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Nigeria at 62: Still A tough journey to nationhood

Nigeria, the acclaimed giant of Africa celebrates her 62nd Independence Day today. Ordinarily, six decades of freedom from colonial imperialism and political slavery ought to be celebrated with pageantry.

However, Nigerians are too disenchanted with the socio-economic situation in the country to celebrate. For many, there is little or nothing to celebrate about a nation that is rapidly degenerating into a failed state.

Several years after independence, the country appears to be retrogressing in virtually every sector, lagging in basic services of a government to the people, and losing control or sharing some of its territories with non-state actors, who have almost succeeded in bringing government to its knees, using banditry and kidnapping and insurgency.

Meanwhile, unemployment, political uncertainty as well as the insecurity of lives and property have been identified as some of the compelling factors for a mass exodus of educated and skilful youths from the country.

With only a few enjoying the commonwealth while the majority are homeless, hungry and defenseless, many citizens fear that the benefits of independence have eluded the country.

A Human Rights lawyer and Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER), Frank Tietie, described Nigeria as a country that is at war with itself and blamed its downward journey towards a failed state on a systemic problem, which he said, was the total lack of service culture to the citizens and lack of accountability.

“You find the various ethno-religious groups battling to outwit one another in competition for resources, thereby adopting methods and policies that do not consider anything like national interest, that do not consider anything like preservation of national interest. So, nobody cares about what is the ethos behind the Nigerian state.”

Tietie described Nigeria’s kind of politics as “buccaneering” that only believes in grabbing power for selfish reasons. “Let us capture the power and use it to get profits anyhow we can to serve our personal interest. So, nation-building has been completely lost since the Second Republic. That is the reason the nation keeps going down. As the years go by, we have records of going downward in services and in the national interest. We just keep failing in national cohesion. The people are pulled apart.

“We claim to be a Federal Government, yet we have central government that operates as if Nigeria is a unitary state. The central government has 68 items on the Exclusive List to which it is completely failing to deliver. Yet, it is still holding unto them because it wants to stay in control of the sharing of resources.

“So, that unhealthy competition to control resources irrespective of what amounts to the preservation of national interest is the reason we took the course of a downward spiral that has ultimately led us to this failed state position we are in the country.”

According to the human rights lawyer, Nigeria was supposed to be an extra-ordinarily rich country considering its human and capital resources.

“Yet, one finds the unprecedented number of Nigerians who want to leave the country, not because they are in search of resources but because they are in search of a better environment that promises resources and certainty as they develop as a people.

“So, where is the peace, stability and order that government is supposed to provide? The government is failing and that consequently describes Nigeria as a failed state,” Tietie stated.

The Judicial Sector and Opposition to Reforms There is a doubt that the judicial sector is in need of reforms. However, this appears to be lacking in the administration of justice in the country. Even with the slogan that justice delayed is justice denied, the wheel of justice in Nigeria has refused to grind at an appreciable speed. Tietie wondered why the justice delivery system cannot be smarter and faster by ensuring, among other reforms, that separate courts are created for less serious matters.

He asked: “Why can’t we have small case courts that deal with issues without many technicalities? People having cases with N100,000 or N1 million going to small case courts and matters are dealt with in one day?”

He also recalled surveys that identified the judiciary as one of the most corrupt sectors, stressing that such are among the symptoms of a failed state.

He added: “I will not give you examples of corruption in the judiciary or the place of bribery and corruption in the sector because right from 2016 when the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) started doing their corruption practice index survey in Nigeria, the police and the judiciary have ranked highest respectively.

“But beyond the issue of complaints of bribery and corruption and delay of justice, the real problem in the judiciary is the refusal to reform in response to the social realities of modern day Nigeria.

“There are several allegations held by members of the public and by verifiable surveys and polls that the judiciary is extra-ordinarily corrupt in Nigeria. But I do not see corruption as the major problem; the problem is actually the refusal to reform in response to social realities.”

Still on the judiciary, a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Chief Festus Oguche, noted that dispensation of justice in the country was an area of serious concern in terms of standards, balance, fairness and objectivity in judicial decisions.

He noted that the inadequacies have propelled the diminishing level of public confidence in the system to the extent that vigorous reforms are prescribed for the sector as a necessary precursor for an entrenched judicial system that can stand the test of time.

“But then, these negative tendencies which have reared their ugly heads in the system have their roots in the Constitution – though it is a better ascription to the character of the political elites that do not hesitate to twist or even circumvent constitutional provisions in any manner that suits them for their own self-serving ends.

“There is nothing strange in our constitution vis-a-vis other presidential democratic systems on the appointment, promotion, discipline of judges by the executive as an acceptable norm. But the manner of tampering and interference by the political elite in the system has become a sore feature of our political character.

“The end result has bred corruption, avarice and nepotism in the running of judicial affairs, particularly in the area of justice dispensation. Over the years and even in the days of the military, the nobility and integrity of the judicial institution remained intact and the military treated the institution from a respectful distance.

“Not now. Today, a Chief Justice of Nigeria was thrown out of office unconstitutionally and with all the ignominy attached thereto. The sacred office of the judge was put on edge when they were hounded, hunted, arrested and detained by the DSS and treated like criminals.

“In spite of the Court of Appeal’s condemnation of that act as lacking in the constitutional bulwark, another attempt at arresting (or was it kidnapping) of a notable justice of the Supreme Court was hatched and surveillance placed in front of her premises, just a few months to her retirement.

“But truth must be told that one cannot stoutly make case for the judiciary as being corruption free as the incidence is quite palpable and sometimes glaring. You find this mostly in political cases, election petitions and high-breed corruption cases.

“In this circumstance, the bar also has its portion of the blame as pointed out by Musdapher CJN (as he then was), that corruption in the judiciary is instigated by senior members of the bar. And that is one bitter truth to swallow, as since that notable pronouncement, there has been no effort whatsoever, either from the bench or the bar, debunking the assertion or putting in a mechanism for further investigation,” Oguche said.

He highlighted the mode and procedure for the recruitment of judicial officers as another point that tends to diminish the judicial quality and create insuperable circumstances that corrode its integrity.

He informed that constitutionally, judicial appointments are made by the executive upon the recommendation of the NJC, meaning that it is the executive that determines the appointment of judges and justices, upon the constitutional requirement of a 10-year post call and nothing more.

“The implication, therefore, is that the chief executives resort to appointing their relations, cronies and political associates into sensitive judicial positions. In the end, judges are made pawns on the chessboard of the political elites in terms of manoeuvres and rigmarole.

“This is much manifest in the determination of political cases and pre and post-election adjudications and decisions, which in very many cases, are lacking in the justice content and marked by travesty.

“Again, the current government’s proclivity to defy the orders and judgments of courts has shorn the judiciary of every ingredient of sanctity. President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration only respects the orders and judgments of courts that favour it. But it goes to courts to pursue its own rights and it is quite ironic that the same courts that the administration treats with utmost disdain tend to bend backwards to accommodate them.

“Look at the case against ASUU at the National Industrial Court. For almost eight years of this administration, no single judgment of the ECOWAS Court has been respected. This then means that the entire constitutional cum judicial essence is dampened and sent into the backwoods of subterranean existence.

“The current judicial dispensation does not in any way pander to the interests of the generality of the public specifically in the area of access to justice. The high cost of litigation, which includes filing fees, has totally removed the rights of citizens to access justice.

“This is unconstitutional. In some jurisdictions such as Rivers State and the FCT, the judiciary is perceived as revenue-generating machinery for the government. This is very wrong,” Oguche stated.

Rot, Decay Still Hamper Policing, Security On Thursday, October 8, 2020, nationwide protests, tagged #EndSARS, broke out, demanding an end to police brutality, harassment, extortion and myriads of other problems.

Police brutality and colossal abuse of human rights were overwhelmingly condemned by the #EndSARS mass action.

Barely two years after the protest by thousands of young people, Nigerians are still poorly policed while issues raised by the protesters like the attitude of an average cop toward fellow Nigerians are still unabated.

Nigerian Police is still faced with myriads of problems; some of which are poor salary, appalling accommodation, lopsided promotions, poor forensic laboratories and many more.

At police stations, there is a poster that announces that ‘bail is free. In practice, every bail enterprise is paid for. In fact, justice at police stations goes to the highest bidder.

Some pundits are quick to come to the defence of the police. They say that a sizeable number of the nation’s over 300,000 police personnel were poorly paid and had low morale for the task.

Many policemen and women wear tattered uniforms, worn-out shoes, faded belts and scruffy headgears. Policemen readily accept menial jobs of escorting goods and being aides to the powerful in society due to lack of welfare and poor pay.

There are also cases of officers who are promoted for upwards of three years without a change in their remuneration. In some cases, officers stay in one position for upwards of 12 years, not minding that the officer or rank-and-file may have undertaken further educational improvement courses.

During the tenure of some IGPs, awareness was raised on the need to stop the use of policemen as house helps and bodyguards to the mighty and powerful. The recent brutal attack on a Police Inspector attached to Prof. Zainab Abiola glaringly showed that nothing has changed.

Originally, police barracks were built to provide cheaper, safer, reasonable and comfortable accommodation for men of the Nigeria Police, as well as ensure discipline and adherence to the code of conduct. But many years after the barracks were built, lack of continuous renovation, improvement and repairs have been a major challenge.

A lot of Nigerians believe that there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with the Police as an establishment.

Cybercrime popularly called “yahoo yahoo”, kidnapping, armed robbery, terrorism and fraud are some of the crimes plaguing Nigeria presently.

The Police, which is the government agency charged with the primary responsibility for combating crime and maintaining law and order in society seem ill-equipped and lack the requisite skills, manpower and morale for adequately responding to the problems, thereby overstretching the military, whose primary duty is to defend the nation from external aggression.

Although the present police administration led by IGP Alkali Baba has largely reduced cases of rights abuse, and extortion and addressed officers’ welfare, more needs to be done by the Federal Government to improve the lots of the police.

Legislature:Posers Over Impact Of Ninth National Assembly THE basic responsibility of a parliament is law-making for peace, welfare and good governance for the people. But the most crucial responsibility of the parliament is holding the executive arm accountable. This last role is the reason many Nigerians feel the parliament has failed because of its inability to remain strong and take sides with citizens when government reneges on issues of welfare and security.

Exactly nine months to the end of the tenure of the Ahmad Lawan-led Senate, questions have arisen regarding how the National Assembly under him, particularly the Senate has fared in key governance areas such as economy, security and other socio-political needs of the people.

The Senate that was inaugurated in June 2019 came with an ambitious legislative agenda to carry out its constitutional duties of legislation, oversight and representation in an open and transparent manner.

It equally swore, “to take legislative action to improve national economic conditions including public finance management and national security architecture, reduce poverty, unemployment and infrastructure deficits; propose and implement a national planning and annual budget process that fosters collaboration between the executive and legislative arms of government; and continue with legislative actions to bring to closure, all outstanding legislation including the electoral act and constitution amendments bills.”

According to Lawan, a very “big” achievement is that “the Senate is today repositioned and functions in an open and transparent manner where bipartisanship, nationalism, stability and unity of purpose are the defining features.”

