Why Nigerians must take charge of their future

Nigeria, like most African countries, has long been a country of political troubles. Since independence on October 1, 1960, the country has gone through cycles of governance such that successive governments-military and civilian, have, according to them, done their best to develop the country. But their best have not provided the required economic development. All efforts to make the economy functional have stalled development in Nigeria as millions of people are unemployed. Today, managing Nigeria’s economy has defied all known theories in economics, says an associate of this writer who is a professor of economics. The nation’s economy is still fragile, and its management by the FG has to be monitored by the organized private sector to ensure that it does not slip into recession again. The debt of the nation is increasing, and at the same time the subsidy regime of the FG is back in a vicious form. Nigeria is in an economic dilemma, according a policy analyst.
Nigerian and its foreign allies have always made all sorts of confidence-building assertions about what the near and medium-term future will bring. Some say Nigeria is an “emerging economic giant” alongside Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey. Others see the country as the “giant of Africa” because of its population of almost 200 million, strength of its military, abundant human and natural resources, the “big brother” role played in sub-regional and regional peace initiatives, and Africa’s biggest economy ahead of Egypt and South Africa. These are characteristics of Nigeria at the moment which needs to be managed well by visionary political leaders for a better future. It is difficult to predict accurately what the future of the country will be, if the fragile nature of the nation’s economy, high unemployment rate, and massive killings across some Nigerian states are not addressed squarely and timely.
It has been reported that at least 1813 people have been killed in 2018 alone due to various reasons, according to Amnesty International. The result is that Nigeria has more than three million people displaced by conflict and violence, according to the Internal Displaced Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council. With this staggering figures show is that Nigeria has Africa’s largest population of displaced persons and also tops the list of countries with the most migrants to Europe through Libya. If this poor narrative is not reversed, no one knows if our political leaders would be able to manage the country for a better future. Bearing in mind the level of insecurity within the country, an observer may predict that the younger generation has no future. Those who prophesy along this line, do so at their peril perhaps, due to error of judgment. The reason is that a straight forward extrapolation from the present to the future is very risky. Even though the past didn’t turn out well, it does not mean that the future of Nigerians can’t be better than what we imagined if we all act positively today.
However, in the midst of insecurity in many parts of the country, President Emmanuel Macron of France paid a two-day visit to Nigeria between 3 and 5 July 2018. Addressing young African entrepreneurs in Lagos, Macron challenged the young generation to change the African narrative, in the areas of entrepreneurship, economy culture and sports amongst others. In Macron’s view, the new narrative is to be built now. And ideally, it is the responsibility of the young generation, according to Macron. “It is good for Africa and it is good for France because if Africa doesn’t succeed, France and Euro will never succeed on the long run,” according to the French President. He further says that “for two very simple reasons, Europe is not an island and all this migration crisis is exactly due to the fact that we have a common destiny and second, because we have a very important African diaspora in France and the rest of Europe and they cannot develop themselves in France or in Europe if their country people don’t succeed.” Macron noted that the young generation has a lot of responsibilities and opportunities to build, innovate and take charge of Africa’s future. The only way the African continent can tackle its challenges including illegal migration is to improve its economy, and provide conducive environment where essentially the private sector can provide jobs for our graduates so that the younger generations will not take the risk of migrating to Europe through the Mediterranean in search of greener pastures.
The world, and indeed, Africans look up to Nigeria to take the lead in political and socio-economic affairs of the continent. But for almost sixty years of independence, Nigeria is still demonstrating its potentials, not its greatness. As politicians align and misalign themselves into various coalitions, Nigerians are preparing to muster political leaders who have great esteem for their fellow citizens to take charge of elected and appointed offices come 2019 and beyond. We must redefine our culture. Culture plays a significant role in the nation’s quest for development. This writer observes that nation’s lacking appropriate culture for development remain poor. We as a people must eradicate those aspects of our cultural beliefs and practices which celebrate ignorance and which tend to stall our development.
France and other European countries will continue to develop even if Nigeria is not prepared for development. Nigeria’s policy makers must come up with a strategic plan on how the nation is to educate the younger generation as this is the surest way out of poverty. The young generation needs a holistic education – academic, social and thinking skills. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Since no one has the blueprint of what the young generation will be experiencing out there, the best thing is to expose them to skills that will enable them to cope with the challenges of the future wherever they go. Nigerians cannot change the past, but we can take charge of the future of young generation so that they are productive citizens. Nigeria should not gamble on the future of young generation, it should act positively without delay.

MA Johnson