The challenges facing Nigeria are not insurmountable, argues Monday Philips Ekpe
As I conclude this series today, I know that much has been left unsaid, for it is difficult to do real justice to discussions about an evidently super-endowed but under-performing entity like ours. The easiest thing to do in writing about Nigeria now is to descend into lamentations and sarcasm but I have so far resisted the temptation. That stance is rooted in two personal premises: my own knowledge of the country’s glorious past and then my undying faith in the possibility of national rebirth and reawakening. It is for these reasons that I am often irritated by Nigerians who only see gloom ahead, especially some of those who reside abroad whose hobby it is to further destroy our corporate image on the social media. The best approach to the many challenges we have as a people is to truthfully reassess where we are at the moment in order to face tomorrow squarely. Let’s be clear. The theme of suffering in the midst of abundance is universal, well recognised not only in real life but also in fiction. “Water, water everywhere,/And all the boards did shrink;/Water, water everywhere,/Not any drop to drink” famous lines from the 19th Century poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” have exemplified this phenomenon down the ages.
Yet, not pointing out the ills that have plagued us for so long would betray one’s insincerity or lack of understanding about the predicament. Most Nigerians are painfully aware of their inability to live the good life despite being lavishly blessed. The titles of two novels that originated from South Africa and Ghana, namely Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country and Ayi Kwei Armah’s Why Are We so Blest, respectfully, could easily headline the nation’s largely self-inflicted woes. They have continued to attract scholarly attention too. Like Tochukwu Ekweoba’s work, “Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: The Role of Social Studies Education,” published in the Journal of Economic and Environmental Education. This well referenced study put our miserable socio-economic situation thus: “Attaining economic freedom and breaking away from poverty entails healthy living… The present conditions in Nigeria seem to be in sharp contrast of her natural resource endowments. In Nigeria, despite our abundant human and natural resources with the huge oil wealth, poverty seems to remain pervasive. The masses seem to live at the margin of the society. Conditions have continued to worsen and poverty has become a major issue in the country with over 70 per cent of the population said to be living below poverty lines… With food shortages in the country, many find it hard to have three square meals a day. Nigeria is politically and economically unstable. Most communities in Nigeria lack potable water, decent houses, electricity, medical services, educational facilities, good roads, and good communication network….”
But are these hurdles insurmountable? The answer should be in the negative. It always makes economic sense to depend on comparative advantages in any effort to get out of the mud. Take agriculture, for instance. Why are we stuck with our national colours – green and white – if we are not determined to keep faith with their symbolism? By the time they were adopted, agricultural activities were the country’s live wires. The green element of the flag portrayed a land that was very fertile and optimally utilised to bring health, happiness and prosperity to the people and buoyancy to government coffers. Even with the current less arability occasioned by desertification, erosion and industrial pollution, Nigeria is still in a position to maximise its robust natural resources that include generously distributed rainfall, rich soil, relatively warm year-round temperatures and bountiful pasture for livestock production. This enviable profile is found in virtually every corner of the country in different forms. All we need is for each state to concentrate on the aspect of agriculture that is suitable for it.
Happily, we have enough in our past to inspire us to attain new heights. The pre-colonial era was characterised by both trans-Saharan and trans-Atlantic trade, dominated by farm produce transactions. In 1893, the Department of Botanical Research was established in the west. Later in 1905, the British Cotton Growers Association opened Moor Plantation in Ibadan, which metamorphosed into Department of Agriculture, Southern Nigeria, just to feed the textile mills back home. The north founded its own Department of Agriculture in 1912. And in 1921, after the Amalgamation, a national agricultural body was instituted primarily to boost the production of export commodities to sustain growth in Britain. Down the years, programmes like National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP), Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), River Basin Authorities, Green Revolution and Agricultural Development Projects (ADP) had been paraded to demonstrate official concerns for exploring and exploiting soil and other forms of farming.
No space here to go into the downsides of the oil boom that began in the 1970s, the point where we first lost our vision to cast our future in the rock. The present government lays claims to achievements in agricultural renaissance. I wonder if it can still afford consolidation or progress in this area now that the 2019 elections are here. With sanity being forced on us by the dwindling fortunes of petroleum products, however, return to land we must. Yes, we live in a knowledge and technology driven world where the chunk of global gross domestic product (GDP) comes from, but one fact has never changed since humanity began: People must eat. The rebellion of the stomach is the worst, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, once wrote. Whatever is required to make agriculture profitable should be pursued at all times. Matters relating to physical and fiscal security for farmers, fertilisers, mechanised amenities, adequate extension services, flexible land acquisition and rural development must not be left to the vagaries of politics.
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