He also believed that senators now unanimously admitted that collaboration in governance is their corporate strategy if they must effectively represent the people, particularly learning from the past.

However, a worrisome issue is in the area of the relationship between the Senate and the executive arm of government. The leadership of the 9th Senate believes that for the peace and development of the nation, the three arms of government must work together as the failure and success of one arm of government will be attributed to all.

Lawan has often explained that the “three arms of government have a responsibility to each other and an obligation to Nigerians, thus must have a cordial relationship based on mutual respect for constitutional rights and mandate to succeed.”

But critics insisted that the National Assembly has compromised so much of its responsibilities to the extent that it failed to carry out checks on the executive and mount pressure for the right thing to be done. This, according to them, makes the Senate guilty of the failure of government.

A Lagos-based author, Dr Michael Owhoko, reviewed the development and submitted that “in the absence of an 11th-hour miracle, when an assessment of the performance of the executive arm of government will be carried out on May 29 next year, using the economy, security and corruption as indexes, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), may likely go down as a failed President.”

He continued: “If this happens, the legislative organ of government should largely be blamed; firstly, for failing to invoke the doctrine of checks and balances to ensure the President discharges his statutory obligations in line with national interest and aspirations.

“Secondly, for failing to halt the breach of Federal Character principle by the president. Thirdly, for failing to interrogate the executive for sliding economic indices, worsening corruption, rising insecurity, capital flight, mounting loans, multiple tax burden, unemployment and decaying infrastructure, including poor electricity and education.

“For these flops, the 9th National Assembly is an accessory to the current woes of the country and cannot be absolved. The legislature is the second organ of government, free and independent from the control of the executive, yet the lawmakers have made it an extension and apron string of the president.”

It is also the belief of many that although many legislative interventions have been initiated by the Senate to improve the revenue and economy of the country, such interventions would amount to a wasted effort if the parliament fails to monitor the executive and prevent leakages, corruption and waste.

This could be the case with the revenue maximising legislative measures taken by the National Assembly between 2019 and 2021.

The first set of bills it initiated in this regard were those that had been in existence but needed fresh impetus for immediate good governance delivery.

They included the Deep Off-Shore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act 2004, whose amendment by the 9th Senate was aimed at maximising the revenues accruing from the crude oil; the Finance Act and the Public Procurement Act 2007, whose amendments complementarily were to ensure the high-level performance of the budget, as well as the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004, amended to advance the ease of doing business policies.

They speedily assented to the sequel to the canvassed synergy between the arms of government.

The Senate President had said: “We have equally approved special requests from the Executive for emergency funding and interventions to reflate the economy as a means of moving our country out of recession, restoring businesses and livelihood, improving supply chains, generating more employment and creating wealth and income for millions of Nigerians.”

Another area where the Lawan-led Senate claimed it has achieved much is its resolve to “propose and implement a national planning and annual budget process that fosters collaboration between the executive and legislative arms of government.”

“One clear dividend is the reversion to the January-December fiscal calendar were 100 per cent budget implementation has been attained and sustained for three unbroken years now, the sequel to the elimination of revenue leakages associated with the hitherto weak budgeting system,” Lawn said.

Another lawmaker explained that “this signposts a growing economy facilitated by the collaboration between the executive and the legislature, which has made it mandatory for budget proposals to be presented months before passage to provide ample time for scrutiny and also for every head of the ministerial departments and agencies to be physically present at budget defence sessions.”

But watchers of events in the Senate have continued to insist that no matter the volume of bills and legislative interventions, the Senate would not be making progress without waking up to its basic role of watchdog to the executive arm.

It is believed that what the Senate leadership described as cooperation between the Legislature and the Executive would be counted as a “conspiracy” against the people.

For instance, it was noted that the laxity on the part of the National Assembly prevented it from monitoring or even stopping the President from embarking on “reckless borrowings.”

Josef Omorotionmwan, another concerned activist, said: “The idea of oversight had been tossed out of the window. Better a confrontation than a cave-in. Where the legislature cannot constantly keep the executive on its toes, the nation is doomed.

“Cooperation is good but when cooperation between the legislature and the executive becomes excessive, it becomes an open invitation to conspiracy. As it is in other spurs of life, so it is in government.

“When politicians come out of a meeting and they are smiling and back-slapping one another, there is something wrong. They did not tell themselves the truth. A polygamist whose two wives suddenly become very friendly has cause to worry. His life is at stake,” he warned.

Federal Reps Members Parochial, Self-Centred, Says Onwubiko The National Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), Emmanuel Onwubiko in his contribution titled, ‘Role of Legislature versus Assessments of Ninth House of Representatives, stated that law-making occupies a pride of place in a constitutional democracy.

He said: “In fact, law-making process is the epicentre of constitutionalism and democracy because the federal legislators are exercising the mandate of their direct constituents and are in office to defend the interests of their constituents and synergise these interests to coalesce with the larger national interest or public good.

“The legislators in Abuja ideally ought to be the eyes and ears of the people of Nigeria who are the actual owners of the sovereignty of Nigeria.

“The people of Nigeria often donate during elections, the legitimacy to public office seekers who win the election and proceed to exercise authority for the public good.

“The fundamental characteristic that distinguishes the legislature as an arm of government is the powers statutorily bestowed on the lawmakers by the constitution to alter or amend any aspect of the existing laws to come up to contemporary demands of the people and be standardised in line with the best global practices. Lawmakers make, unmake, amend and alter aspects of extant laws to meet up with growing public agitation, fairness, justice and to serve the overall public interest.”

Onwubiko stated that out of 10, he would score the present House of Representatives a little above two per cent, which according to him, was abysmal and a colossal waste of the humongous public funds expended in running the federal legislature since 2019.

He added: “This present House is largely a failed Federal House of Representatives because, for 98 per cent of the times since 2019, they represented their parochial and self-centred, cash-driven motives.

“The Federal House of Reps is a sycophant of the executive arm of government. They lack transparency and accountability and their leadership is opaque.

“If the process that brought the Speaker to power is tainted, there is no amount of miracle that can restore independent voice in the legislature. So, what we have seen from 2019 is a Federal House of Representatives that does all the dirty jobs for their godfathers and nothing basically for Nigerians.

“The House has had over one hundred public hearings on diverse issues about public procurements corruption in NNPC; key government agencies and defence sector but corruption is now a hydra-headed monster and ballooning out of control because the legislators are persons railroaded into offices by their pay masters and most of them are into running contracts in the same key ministries that statutorily, they ought to provide effective and efficient oversight function.”

However, the Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON) and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, was of the opinion that the National Assembly under Lawan and Gbajabiamila was more patriotic than a rubber stamp.

Noting that the legislature is the main dichotomy or difference between liberal democracy and dictatorship, primarily because of its oversight functions, he concluded that the legislature has done very well.

“Today, the State Legislature and Judiciary are more independent in spite of the antics of state governors who ape emperors.

“On the 9th NASS led by His Excellency Ahmad Lawan, one is impressed with their bi-partisan cooperation with the executive. To me, their cooperation is more patriotic than a rubber stamp, which some people erroneously dub them.

“To their credit is the approval of loans that enhanced the containment of palpable insecurity in the land. Secondly, was the approval of €995 million for wholesome mechanisation of agriculture in the land under the Green Imperative Project (GIP). To me, GIP in the fullness of time will be one of the foremost legacies of Buhari’s Agrarian Revolution,” Okechukwu said.

Inflation, Unemployment As Nigeria’s Economic Albatross INFLATION has emerged a dreaded hydra-headed phenomenon that is pushing frontiers of joblessness, high costs of food and services as well chief driver of poverty.

While the federal and state governments are moaning the sustained loss of jobs and under-employment, the dwindling consumer spending helped by low wages; inflation is driving the manufacturing sector out of business.

The President, of Project Management Institute in Nigeria, Paul Omugbe, stated that curtailing inflation requires the government to put the necessary infrastructure in place.

He argued that encouraging the private sector to produce was no longer an option, saying Nigeria must strive to find ways out of the massive importation of goods and services.

Image insisted that there were goods and services available in Nigeria that could be improved upon if the government makes resources available to manufacturers.

He said: “The only way we can get out of this is when the government spends the necessary resources to put infrastructure in place to encourage local manufacturing. As long our import still exceeds our export, we will continue to have a squeeze in liquidity.”

To the Chief Executive Officer of Dairy Hills Limited, Kelvin Emmanuel, solving the huge subsidy on the premium motor spirit (PMS) and stopping oil theft was the way to revive the ailing economy.

Emmanuel said the ambitious energy transition plans launched by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would unlikely make any noticeable impact.

His words: “Much of the developed world believes that the most existential threat we face as human species is the threat of climate change, even though much of West Europe, Mainland China and North America were built on fossil fuels and coal.

“Indeed, the most daring and ambitious goals for clean energy transition, where President Buhari also made very daring commitments, was at COP22, just a few months before Russia decided to invade Ukraine.

“Nigeria, as the 13th highest producer of oil in the world has failed in partaking in the largesse that comes from the price being above $100 per barrel for nearly six months now because of self-inflicted issues like organised crude oil theft and inability to negotiate for higher quotas at OPEC.

“Nigeria’s woes stemmed from lack of clarity in energy policy from decades of refusal to pass a comprehensive petroleum industry bill that only became law a few months ago, that stifled new investments by International Oil Companies in new rigs that will raise production output from its Deep Offshore Inland Basin (DOIP-Basin) as expressed in the Joint Venture Production Sharing Contracts.

“Also, Nigeria as the country with the ninth largest proven reserves of natural gas with stated reserves at 206 trillion cubic feet has also failed to take advantage of the surge in the rise in gas price in Europe.

“This has seen prices rise up to $34 per mm standard cubic feet, as compared to a capped price of $7 per mm standard cubic feet in Nigeria, owing to issues like failure of NNPC that controls the Nigeria Gas Management Company (NMGC) to deregulate the pricing of natural gas much to the chagrin of investors that form the Gas Association in Nigeria, which has denied companies of incentives from building infrastructure for compression of dried filtered gas into CNG, or pipeline infrastructure for distribution across states within the country.

“Consequently, the hope of the Vice President that Nigeria can create 340,000 jobs by 2030 and 840,000 jobs by 2060 by attracting $10 billion in investments per year is wishful thinking if some critical fundamentals are not addressed.

“Allow gas prices in Nigeria to follow the bent formula that tracks the prices of diesel by 40 per cent. This means that since the calculation of prices at $7 per mm standard cubic feet for gas will yield N105 per standard cubic metre, the price for gas that is 0.97 equivalent to diesel should naturally follow the 300 per cent increase over the last eight months to N315 per standard cubic metre.

“Doing this will attract a flow of non-speculative foreign direct investments (FDI) into building pipes, compression stations, regasification plants, and CNG trucks necessary to increase the utilisation of gas as a cheaper and more sustainable means for energy as well as reduce the carbon footprint in Nigeria.

“Nigeria must also converge exchange rates. There are currently six different exchange rates in Nigeria.

“Companies will not take government incentives like tax breaks expressed in pioneer status according to the National Tax Industrial Relief Act (as amended in 2014), or the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) over the yield curve on risk pricing for revenue and profit repatriation.

