries and operational techniques that can run at relatively low cost. They also trained their workers to be very proficient in maintaining their machineries.
It must be noted that if this country achieves higher innovation and technological growth, it would also be able to better address its other challenges and problems such as achieving local food security, achieving higher electricity supply and safe drinking water for all, among other problems confronting the nation.
The government must also do something drastic and fast on the country’s fast growing population which has also become a threat to the country’s growth. We need a population policy that puts a cap on the size of every family so that the government can better plan for our needs. If the government finds this clarion call serious enough and acts fast, then there is hope that the country will rise again, otherwise it may continue to be among the dreg of nations, good only for the trash can.