“Nigeria now consumes 1,040,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas used as cooking gas, aerosol coolants, AC gas. But the statistic that is most important to Nigerians is that within the last seven years, the consumption of LPG has moved by 260 per cent from 400kg to 1.04 million metric tonnes, while the price of a kilogramme of cooking gas has moved from N200 to N800 because of depreciation in the naira over the intervening period.

“How the Vice President can be talking about migrating the rural dwellers from using charcoal or Dual-Purpose Kerosene when the government has failed in its primary responsibility of ensuring that NNPC backwardly integrates 100 per cent the supply of LPG and not import from Equatorial Guinea and the United States.

“I honestly believe that one of the best decisions the Vice President can take to help the economy is to ask for a review of Nigeria’s supply chain so he can see how unrealistic his energy transition plan is even if it might look very good on paper.”

Emmanuel also argued that the decision of the Buhari administration to build its fiscal strategy paper as a tool for achieving its medium-term expenditure framework on borrowing to cover the deficit was a very lazy approach.

Recall that the Minister of Finance had said during a House of Representatives hearing that the government projected to borrow N11 trillion in 2023. That will raise the debt stock by 26 per cent to N53.2 trillion and is in line with government plan to pay N6.3 trillion as under-recovery payments for subsidies.

Emmanuel maintained that the Nigerian government has failed in its responsibility to provide empirical evidence that Nigerians consume 72 million litres of PMS daily.

He further contended that the recent proposal the Vice President, as the Head of the National Economic Council, made to the White House and World Bank asking for partial debt forgiveness in a debt for climate deal was proof that the Nigerian government lacks a sound economic strategy for budget balance.

He explained: “How can you be pouring N4 trillion into a well as under-recovery for PMS subsidy and then at the same time be asking for debt forgiveness, considering that 17 years ago, the Nigerian government got an $18 billion debt write-off from the Paris Club of Creditors (for which there is currently an impasse between the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) over how the refund will be shared, considering that initial payments had been made from federal and not state accounts.”

Poor Prosecution Dugs War Against Corruption PRESIDENT Buhari won the 2015 poll largely on the promise that his administration would fight corruption to a standstill. However, in the almost eight years of his administration, experts believe that Nigeria has not made significant progress in the area of fighting graft.

They stated that the anti-corruption strategies of the administration are laudable in theory but lacking in implementation.

For instance, many politically exposed persons, especially former state governors detained for alleged corruption immediately after leaving office, are still moving about freely.

According to Dataphyte, a research and data news platform, about 31 former governors were arrested by EFCC soon after leaving office. Sadly, out of these, the courts have only convicted seven from charges bordering on money laundering, fraud and embezzlement of public funds while one was acquitted.

Despite the low chance of conviction, President Buhari recently pardoned and released two of the convicted former governors from prison – Jolly Nyame of Taraba and Joshua Dariye of the Plateau States, whose prison terms were upheld by the Supreme Court.

The development appeared to have confirmed the belief of some Nigerians who perceived the anti-corruption crusade as a mere fluke.

In addition, to date, many former and current Nigerian public office holders exposed in the Pandora Papers as having secret and suspicious assets kept away in tax havens have not been investigated or prosecuted.

The Pandora Paper exposé triggered calls in Nigeria for further investigation and prosecution of the individuals who allegedly breached the country’s assets declaration laws and tax regulations.

But as in the case of the previous Panama Papers, which six years ago, uncovered 110 Nigerians holding suspicious assets in tax havens, no politically exposed person (PEP) has been sanctioned or has vacated office due to the revelation.

Last year, the EFCC boss, Abdulrasheed Bawa, disclosed that 978 corrupt Nigerians were convicted between January and September 2021, insisting that the agency was winning the war on corruption.

But Bawa’s declaration appears to contradict the position of observers.

For instance, Transparency International (TI), ranked Nigeria 154 out of 180 countries in the 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

According to the organisation, Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points in the 2021 index, dropping five places from 149 in 2020.

It also declared Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in West Africa after Guinea, ranking 150 on the global index.

While the government has consistently claimed that it is reducing corruption, the ranking may be an indicator that corruption is getting worse in Nigeria.

In its reaction, the Federal Government through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the index “does not reflect the great strides by the country in its fight against corruption, particularly in the public sector.”

The government also accused Transparency International of releasing a “sensational and baseless rating on Nigeria and the fight against corruption.”

Nevertheless, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, stated that Nigeria still has a long way to go in the fight against corruption despite having made some progress in the area of the legal framework.

Rafsanjani however observed that the fight against corruption would involve compliance and implementation of these legal frameworks. Noting that the present government was insincere in tackling graft, he urged the President to deal squarely with corruption cases that have to do with politically exposed persons.

“There is a huge gap in terms of public education on the legal framework because many Nigerians do not understand these laws for them to even avoid anything that has to do with corruption. So, a lot needs to be done in terms of public education and compliance with the rules.

“Also, major works need to be done around judicial corruption. This is because we have a legal framework but corruption in the judiciary continues to undermine efforts to tackle the menace.

“There is a need for government to carry out a judicial reform in order to ensure the corrupt ones won’t use the money to undermine the legal process.

“Another dimension is that political corruption must be dealt with squarely because part of the major crisis we have with the fight against corruption in Nigeria is the protection of politically exposed persons.

“To fight corruption, you need to fight political corruption, but it is unfortunate that the present government is not seeing political corruption as a major threat.

“So, when you have a weak judiciary and legislature, refusal to prosecute politically exposed persons, then, it will be difficult to say that we are making progress in the fight against corruption,” Rafsanjani said.

Return Of Counterfeit Drugs A nation will only thrive if the health of its populace is given utmost priority. The influx of controlled and counterfeit drugs in pharmaceutical stores across the country calls for urgent attention.

The former Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the late Dora Akuyili, in one of her interviews on the dangers of fake drugs submitted that “fake drugs rob the common man of both health and life. If the high and mighty can go to all corners of the earth to get good health services, fake drugs leave a common man with no choice.”

The return of fake drugs has left many people treating common sicknesses such as malaria, cough and typhoid fever without relief.

A graphic designer, who would want to remain anonymous, revealed how he was approached by pharmaceutical stores to recreate graphic designs of packets of existing drugs with the intent of filling same with counterfeits.

“I have been to three big pharmaceutical stores in Abuja. They are big on producing drug counterfeits. One of the first practical tests I went through was to recreate the design of popular malaria drugs using the pharmaceutical store’s official computer,” the source said.

Another graphic designer also decried the brazen manner some pharmaceutical stores allegedly produce counterfeit drugs.

“If anyone ever tries to interrogate their intention, such person would be sacked immediately. Consequently, employees end up conforming to this evil for fear of being jobless.”

Another person, who had witnessed the production of counterfeit drugs, blamed the government for the rising trend.

He said: “The government is not doing enough. During the time of late Dora Akunyili, there was a tax force going around to ensure the ousting of fake and counterfeit drugs.

“Since this regime came on board, they seldom go out. It is really sad because fake drugs have ripple effects across all social strata. Rather than make progress, Nigeria seems to expand in everything evil. They are all signs of a failed nation,” the source said.

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Essay on Nigeria My Country

Students are often asked to write an essay on Nigeria My Country in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Nigeria My Country

Introduction to nigeria.

Nigeria is a country in West Africa. It is known for its rich culture and many languages. The land has forests, mountains, and rivers. Many people live in Nigeria, making it Africa’s most populated country.

Nigerian Culture

The culture in Nigeria is colorful. People enjoy music, dance, and art. They celebrate festivals with joy. Clothing is often bright and beautiful. Nigerian food is tasty and includes rice, soups, and spices.

Places in Nigeria

Nigeria has exciting places to see. There are big cities like Lagos and natural spots like the Zuma Rock. Visitors like to see the wildlife and markets too.

Nigeria faces some problems. Not all children can go to school, and keeping the environment clean is tough. Leaders are working to solve these issues.

Nigeria is a country with friendly people and a strong spirit. It is full of life and has a future full of promise. It is a place many call home with pride.

250 Words Essay on Nigeria My Country

Nigeria is a country in West Africa. It’s known for its colorful culture, rich history, and natural beauty. With over 200 million people, it’s the most populous country in Africa and the seventh in the world.

Land and Nature

The land in Nigeria is very diverse. There are sandy beaches, large rivers, and even forests. The country also has a lot of wildlife, including elephants and lions. Nigeria’s weather is mostly hot since it’s close to the equator, but it also has rainy and dry seasons.

Culture and People

Nigeria is home to many different groups of people. Each group has its own language, traditions, and festivals. Music and dance are very important in Nigerian culture. The country is famous for its Nollywood film industry, which is one of the largest in the world.

Nigeria has a lot of natural resources like oil and gas. These resources play a big role in its economy. Agriculture is also important; many people farm products like cocoa and peanuts.

Nigeria faces some challenges, such as making sure everyone has enough food and access to education. The country is working to solve these problems and make life better for its people.

Nigeria is a country with a lot of diversity and potential. Even though it has challenges, its rich culture and natural resources make it a unique and important part of the world.

500 Words Essay on Nigeria My Country

Nigeria is a country located in West Africa. It is known for its rich history, diverse cultures, and natural resources. With over 200 million people, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous in the world. The land is full of life and color, with many languages spoken and various traditions practiced.

Geography and Climate

The country has a varied landscape that includes beaches, mountains, forests, and deserts. The climate is tropical, with rainy and dry seasons that change depending on the area. The southern part of Nigeria is mostly wet and green, while the north can be hot and dry. This makes Nigeria home to a wide range of plants and animals, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth.

Nigeria’s culture is a tapestry of the many ethnic groups that live there. The country has over 250 ethnic groups, with the Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba being the largest. Each group has its own customs, language, and way of life. Music and dance are important in Nigerian culture, with traditional beats like Afrobeat and Highlife being popular. Nigerian movies, known as Nollywood, are famous across Africa and tell stories that reflect the lives of the people.

Nigerian food is as diverse as its people. Dishes are often made with rice, beans, and yams, and are seasoned with spices that make them flavorful. Some popular foods include jollof rice, a spicy dish made with tomatoes and rice, and suya, which is grilled meat with a tasty spice rub. These foods are not just tasty but also a way to bring people together, as meals are a time for family and friends to share stories and enjoy each other’s company.

Nigeria has a growing economy that is one of the largest in Africa. It is rich in resources like oil and natural gas, which are important for the country’s wealth. Agriculture is also a key part of the economy, with many people working in farming to grow crops like cocoa, peanuts, and palm oil. Nigeria’s markets are full of life, with people buying and selling goods every day.

Like any country, Nigeria faces challenges. Some areas have to deal with poverty and not having enough schools or hospitals. There are also times when different groups disagree, leading to conflict. Despite these issues, many Nigerians are working hard to make their country a better place, focusing on education, health, and peace.

Nigeria is a country with a heart full of rhythm and a spirit that shines. Its landscapes are breathtaking, its cultures are vibrant, and its people are strong and resilient. Even with the difficulties it faces, Nigeria continues to move forward, building a future that honors its rich past and looks ahead with hope. For many Nigerians, their homeland is more than just a place on the map—it is a part of who they are.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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How to Write About Nigeria

**This essay is a work of satire, modeled after the late Binyavanga Wainaina’s “ How to Write About Africa .” Much like Wainaina’s 2005 essay, this post captures an important truth about how so many journalists, pundits, and even scholars continue to write about Africa, including the nation of Nigeria.

Always use the words or phrases ‘Nigeria’ or ‘Failed State’ or ‘Underdeveloped Country’ or ‘ Desperately Poor Country ,’ or ‘ Crime-Ridden Disgrace’ in your title. Include subtitles like ‘Militancy,’ ‘ Nigerian Prince,’ ‘Underbelly of Criminals.’ Emphasize the Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba; they are the only ethnic groups. Note that Nigerians are ‘Primordial Tribesmen and Women.’ Use words like ‘Violence,’ ‘Corruption,’ ‘ Terrorism ,’ ‘Boko Haram,’ ‘Bloodshed,’ ‘Insecurity,’ ‘Kidnappers,’ ‘ Almajari ,’ ‘Backward,’ ‘Primitive,’ ‘Filthy,’ ‘Rural.’ These are the only fitting qualifiers.

Nigeria is one ‘Tribe’ in a country called ‘Africa.’ So, write that you have met a certain Nigerian who knows a certain so-and-so from Kenya because every Nigerian knows every other African. Write that Nigerians speak only ‘Nigerian’ or ‘ African ’ despite having over 250 ethnic groups and 500 languages. Mention your shock at seeing a Nigerian who is well-spoken in English and compliment them on how well they speak English ; these don’t offend them. It is okay to undermine the fluency of a Nigerian who speaks English by highlighting his accent or to question the intellect of another Nigerian because he does not speak English.

Never mention Nigeria’s rich cultural, historical, and intellectual heritage or that Nigerian borders are actually colonial borders, drawn by the British with no regard for local community affinities of language, culture, religion, and tradition . Never mention that Nigeria was conceived by Britain as a ‘business corporation’ and not a ‘nation-state.’ It is a taboo to mention the disaster called colonialism .

Start your story with pity. Keep it redolent, flattened and, sometimes, vague. It is impossible for the Nigerian to be similar to you and you should not convey feelings more complex than pity and melancholy or of a mutual connection as human equals because Black people are not humans and therefore must be excluded from the human society .

In your book cover or in the book, never picture a well-looking Nigerian, except for Nobel Prize winners . Very dirty cities, people riding on animal backs, AK-47s, naked long breasts, popping ribs, big heads, mutilated genitals, rheumy eyes, runny noses, and bulging eyes: use these. Nigerians are very poor and desperate for charity. In your preface, write that the entire country is unsafe and that everywhere is filthy with beggars. Write that Nigeria only has mud huts, remote villages, forests, wildlife, and that Nigerians drive cars only when their lions have fallen asleep for the day. There is no electricity, roads, bridges, or tap water. Nigeria is the most dangerous place to live, only known for low-slums, ghettos and bloodthirsty robbers.

Describe a Nigeria filled with millions of people who are too busy starving, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty, giving birth to malnourished children, waiting for the ‘kind West’ to save them. Every ‘Tribal Nigerian’ is thin and only eat roasted yams, boiled cocoyams and primates, game meat, worms, snake, rat, and lizard butts. Never mention the exotic local dishes, the popular Nigerian jollof rice or the CNN-ranked Banga soup .

You want your work to show the ‘real Nigeria’ which is the unsafe, filthy, and miserable. Why? Because you are the biblical John the Baptist, and through your ‘brilliant’ book or article or Twitter post, you are preparing the way for the messiah – the West – to save Nigeria.

In northern Nigeria, write that they are the world’s least educated. In southern Nigeria, write that they only do illegitimate businesses and prostitution . Ignore the exceptionally brilliant and successful people in both regions. Write that the North and South constantly fight and hate because love is not in their DNA. Do not forget that Nigerians have no manners. They are too volatile and loud. There are no quiet, soft spoken, or cordial Nigerians.

The only business Nigerians know is “internet scamming.’ Use the words ‘Credit Card Fraud,’ ‘Email Scam,’ ‘Yahoo-Yahoo,’ and ‘The Nigerian Prince’ to reference its teeming youths. Every Nigerian is a prince or the son of late Sani Abacha. Borrow a leaf from ABC News and portray Nigeria strictly as a ‘beehive of advance fee fraud’ and ‘a sprawling, crime-ridden, corrupt, disgrace of a [country].’ Only write about the 0.1 percent of the busy lot who have painted a negative image of Nigeria. Do this in your text because Nigerians are the only scammers in the world although the number of fraudulent Nigerians are a decimal percentage of its population. Of course, there are no American or European scammers while Silicon Valley and Wall Street are incapable of fraud and deception because Nigerian scammers have a global monopoly on such practices.

Every Nigerian at an international airport has a suitcase full of illegal stuff. Every Nigerian is suffering. Every Nigerian kid goes to bed hungry. The biggest taboo in writing about Nigeria is to describe happy, smiling, successful Nigerians or suffering white people who found sanctuary in Nigeria.

Write that Nigerians, especially its youths, are lazy even though a greater percentage of them are legitimate hard workers. Refer to them as ‘desperately poor, computer-savvy young men.’ Never include youths and university graduates who are leaders and geniuses in the fintech space. Never mention that Nigerians are some of the highly educated-achievers both at home and abroad, from music to medicine and from science to the humanities.

Nigerians can’t speak English even though it is their official language. Never portray Nigerians as well-learned, even when the average Nigerian family is obsessed with education. Write that Nigerians are illiterate but do not mention that Nigerians are the most highly educated immigrant population in the U.S. Write that Nigerians cannot read and not about the Nigerian who has multiple degrees. Or that Nigerians excel at universities abroad, go as far as adding master’s and oftentimes a Ph.D. to their educational achievements and have excellent professional careers in their host country. Write that Nigerians are not professionals but do not write about the over 4,000 Nigerian medical doctors in the U.S. and over 5,000 in the U.K. alone. Do not write about the Nigerian who, in addition to his local language[s], speaks fluent English, French, Chinese, and Spanish.

Nigerians are ‘lost, unproductive, uncivilized’ and only do ‘juju [Black magic] and voodoo.’ Do not mention indigenous knowledge practices and business philosophies that have survived for centuries or the Igbo Apprenticeship System (IAS) or that the IAS is studied at Harvard Business School and that Dr. Ndubisi Ekekwe is the brain behind its adoption. Do not mention that the IAS has been recognized as the largest business incubator in the world . Never mention that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Director-General of WTO and that there are many Nigerians like her. Mention that Nigerians avoid technology and have a phobia for innovation. Only expats can develop Nigeria.

Say that Nigeria is a dumping site because your average Nigerian man is not good at anything. Taboo subjects include honest Nigerians, top businessmen, philanthropists, relentless young entrepreneurs, educated professionals, functional hospitals, or school-going kids who speak impeccable English, have won international competitions , are not malnourished, and are not suffering from AIDS, malaria, laser fever, female genital mutilation, or smallpox. Forget about the Nobel Prize winners, soccer champions, Olympic Gold Medalist, academics and tech innovators. Write that Nigeria only relies on cheap Chinese goods and Western loans but do not mention the brain drain of its most productive population.

Only write about the lavishly corrupt politicians who are the ‘legislooters’ and ‘executhieves’ at Aso Rock who spend millions of dollars on champagne and nightclubs with their many mistresses. And write that Nigerian ladies are jobless and are solely dependent on ‘Sugar Daddies.’

Although Nigerian artists lead the Afrobeats space, only make casual mention of the leaders of this space. Don’t mention that some have won Grammys or that Nigerians are constantly making their marks in sports, entertainment, and the culinary arts. Or Nollywood’s global recognition as the second largest movie industry in terms of output. Emphasize that there are only just a few good Nigerians. If a Nigerian-British/American actor/actress or singer/entertainer becomes successful, erase their ‘Nigerianness’ and attribute all their talents and abilities to their ‘Britishness’ or ‘Americanness’ ties.

Write that Nigerians are voiceless, powerless and cannot protest for change or do not care even though they have been writing petitions since colonial days . Never mention that the 1929 Aba Women’s War was the first successful women-led colonial revolt in West Africa. Never mention the historic protests led by Nigerian women who literally ‘undress for redress.’ Never mention the courageous Nigerian youths who protested against police brutality in October 2020 from Twitter to the streets.

Always end your book by reiterating Nigeria’s catastrophes, hopelessness and doom; only the benevolence of the whiteman can save her. End perhaps, with Chinua Achebe saying, “there was a country” and that country was Nigeria. Remind your reader that the West is ready with open arms to lift Nigeria out of penury and misery. Always end by saying that you believe in a ‘better Nigeria.’ Because you truly care .

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Bright Alozie

Bright Alozie is an assistant professor of Black Studies at Portland State University and specializes in the social and political history of Nigeria, as well as gender and sexuality in West Africa.

Comments on “ How to Write About Nigeria ”

Beautiful piece! Nigeria is indeed an embodiment of talents…we are not the best neither are we the best but a drained country that still fight the shackles of colonialism.

Thank you for sharing this and unmasking the lies about beautiful Nigeria. As an African American(loosley called). I trace my ancestry back to Cameroon and Nigeria. I am learning so much about the homeland of my people and want to decolonize my entire mind about it. It’s a long arduous process and I thank you for showing me more truth about wonderful Nigeria!

Comments are closed.

My Country Nigeria Essay 150 To 200 Words

Nigeria fondly referred to as the “Giant of Africa,” is a country steeped in vibrant cultures, teeming with hardworking citizens, and abundantly blessed with natural resources. Nestled in the heart of West Africa, Nigeria, with an estimated population of over 200 million people, stands as the most populous country in Africa. This population comprises a diverse assembly of over 270 ethnic groups, each with its own rich cultural heritage and language.

Table of Contents

Reflections on My Country Nigeria: An Essay on the Giant of Africa

A land of diversity and unity.

Despite the striking cultural differences, Nigeria is a symbol of unity in diversity. From the Igbo’s entrepreneurial spirit in the East to the Yoruba’s artistic prowess in the West, and from the Fulani’s pastoral life in the North to the Niger Delta’s oil-rich South, the country pulsates with a unique rhythm that forms the collective Nigerian identity.

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Nigeria’s affluence is not only a result of its populous and diverse citizenry but also its bountiful natural resources. Holding the position as Africa’s premier oil producing nation, Nigeria’s prodigious oil reservoirs establish it as a crucial contributor to the international oil market. Moreover, the country is blessed with rich, arable lands, nurturing an agricultural community and fueling a flourishing farm-based economy.A Nation of Resilient Individuals

Despite the challenges faced, such as economic instability and security issues, the Nigerian spirit remains unbowed. Nigerians are renowned for their resilience, tenacity, and indomitable spirit. The nation is a breeding ground for innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial pursuits, all driven by an unwavering desire for progress.

Nigeria, an Epicenter of Artistic Excellence

Nigeria also shines brightly on the global map for its contributions to arts and culture. With internationally acclaimed musicians, filmmakers, and authors, Nigeria’s entertainment industry is a testament to its artistic brilliance.

In Conclusion

Despite its challenges, Nigeria stands unparalleled in its cultural richness, human resourcefulness, and natural bounty. The ever-resilient Nigerians, with their infectious optimism and relentless pursuit of prosperity, make the country a vibrant and dynamic force in Africa and the world at large. In the words of our national anthem, “the labor of our heroes past shall never be in vain.” As a proud Nigerian student, I believe in the beauty, strength, and future of my beloved country, Nigeria.

Hello! Welcome to my Blog StudyParagraphs.co. My name is Angelina. I am a college professor. I love reading writing for kids students. This blog is full with valuable knowledge for all class students. Thank you for reading my articles.

Write An Essay On A Place Of Interest I Visited In Nigeria

Essays on Nigeria

Nigeria is a country with a rich and diverse history, culture, and economy. With its large population, diverse ethnic groups, and abundant natural resources, Nigeria offers a wide range of essay topics to explore. Whether you are interested in politics, economics, culture, or history, there are countless fascinating topics to delve into when writing about Nigeria. In this article, we will provide a comprehensive list of Nigeria essay topics, along with some tips on choosing the right topic for your essay.

The Importance of the Topic

Writing about Nigeria is important for several reasons. First, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and has a significant impact on the continent's politics, economy, and culture. Therefore, understanding Nigeria is crucial for anyone interested in African affairs. Additionally, Nigeria's history and culture are rich and complex, making it an intriguing subject for study and exploration. By writing about Nigeria, you can gain a deeper understanding of the country and its people, as well as contribute to the scholarly discourse on African studies.

Advice on Choosing a Topic

When choosing a topic for your Nigeria essay, it's important to consider your interests, as well as the requirements of the assignment. If you are passionate about politics, you might consider writing about Nigeria's democratic system, the role of political parties, or the impact of corruption on governance. If you are interested in economics, you could explore topics such as Nigeria's oil industry, the impact of globalization on the Nigerian economy, or the challenges of economic development. For those interested in culture and history, there are numerous topics to choose from, including traditional Nigerian music and dance, the history of colonialism in Nigeria, or the impact of globalization on Nigerian traditions. Ultimately, the best topic for your essay is one that aligns with your interests and expertise, while also allowing you to explore new ideas and perspectives.

Nigeria offers a wealth of essay topics to explore, ranging from politics and economics to culture and history. By writing about Nigeria, you can gain a deeper understanding of this diverse and dynamic country, while also contributing to the scholarly discourse on African studies. When choosing a topic for your Nigeria essay, it's important to consider your interests and the requirements of the assignment, in order to select a topic that is both engaging and academically rigorous. Whether you are interested in exploring Nigeria's political landscape, economy, culture, or history, there is no shortage of fascinating topics to delve into when writing about Nigeria.

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Nigeria’s Independence Day is a time to reflect on political gains and challenges – and a way forward

Professor and Chair of the department for Governance and Political Science, Olabisi Onabanjo University

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Ayo Olukotun does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Nigeria got independence from Britain on 1 October 1960 . As the country celebrates its political journey in the last 62 years, political scientist Ayo Olukotun takes a look at the nation’s political development, gains and challenges. He also offers the way forward.

How would you describe Nigeria’s political development?

Well, in terms of evolution, the nation appears to be shedding the toga of unitarism and jackboot politics – at least for now. However, there are residues of the long years of military rule in today’s civilian democracy. Nigeria is still quite authoritarian.

One example would be a report recently released by the National Human Rights Commission. Discipline was recommended against some police officers because they allegedly brutalised civilians . And, despite the EndSARS protests against police brutality in 2020, not much has changed in terms of their behaviour.

There is also presidential omnipotence. The Nigerian president is about the most powerful president in Africa . This power is made possible by the 1999 constitution , a unitary document masquerading as a federalist one. State governors, too, are protected by the constitution. Nobody dares challenge them: in one instance a journalist was arrested for statements a governor considered uncomplimentary.

What about political gains?

One of the gains is the fact that we have not had a coup since 1999, although there have been coup rumours . We appear, for now, to have overcome democratic regression – unlike other countries in West Africa and other parts of Africa where you have one-man rule, coup d’etats and so on.

Another gain is freedom of speech. Nigerians can now express themselves, unlike during the military era. However, as evidenced by the journalist’s experience I described, this gain is being eroded by authoritarian governors and leaders.

What is working against Nigeria’s development?

Despite the launching of some anti-corruption agencies, there is still large scale corruption. Take the former accountant general of the federation, who has been charged with stealing N109 billion . And there are other cases of corruption involving former office holders.

Then look at how the last primaries by the major political parties were monetised . One contender withdrew because, he said , the process was “obscenely monetised”.

Read more: Money is breaking democracy in Nigeria

Poverty is another challenge. The political leaders have turned poverty into a weapon against the people. Ethnicity and religious bigotry are also holding back Nigeria’s political and economic development.

What should Nigeria be doing to uplift itself?

We must go back to federalism or what some people call true federalism: power should be devolved to the federating units. These are the federal, state and local governments.

Many have called for this over time because Britain, which is a unitary nation, embraced power devolution . If unitary states are reaping the benefits of devolution, why not Nigeria? The council flats that you hear about in the UK are built by local governments and that system works far better than our own councils. Also, their police are decentralised and they are effective. The same is true in several parts of Europe.

Before now political leaders in northern Nigeria opposed state police, but now northern governors, leaders and monarchs have been calling for state police because of the high level of insecurity in those areas.

There must also be more focus on corruption. What we have under President Muhammadu Buhari is like a contest between anti-corruption and politics. In my opinion, politics has overtaken anti-corruption – that is why ministers who have fraud cases at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission are still in office. The government finds it difficult to nail them because of political issues and deals.

There are other things that a nation that wants to move forward should do; quality education is one of them. We should invest in education. But Nigeria is not funding education at all levels. And the universe has disappeared from our nation’s university system: what makes it global has disappeared over time.

Do you think Nigeria has a future?

It depends on how the public office holders behave. All of them come with rosy promises. They promise heaven and earth. At the end of the day maybe they achieve only 10% of those promises. But if they can up their game there’s no reason why Nigeria can’t progress.

Twenty years ago, Nigeria was predicted to be similar to one of the Asian Tigers (South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan). It was going to grow at a comparable rate to these nations. Instead it has been regressive.

At independence in 1960, Nigeria was richer than China . China is a world power today. Nigeria could be a continental power, or bigger, if the leaders and the followers can reverse the current tide of regression and corrupt politics.

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100 Words Essay On Peaceful Co Existence In Nigeria In English

Living together in peace rather than in constant hostility is termed as peace co-existence. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and culturally diverse country. This is a country where peace seems rather like a dream for them to accomplish. There have been constant destructions, fights and wars.

The cause of this has been due to the activities evil men who have consistently taken undue advantage of the endemic ethnic biases or religious bigotries in the society to perpetrate their evil agenda. It is not only the fault of the government but the people as well who are equally corrupted. The stress in Nigeria has brought in a lot of concern world-wide and many countries are trying to help them but till date there has been no major effect.

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Essay on nigeria politics

As a Nigerian writer, I am excited to delve into the intricate world of Nigeria politics, a topic that holds significant importance in shaping the nation’s destiny. In this comprehensive essay, we will explore various aspects of Nigerian politics, ranging from its historical background to the challenges it faces today. We will analyze the structure of the Nigerian political system, the major political parties, the impact of ethnicity and religion, and the role of youth in shaping the political landscape. Together, let us embark on this enlightening journey into Nigeria’s political realm.

Historical Background: To understand Nigeria politics, we must recognize the historical factors that have influenced its development. Nigeria gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960, marking the beginning of its democratic journey. However, political instability, military coups, and corruption marred the early years of independence, hindering the nation’s progress.

Political System and Constitution: Nigeria operates under a federal system of government with three arms: the executive, legislative, and judiciary. The President, elected through a democratic process, serves as the head of state and government. The National Assembly comprises the Senate and the House of Representatives, responsible for making laws and representing the people. The judiciary ensures the rule of law and upholds the constitution.

Major Political Parties: The Nigerian political landscape is dominated by several major political parties. The ruling party, as of my knowledge cutoff in 2021, is the All Progressives Congress (APC), while the main opposition party is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Other parties, such as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Labour Party (LP), also play significant roles. These parties compete vigorously during elections, reflecting the vibrant nature of Nigerian democracy.

Ethnicity, Religion, and Political Identity: Nigeria is a diverse country , comprising over 250 ethnic groups, each with its unique cultural heritage. Ethnicity and religion often influence political loyalties and voting patterns. This complex interplay of identities sometimes leads to ethnic and religious tensions, posing challenges to national unity and political stability. However, efforts are being made to foster inclusivity and promote a sense of shared citizenship among Nigerians.

Challenges and Reform Efforts: Nigeria faces numerous challenges in its political sphere. Corruption, poor governance, and lack of transparency have hindered development and eroded public trust. The electoral process has also faced criticism due to irregularities and violence. However, various reform efforts, such as electoral reforms, anti-corruption campaigns, and constitutional amendments, are underway to address these issues and strengthen democratic institutions.

Role of Youth: The youth, comprising a significant portion of Nigeria’s population, hold immense potential for shaping the political landscape . Young Nigerians are increasingly demanding accountability, good governance, and active participation in decision-making processes. With the advent of social media and technology, the youth are harnessing their collective power to bring about positive change, advocating for youth inclusion and representation in politics.

The Future of Nigerian Politics: The future of Nigerian politics lies in its ability to overcome challenges and embrace inclusive governance. As Nigeria continues to strive for development, it is crucial to foster strong institutions, promote transparency, and ensure equal opportunities for all citizens. Additionally, empowering women, promoting education, and addressing socioeconomic disparities will contribute to a more equitable political system.

Conclusion:

Nigeria politics is a complex and evolving subject, influenced by historical, cultural, and socioeconomic factors. In this essay, we have explored the historical background, the political system, the major parties, the impact of ethnicity and religion, and the role of youth in Nigerian politics. We have also highlighted the challenges faced by the nation and the reform efforts being undertaken. As Nigerians, we must collectively work towards a brighter future by fostering transparency, inclusivity, and good governance. Together, we can shape a Nigeria where politics serves as a catalyst for positive change and national development.

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Nigeria Essay

Imperialism In Nigeria

Republic of Nigeria, more commonly known as Nigeria is located in West Africa, in the west it borders Benin, in the east it borders Chad and Cameroon, and Niger in the north. It’s coast is located on the gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital city is Abuja. It is home to over 250 different ethnic groups. The main religions practiced are Islam, and Christianity. (Commisceo Global Consultancy ) There are over 500 different languages, but the main language spoken is English. Nigeria is Africa’s

The history of Nigeria has been reshaped and affected by the presence of external sources interfering with Nigerian culture and tradition. Europeans often colonized Nigeria for its central role in the slave trade, as well as for land and valuable resources. In particular, British occupation and Imperialization has had a significant impact on the country’s history. Colonization benefited the Nigerian people considerably, allowing the British to then likewise benefit. The British did manage to create

Nigeria As A Country In The Country Of Nigeria

Nigeria a country located on the west coast of Africa that is divided into 36 States. The country itself was not created until the British consolidated their colonial power in 1914; however all 36 states wasn’t established until 1996. Nigeria is known for over 527 Languages in which 7 are extinct. Nigeria has a variety of ethnic backgrounds which range from Arabic to Western European. Regardless of Nigerians social status being rural or urban; it is tradition to celebrate births and weddings as well

Ethnicity In Nigeria

Nigeria is part of the 16 countries in West Africa. Nigeria has different groups of ethnicity and has a population of about 186 million. Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups. The ethnic groups have different belief and practices (VANGUARD,2017). The country is well known for its oil natural resources which provides most of their gross domestic product. The largest groups are the Hausa in the north, the Yoruba in the southwest and the Igbo (or Ibo) in the southeast, who account for around a fifth of

much more. Nigeria's people can speak at least 500 languages based on how many ethnicities there are and Hausa having the largest one. The main ethnicities in nigeria is Yoruba , Ibo , and Hausa-Fulani. Apparently there are problems based on ethnicity and religion that has been a problem since the British left. The culture aspect of nigeria for their clothing is Gele where it is a scarf that women wr their heads with. An agbada that men wear which is a robe that are often worn at formal ceremonies

Colonialism In Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the most densely populated countries in all of Africa. However, according to Freedom House, Nigeria is only partly free. This is for several reasons. Firstly, from a historical point of view, colonialism had a very bad effect on Africa. Many will argue that colonialism left Africa with only one practical skill and that is education. Other than education, colonialism left Africa with no other practical skills because it left them independent on others for survival. They had no opportunity

Desertification In Nigeria

The Impact of Global warming and Desertification on the Nigerian Ecosystem SEN 406 Technical Report Writing Submitted By:- Tabansi Anthony Uchenna A00011635. Prepared For:- Dr. Arthur

The Challenges And Functions Of The Nigeria Police Force In Nigeria

The history of modern Nigeria, which dates back to post-independence era starting from 1st October, 1960 when Nigeria got her independence from the colonialists is a checkered one. The Nigerian State upon independence has witnessed myriads of challenges and threats to its national security and cohesion, exemplified in coups and counter-coups, conflicts and war with grave implication on the polity, threatening our sovereignty as a nation and dislocating our fledgling democracy. These threats and

British Attitudes Of The Slave Trade In Nigeria And Nigeria

Britain and Nigeria were competition to have a larger empire. At the beginning of the 19th century, Britain's main interest was in trade with India, that then had come to dominate by the end of the 18th century. The British interest in Africa was incidental; ships bound to and from India had to pass along the African coast where they obtained supplies and occasionally became overloaded or shipwrecked. Only a few spots in West Africa, like the Gold Coast and the Slave Coast (modern Nigeria), offered

British Imperialism In Nigeria

British Imperialism in Nigeria The British empire began in 16th century and lasted until around 1997. During this time Great Britain controlled a lot of the World’s land and population. Britain had immense power and used it for their own dominance. They wanted to spread their ideology and culture to other societies.Britain was imperializing many parts of the World."Imperialism occurs when a strong nation takes over a weaker nation or region and dominates its economic, political, and cultural life”

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Essay: Nigeria

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Africa, a unique continent, has unique cultural values which helps in the sustenance of the practice of development. This is embedded in its communal way of life that preceded colonial rule and has continued to resist the onslaught of globalization. African culture “values” communalization rather than privatization which is what the Western Culture values. The Western tradition is seen in terms of separation, independence and conflict (Ake, 1993:53).

Persons have identity only because they belong to a community, and freedom lies in the concrete capabilities, privileges and immunities which derive from communal capabilities, privileges and communities which derive from communal life (Ake, 1993:53).

It is reported that when Europeans first came to the area considered to be Africa in the 1440s, they came as merchants seeking to trade with Africans. This was sequel to the national limitations to its economic expansion imposed on the European (capitalist) ruling class, who later resorted to imperialism as a way of strengthening it political and economic domination at home and overseas (Ogunrotifa, 2013:58).

In West Africa, in the late 1920s and the 1930s, British colonial authorities began to change their policies and promoted economic development. By the 1940s, economic development was supported by efforts in education and the social services.

These approaches, particularly in the rural areas, involve literacy programs as well as practical skills. Mass literacy began to be promoted but the term was seen as too narrow (connecting only with education) and was replaced with what was thought to be a more appropriate term, called community development.

The development of towns and cities consequent upon the newly introduced colonial economy led to the creation of economic enclaves which were given priority in development plans. In the post-independence era, the rural populations were gradually neglected by subsequent governments as urban areas started springing up in the major cities.

Thus, the phenomenon of urban bias became the norm in the country’s match towards development. This has also brought about gap between the rich and poor in the society. “The rural sector contains most of the poverty and most of the low-cost sources of potential advance, but the urban sector contains most of the articulateness, organization and power” (lipton, 1993:13).

Nigeria being one of the countries colonized by the British is located in West Africa with a coast on the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean. Neighboring countries include Benin, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The geography ranges from southern coastal swamps to tropical forests, woodlands, grasslands and semi-desert in the north. The government system is a federal republic and head of government is the president. Nigeria has a mixed economic system which includes a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic planning and government regulation.

Nigeria is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Social economic development has been one of the primary bases of the Nigeria government in order to achieve sustainable development.

It is common knowledge that socio-economic development is the primary goal of every well-meaning government, and it is essentially dependent on the level of economic activities in a country; the level of economic activities is in turn enhanced by peaceful co-existence by people.

What this implies is that where there is no peaceful co-existence among the people in any nation, economic progression may not be possible. Put in another way in the absence of security, socio-economic development cannot be sustained as it destroys economic, human and social capital.

It is important to note here that socio-economic development is to be closely associated with environmental protection and improvement, to ensure harmony between man-made and natural environment to conserve biodiversity.

A variety of socio-economic and political conditions in Africa – too many to recount here – produce grievances that have been used by militant groups to justify their recourse to violent actions.

Socio-economic development is the process of social and economic development in a society. Socio-economic development is measured with indicators, such as GDP, life expectancy, literacy and levels of employment.

Socio-economic development is a product of development and can be defined as the process of social and economic transformation in a society. They equally noted that, socio-economic development consists of processes caused by exogenous and endogenous factors which determine the course and direction of the development (Ewetan et al, 2014:40).

The goal of economic development is to improve the social and material well-being of all individuals and social institutions with the goal of achieving the highest possible level of human development.

From the foregoing, it can be conveniently said that socio-economic development is a multifaceted phenomenon and man centered.

2.1 Analyses of Nigerian Socio-Economic Indicators

2.1.1 Nigeria GDP Per Capita

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The gross domestic product or gross domestic income (GDI) is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country’s economy. It is the total value of all final goods and services produced in a particular economy within a country’s borders in a given year.

Per Capita Income: The total national income divided by the number of people in the nation. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among all.

The GDP of Nigeria is an indicator that all is not well. Indices on paper is nothing if it is not at par with the reality on ground whereby citizens are suffering as they barely eat two-square per day. If there are no functional industries in the country, there will be low GDP. There is failure on the part of the government as there is no diversification of the economy, we have over-relied on oil as our mainstay and this is bad for economic development. All other industries had been in comatose with little or nothing done to resuscitate them and lack of private investors has done us more harm than good.

The following discussions attempt to give an overview of the growth and development of the Nigerian economy from independence to present times. Specifically, the following periods are briefly mentioned: the pro-oil boom decade (1960-1970); the period of the oil boom (1971-1977); the period of stabilization and structural adjustment (1986-1993) and the period of guided deregulation (1994-1998). In the period 1960-70, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded 3.1 per cent growth annually. During the oil boom era, roughly 1970-78, the GDP recorded a remarkable growth. It grew positively by 6.2 per cent annually. However, it witnessed a negative growth rate in the 1980s. In the period 1988-1997 which constitutes the period of structural adjustment and economic liberalization, the GDP responded to economic adjustment policies and grew at a positive rate of 4.0.

Between 1978 and 1986, except for 1979 and 1985 when GDP showed positive growth, the economy continued to register negative growth rates. There were also high inflation, high unemployment rate and fiscal imbalance. It is evident that the global economic crisis of 1980s led to the collapse of commodity price at the world market. It is on record that the economy of an oil-based economy such as Nigeria suffered a recession due to deficit balance of payment, external debt crisis, instability and misallocation of scarce foreign exchange, fiscal indiscipline, corruption and weak external demand. The response of the government to the crisis was to introduce austerity measures thus withdrawing some of the social welfare packages that people enjoyed. The stabilization and austerity measures of the Shehu Shagari regime (1979-1983) did not arrest the deepening crisis. This measure eventually gave rise to the implementation of Structural Adjustment Program (SAP).

Prior to the implementation of SAP, Nigeria being a neo-colonial capitalist economy that enriched a few at the expense of the nation, still provides some social safety needs for its citizens. It is reported that during this period the Nigerian Government placed emphasis on the ‘building of an egalitarian society in line with the extended family system of the African people. However, the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Program a policy instigated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund led to the collapse of the Nigerian economy completely and destroyed the moral fabrics of the society. Such measures as retrenchment of workers, abolition of marketing boards, commercialization of social services, and sale of the assets of the nation, trade liberalization, currency devaluation and other dangerous components of SAP, mass poverty became the order of the day. The middle class was wiped out while the manufacturing sector became extinct. The table below presents a picture of the GDP of the country for twenty years.

Analyzing the table above Nigeria\’s economic increase, especially during the last 20 years is illustrated by the fact that per capita income, which was US $171 in 1994 had increased to US $3,005 by 2013. There is a decline between 1997-1999 when the civilian administration took over.

The major causes of the decline in Nigeria\’s economic fortunes have been attributed to political instability and bad governance manifested in weak policy and lack of political will on the part of the leaders, most especially in the 1990s. Military rule in Nigeria, no doubt led to economic and social stagnation and decline.

The economy remained unimproved and never experienced double-digit inflation during the 1960s. However, the inflation rate stood at 23 per cent by 1976. It slide down to 11.8 per cent in 1979 and increased to 41 percent and 72.8 per cent in 1989 and 1995, respectively. By 1998, the inflation rate had, however, reduced to 9.5 per cent from 29.0 per cent in 1996.

It has been observed that ‘austerity measure put in place by the government between 1982-1986 has caused a lot of hardships to the people that subsequently resulted in a high scale of poverty’ (Ijaiya, 1998:2). This was further corroborated by the World Bank report (1990) that the austerity policies of the Nigerian government had severe effects on the country’s poor as consumption further plummeted in the 1980s than in 1950s (World Bank, 1990:2). The consequences of this increase in poverty include among others; increase in the number of destitute, beggars, prostitutes, and paupers, and increase in the rate of crime in the society. World Bank figures for Nigeria’s gross national product per showed that from a peak of US $780 in 1981, GDP fell to an all-time low of US $220 in 1994.

Similarly, surveys conducted by Nigeria’s bureau of Statistics show that: In a 16 year period that began in 1980 (the year the oil boom years of the 1970s began to go burst), the percentage of Nigerians living in poverty rose from 28 percent to 66 percent. Numerically, while 17.7 million people lived in poverty in 1980, the population living on less than US $1.40 a day rose to 67.1 million by 1996. Within the same period the percentage of the rural poor increased from 29 percent to 70 percent, while the share of the poor in the urban areas rose from 18 to 55 percent. Those classified as the core poor (the poorest of the poor – living on about US $0.70 a day), increased from six percent to 29 percent of the population. The geographical distribution of poverty showed that the percentage of the poor ranged between 55-60 percent in the south, in the north they ranged between 70-78 percent of the population.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Nigeria was worth 522.64 billion US dollars in 2013. The GDP value of Nigeria represents 0.84 percent of the world economy. GDP in Nigeria averaged 70.94 USD Billion from 1960 until 2013, reaching an all-time high of 522.64 USD Billion in 2013 and a record low of 4.20 USD Billion in 1960. GDP in Nigeria is reported by the World Bank

2.1.2 Poverty

The poverty situation in Nigeria is quite disturbing. Both the quantitative and qualitative measurements attest to the growing incidence and depth of poverty in the country (Okunmadewa, et al., 2005:85).

This situation however presents a paradox considering the vast human and physical resources that the country is endowed with. It is even more disturbing that despite the huge human and material resources that have been devoted to poverty reduction by successive governments, no noticeable success has been achieved in this direction. Although, predicted poverty reduction scenarios vary greatly depending upon the rate and nature of poverty related policies, actual evidence suggests that the depth and severity of poverty is still at its worst in Nigeria, and South Asia (Okunmadewa et al., 2005:85).

Within these regions, poverty is largely a rural phenomenon with an average of between 62 and 75 percent of the population living on less than a dollar a day and also tends to be deeper than urban poverty in these regions (Apata et al., 2009:86).

Besides, it has become increasingly evident that within the African region the poor are heterogeneous and that some element of dynamics does exist with a clear distinction between chronic and transitory poverty (Barret et al., 2000:86). Chronic poverty is considered the component of total poverty that is static and transitory poverty component that is attributable to the inter-temporal variability (Jalan and Ravallion, 1996:271).

The isolation of the process underlying chronic and transitory poverty is considered essential in understanding the extent to which each poverty type may obscure the other or even distort the effects of government anti-poverty programs. A national poverty survey carried out indicates that the high tropic areas have moderate poverty while the northern regions have poverty levels that are as high as 60 percent (NBS, 2009:5).

Nigeria‘s main challenges include, reducing poverty, diversifying its economy from the oil and gas sector towards more labor intensive sectors, and improving health and education. The oil has increased economic volatility and inflation while those living in poverty being most vulnerable to volatility and inflation. To add to it, instability of government revenues and a crowding out of agriculture (which provides the source of income to the poor) have made the situation worsen. The oil industry does not employ a sizeable number of unskilled workers, thereby contributing little to reducing poverty.

Ford (2007:27) discussed the oil crisis in the oil producing region of Nigeria. He stated that poverty has been linked to high crime rates, especially in Niger Delta region where there is a sharp contrast between the rich and the poor. The masses cause social unrest because the wealth gotten from their territory does not get to them. In the Nigerian society, the best way to acquire wealth is to enter the political sphere.

Most of the time political success is tied to criminal activities. He ended the article by stating that the link between economic and political power must be broken for progress to be made.

The table below showed that poverty has consistently increased over the years in Nigeria. Another reason for this is corruption. All leakages must be blocked and all corrupt persons should be made to face the full wrath of the law as this will serve as an important lesson to others; and this can only be done by putting in place a strong institution as it is done in developed countries.

There is failure of policy implementation on the part of our policy makers whereas developed countries are known to be good implementers. There can’t be peace in the land if there is no food to eat, no clothe to wear and no place to lay one’s head. Little wonder the Niger Delta militants dwindled our economy by bombing our gas stations due to poverty and lack of sustainable development in their lands.

Government should and must be able to reduce poverty by turning from a mono-economy (that is over-dependent on oil) and be able to diversify the economy by harnessing our vast natural resources and investing more on agriculture which is the mainstay of economic growth for any serious government.

2.1.3 Employment and Quality of Life

Development no doubt directly influences changes in employment and income opportunities in any country. Such changes may be more or less temporary (e.g., construction projects, or seasonal employment) or may constitute a permanent change in the employment and income profile of the citizens. Development project bring long-term job opportunities for country residents (e.g., establishment of industries, manufacturing, or commercial establishment). Assessing these types of changes is an important component of social impact analysis because growth in employment places additional demands on community services and resources. For example, a development that brings lower-wage jobs to a community may generate the need for different types of housing in the area. Changes in income also influence the social environment in a number in various dimensions as raising or lowering the average standard of living for residents.

Persistent inequality, poverty and inequity in access to social services and economic opportunities, particularly for youth, the aged, persons with disabilities and women, are creating deficits in human development, and slowing progress towards achieving development and democracy goals. It is no doubt that most countries in Africa are potentially rich in men and materials resources, they are found among the poorest countries in the World. For example, extant and empirical statistics show that Nigeria ranked forty (40) out of one hundred and nineteen (119) developing countries on the global hunger index (The Punch Newspaper, 2006:2)

Unemployment rates averaged almost 5 per cent for the period 1976-1998. However, the statistics especially on unemployment must be interpreted with caution. Most job seekers do not use the labor exchanges, apart from the inherent distortions in the country\’s labor market. Based on some basic indicators, it appears that the economy performed well during the years immediately after independence and into the oil boom years. However, in the 1980s the economy was in a recession. The on-going economic reform program is an attempt to put the economy on a recovery path with minimal inflation. The analysis that follows tries to discuss the developments in the economy for different periods. A recent survey by the National Bureau of Statistics put the number of Nigerians living below the poverty level at about 112 million.

Many have thought that the advent of a democratic dispensation in 1999 after almost three decades of military rule would have afforded Nigeria the opportunity to arrest the decline in her socio-economic development and embark on economic revival.

Economic diversification and strong growth have not translated into a significant decline in poverty levels – over 62% of Nigeria\’s 170 million people live in extreme poverty. The National Bureau of Statistics reveals that 112.519 million Nigerians live in relative poverty conditions. This figures when compared with the country’s estimated 163 million population one could describe the situation as disheartening. Officially 60% of the population lives in poverty. While for a time the severe drop in living standards had limited inflation, prices are now rising sharply again with annual inflation back over 16% and expected to reach 20% by the end of this year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased to 23.9 percent in 2011 compared with 21.1 per cent in 2010 and 19.7 per cent in 2009. The country has a youth population of 80 million, representing about 60 per cent of the total population with a growth rate of 2.6 per cent per year, and the national demography suggests that the youth population remains vibrant with an average annual entrant to the labor force at 1.8 million between 2006 and 2011. National Bureau of Statistics has it that in 2011, 37.7 per cent of Nigerian were aged 15-24 years and 22.4 per cent of those between ages 25 and 44 were willing to work but did not get jobs. The current level of social insecurity is alarming and unacceptable. The United Nations Children’s Fund reports that every day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under-five year olds and 145 women of childbearing age, making the country the second largest contributor to the under-five and maternal mortality rates in the world. A greater proportion of the population do not have access to pipe borne water, health care facilities, electricity and affordable quality education. Although Nigeria is a signatory to the UN resolution on the MDG goals the attainment of these goals by 2015 remains elusive and doubtful (Ewetan, 2013:16).

The Special Assistant on Sustainable Banking, CBN, Dr. Aisha Mahmood, disclosed that unemployment remains a severe threat to Nigeria’s economy.

He stated that “In Nigeria, there is the issue of youth and employment. 70 per cent of the 80 million youths in Nigeria are either unemployed or underemployed. The NBS stated that the economy created about 1.2 million jobs in 2013 fiscal year.

The statement has it that more than half, about 54 per cent of youth population was unemployed”, adding that of this figure, “females stood at 51.9 per cent compared to their male counterpart with 48.1 per cent”, who were unemployed. It said out of 46,836 youths recorded against different types of crimes, 42,071, representing 75.5 per cent were males, while the remaining 24.5 per cent were females.

The general failure to make substantial positive impact in the massive employment crises facing Nigeria in the last two decades represents a major challenge to this employment promotion program in Nigeria. This failure on the part of this program have been attributed, amongst others to the application of flawed policy regimes; collapse of investment ratio and financial intermediation; failure of infrastructural policies; deficient governance structure and mismanagement, poor projects/policy design; problems of the education sector, inadequate mainstreaming of employment issues in guiding policy instruments like NEEDS (National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy) and the poor implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects and annual budgets for Nigerian Vision 20-20 Program, (Marcellus, 2009:20).

2.1.4 Education and Literacy Levels

Nigeria is the largest country in Africa in terms of population, with approximately twice the population of both Ethiopia and Egypt, which is the next biggest African country by population size.

In the Nigerian education system, there are incredibly new demands that the government is currently hard pressed to meet. At the tertiary level alone, the number of students has grown from under 15,000 in 1970 to approximately 1.7 million today.

Due to the huge surge in demand, hundreds of thousands of aspiring Nigerian tertiary students are annually missing out on places due to the lack of more private institutions in the country.

No country can survive without the participation of the private sectors. Education is the bedrock of sustainable growth and development of any country and if Nigeria wants to grow, government must make education a matter of top priority but putting in place adequate policy to attract private investors to fund our education.

But policy alone is not enough, basic amenities like good roads, constant electricity supply, affordable and safe drinking water, to list a few should also be put in place coupled with making the environment safe for rapid investments.

Poor education especially in the Niger Delta region contributed to the carrying of dangerous arms by the youths which has resulted in the economic situation of Nigeria taking a downward turn. Education is power. The North Eastern parts of Nigeria too are suffering from boko haram now because of lack of education. An uneducated country is a poor country. Government must rise to their responsibility by increasing the yearly budget of education to about 35% of the total budget.

Teachers at all levels of the educational system-from primary, secondary, and tertiary-are not properly motivated to effectively perform their duties. As a result, the teachers are always on strike to force the government to pay their basic salaries and benefits; the government has over the years been promising to improve their conditions of services, but has each time failed to honour its promises. The teachers’ frequent industrial actions have more often than not disrupted regular academic calendars (NBS, 2009:17). Experienced and high-quality teachers who are disgusted with what is happening in the system and cannot any longer tolerate the poor conditions of services they found themselves in are leaving in droves to other neighbouring countries with better working conditions (Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton, 2001:16). These are among the major causes of the dwindling standard of education in Nigeria.

Without the needed growth and development in education (Krueger & Mikael, 2001:8), Nigeria’s economy may remain stunt. Poor investment in human capital development (education and health), and, particularly, the neglect of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and science-based technology education have contributed in no small measures to a lack of highly skilled technical manpower and technological capabilities (Mohan, 2003:4), to drive the economy and transform Nigeria into an industrialized society and improve the living conditions of the teeming population.

2.2 Conflicts in Nigeria

Conflicts refers to some form of friction, disagreement, or discord arising within a group when the beliefs or actions of one or more members of the group are either resisted by or unacceptable to one or more members of another group. Conflict can arise between members of the same group, known as intra-group conflict, or it can occur between members of two or more groups, and involve violence, interpersonal discord, and psychological tension, known as intergroup conflict.

The history of human conflicts shows clearly that wars often begin from minor personal, sectional, economic, political, social and even religious disagreements. No one must pretend to be indifferent to what is happening in Nigeria.

It has been generally agreed that ethnic conflicts is one of the greatest obstacles to meaningful development in Africa due to the general negative outcome. Looking at Nigeria with over 300 ethnic groups, the various competition and rivalry among these various ethnic groups has been seen as a product of colonial contact.

The ethnic factor, however, did not diminish with the advent of independence. Rather, it became a yardstick for measuring contribution to the national development effort and especially for allocating and distributing power and national resources (Edlyne, 2000: 61). With the current trend of Nigeria’s exercise which aimed at establishing a sustainable form of democracy, there is urgent need to look into perceived factors that may work against the success of this endeavor.

Most developing countries are ethnically diverse. For many years, social sciences preferred to ignore the brute fact of ethnic identity. More recently, evidence is accumulating that is detrimental to economic performance. Journalistic accounts of wars in Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and several other countries of sub-Saharan Africa in the 1990s have raised concern that ethnic cleavages and overlapping affiliations of religion and race may undermine prospects for economic and political development in much of Africa (Kamla-Ra, 2006: 101).

In some certain view, the annulment of the democratic transition program by the military in 1993 at the conclusion of the presidential polls, is believed to have been motivated by ethnic sentiments. On a similar note, the 30-month senseless killings occasioned by the Nigeria Civil War from 1967-1970 was anchored on ethnic rivalry. This was due to the efforts on the part of the predominantly Igbo people in the South-eastern region to carve out an independence nation for themselves.

In Nigeria, the colonial masters provided urban setting, which constitutes the cradle of contemporary ethnicity. The British colonialist while pretending to carry out a mission of uniting the warring ethnic groups consciously and systematically separated the various Nigerian people thereby creating a suitable atmosphere for conflict. With the heterogeneous nature of the country, the tendency of the various nationals is towards parochial consciousness at the expense of national consciousness.

A far reaching and in-depth survey of Nigeria public opinion carried out by the International Foundation for Elections Systems-IFES on behalf of United States Agency for International Development-USAID in 2000 found out that ethnicity is the strongest type of identity among Nigerians. Almost half of all Nigerians (48.2%) choose to tag themselves with an “ethnic” identity (Osinubis, 2006: 3).

Ethnic conflicts in Nigeria and Africa in general arise as result of scarcity of political resources, multi-culturalism, religion, militarisation of ethnicity among others. These conflicts cannot be ignored. It is therefore patently clear that realistic measures to solve these problems are needed.

2.2.1 Causes of Ethnic Conflicts in Nigeria

All across Nigeria there is an ever-lengthening thread of ethnic violence. These are not isolated events but are interconnected. Powerful social and economic factors gave rise to them.

2.2.1.1 Poverty

One such factor, the most powerful, is the ever-increasing level of poverty typified in joblessness, deteriorating infrastructures, to list just a few. All these clashes are due to the fundamental crisis of underdevelopment; there is widespread poverty and this gives rise to a scramble for limited resources. Most of these communities are no better than slums. Industries are shutting down with the attendant consequences of job losses; most families find it difficult to feed themselves.

There are no potable water, good roads, proper medical facilities, social infrastructures, and no good schools. Environments such as these generate fear, distrust, hatred, frustrations, anger, to mention but a few. Under such circumstances, it is easy to believe that if the other ethnic groups go away, there will be enough.

According to the multiple indicator cluster survey published by the federal office of statistics in 1996, only one in every ten Nigerian can be described as non-poor. The other 90 per cent are described as either “core poor” or “moderately poor”. Taken in context, what one sees is the harsh reality of a nation where less than 11 million people can be described as “living people”, while the remaining 99 million people are best described as the “living dead”.

2.2.1.2 Manipulations

These factors provide classic hot beds for ethnic clashes. Recognizing this, the ruling class consciously exploits the poison of ethnicism as a means of keeping the working class permanently divided and diverting their attention away from the real problems confronting them – the crisis of Nigerian capitalism. Nor is this policy of “divide and rule” an exclusive phenomenon. It is the resort of the ruling class internationally. It is a conscious policy of the ruling class that allows for their continuing oppression and exploitation of the poor working masses, their continuing hold onto power.

The manipulation of ethnic differences reflects the fear of the ruling class of the potentials of the Nigerian working class and its capacity for unity – a unity that cuts across ethnic lines. The conscious manipulation of ethnic consciousness under terrible social conditions gives rise to periodic explosions of ethnic clashes. This is also a reflection of the inability of the ruling class to foster genuine unity among the masses. It confirms the fact that capitalism and ethnic violence are interlinked; you cannot have the former without the latter.

2.3 Niger Delta

Nigeria is a multi-ethnic society, consisting of different ethnic nationalities joined together by the Lord Luggard amalgamation of 1914. Although these groups co-exist, their ethnic and cultural values are different. These cultural differences are sometimes accentuated resulting in various kinds of communal clashes such as the Ijaw-Itsekiri, Urhobo, Benue-Cross River, Ife-Modakeke crises, to mention a few.

During the years of military dictatorship, communal clashes and ethnic conflicts were rather minimal because they were suppressed by military might. However, in the current democratic dispensation, every citizen tends to have more room and opportunity to self-expression, but at times, this right is often misunderstood for vulgarism. The resultant effect is conflicts amongst the ethnic groups, tribes, kindred and even clans.

Another crisis of big magnitude in the entity called Nigeria is the conflict between ethnic groups in Niger Delta area and the Multinational oil companies. These areas have not known peace since the past eight years. Examples of such conflicts, include Obobutu vs Elf (October 1989), Umuechem vs Shell (October 1990), Uzere vs Shell (July 1992), and Ogoni vs Shell (1990 till date).

The latest brewing conflict include the one from the issue of “resource control”, which if not properly handled by the Federal Government as quickly as possible, may hasten tension that may lead to more wanton destruction of lives and properties. This conflict, if allowed may mar the corporate existence of Nigeria (Ojo & Alao, 2001:3).

The Niger Delta, the oil-rich region in the south of Nigeria, has faced an increase in violence in recent years. The region’s wealth in natural resources stands in contrast to its deprivation and underdevelopment. The Nigerian economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector, which accounts for approximately 95 percent of total export earnings and 80 percent of federal government revenue. All of Nigeria’s onshore oil production takes place in the nine states of Niger Delta. Unrest in the region has led to significant losses in onshore production, particularly since late 2005. Addressing the crisis in the Delta region therefore has important implications for the rest of Nigeria both in economic and security terms.

The developmental challenges facing Niger Delta are closely intertwined with the current patterns of violent conflict and instability in the region. These challenges are multi-dimensional; and tackling them will require a thorough understanding of the drivers and dynamics of conflict escalation and de-escalation, as well as the links between conflict and poverty.

The percentage of people living in poverty in Niger Delta is lower than the national average, according to figures for (NBS 2004:16). However, Niger Delta performs poorly in comparison with the rest of the country on social indicators such as education, health and the quality of the natural environment. For example, the region has among the highest levels of infant mortality in Nigeria; some estimates place the level of youth unemployment at 40 percent in Niger Delta. Rates of unemployment and underemployment in Niger Delta states with large oil revenues are especially high, a condition that has contributed to youth restiveness.

Within the oil-rich Niger Delta, a multitude of ethnic groups, such as the Ijaw and Ogoni, have competed for control of the region’s natural resource since the early 1990s. This competition has now further subdivided ethnic minorities that were all exploited at one point or another in the oil production business. As the area has become much more militarized and hostile, the Nigerian people have become less coerced and united in an already-fragile nation.

In order to try to bring about the terminus of the violence in the Delta and to develop the area, in June 2009, the Nigerian government decided to take an offensive approach against MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta) to attempt to return peace to the diverse region, but had to fall back onto amnesty of the militants of the region; hence, much skepticism has fermented as to whether or not the ethnic conflicts of the Nigerian people will cease in under the Yar’Adua regime.

Nonetheless, why have ethnic interests overridden national interests or wittingly undermined national patriotism? According to Ikporukpo (1998:15), the causes of the Ogoni-Andoni and the Okrika-Ogoni inter-communal conflicts are all related to the role played by resource control agitations on ethnic identities from colonial times to oil exploitation activities in the area. Ikporukpo asserts that: The policies and programs of government and oil companies address mainly the conflict between petroleum exploitation and livelihood, the collapse of rural –urban leakages and the land disputes/ communities crisis. Ikporukpo (1998: 48).

However, the situation in Niger Delta is better explained by Ololajulo (2006:3) who pointed out that resource control has become a permanent feature of the instability in the region leading to hostilities and affecting the economic well-being of the people.

One important element of conflicts in the area is the attachment to development. Development in this regard means the people’s ability to maintain their cultural values and sustain their traditional economic resources. Development is expected to improve and advance the condition and standard of living of the people. But development in Niger Delta is elusive, according to Ibeanu (1997:10), the persistence of violence distorts and destroys resource flows, thereby threatening development and the people’s livelihood.

Therefore, efforts are directed toward agitation to control resources like crude oil – the ‘black gold’ – that is being exploited for external interests. Weighed against the background of the immense resources the nation generates from the area, Niger Delta region could be said to be relatively underdeveloped especially when compared to places like Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Kaduna, which without oil are yet developed with oil money.

Apart from references to conflict and agitation to control resources as obstacles to development in Niger Delta, there are also identity agitations by the various ethnic groups who want to break off from the Nigerian federation. As Bassey (2003:10) observed, the unique combination of these features, like ethnic identity agitation, constitute the spectrum of conflicts in Niger Delta. The people in Niger Delta believe that they are underdeveloped economically and socially despite the enormous revenue made from oil in their areas.

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The Yoruba of Nigeria

Peoples of africa • new york • published in 1965 • pages: 549-582, by: lloyd, peter cutt ..

Abstract This summary article on the Yoruba was written by a British social anthropologist especially for this volume. The author's descriptions are authentic and reliable, deriving as they do from a decade of primary field research among the Yoruba. Due to its recency and comprehensiveness, this document should be read as a general introduction prior to consulting other specific material in the Yoruba file. While the author's framework is structural-functional, his analytical statements on the change and continuity in sociopolitical forms do not detract from the excellence of the ethnographic survey. Much of the recent economic dominance and political power of the Yoruba derive from maintaining patterns of wide market commerce. Historical evidence points to phases of empire formation and collapse, to the stage where Yoruba society now consists of a set of independent hereditary kingdoms--with considerable structural variability among them. But the administrative hierarchy of all is on some form of territorial-kinship basis, with the king and his council ultimately controlling the political and economic operations of lesser regional or district chiefs--common geneology or religion legitimating the state. Unifying the Yoruba now, in view of much rapid sociopolitical and economic change, is a sense of national Yoruba identity in language, culture, and myth. Some distinctive features of the society which the author stresses are: the extreme degree of traditional nonindustrial urbanization (possibly on a city-state pattern) and an urban settlement pattern combining both aristocratic noble elite and agrarian lower class peasantry; the anomalous economic and social status of women in their roles within the family and in the market; and the stabilizing of conflicts within the power structure, and principles of royal succession.

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