“Unless the government of Nigeria takes urgent steps to arrest the menace of youth unemployment and poverty, it is a certainty that Nigeria will see revolution soon” News and Reports issue of November 12, 2012 reported that this dire prediction was made by the country’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, in a speech at a West African regional conference on youth employment in Senegal, sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the African Development Bank. The former president asserted that youth unemployment in 1999 was 72 percent when he assumed office but his government reduced it to 52 percent in 2004 but has now gone back to 71 percent as of 2011. Obasanjo who left office in 2007 after 8 years of uninterrupted reign declared that he feared for the future of Nigeria.
Former president obasanjo subsequently denied calling for a revolution in Nigeria. He said that he was misquoted and in his characteristic manner declared that “The person saying I talked about revolution taking place in Nigeria is talking nonsense; he doesn’t understand English. What I said was that as long as we do not pay adequate attention to solving the problem of unemployment, we are all sitting on a keg of gun powder. And it is a ticking time-bomb. All of us must realize that it is a serious problem. Our leaders must pay attention to this issue”
Former president Obasanjo may have mentioned revolution during the conference but may have meant something totally different. A lot of Nigerians are known for exaggerating things. The word revolution is a word to avoid in a country like Nigeria since it means different things to different people. Some may think it is a call for armed take over of government especially in a country where coup detat have left an indelible mark on the psychic of Nigerians.
Nigerians have seen revolutions after revolutions and do not need another one. Occasionally, revolution sets a country in a good or wrong direction. American revolution set United States on a part to greatness while Russian revolution brought communism to Russian and led to eventual demise of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Successive military regimes took power in Nigeria by force and promised Nigerians full fledge revolution on economic, political and social policies but none succeeded and Nigeria is worst off for it.
What is clear is that there is no short cut to success. Revolution in Nigeria always raises expectation of magical fix of all Nigeria problems which is of course unrealistic. Some Nigerians have lost sight of that fact. It is all about quick fixes and instant wealth. This mentality has lead to unprecedented level of corruption and insecurity in the land. Stealing of billions of Naira from government treasury by public officials is no longer regarded as a big deal. Government which is suppose to be the agent of change and avenue to better lives of Nigerians has become magnate for criminals masquerading as public officials. Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) which held great promise is all but comatose at the present time. The truth of the matter is that no successful country achieved their success without working for it. Life and success is like building a house, one block at a time from bottom to the top. Nigeria cannot get anywhere till we go back to the basis. Nigerian government alone cannot even single handedly do much in reducing unemployment. Unemployment can be reduced through combination of job creation in public and private sector. The best way to create job is for government to encourage and create enabling environment for private sector to thrive.
Doing business is still tough in Nigeria but it is improving because state and federal governments are coming to the realization that promotion of private enterprise and enabling business environment is the way to go. The federal government’s economic team under the leadership of Finance minister, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is trying to put our economic house in order but has a long way to go. Unfortunately, they may not make much dent on the economy before the expiration of President Jonathan’s term. What they need to do is show enough progress to compel successive administrations to continue the same policies. One of Nigeria problems has been lack of continuity. New administrations has penchant to throw away their successor’s policies even good ones. Lack of continuity leads to uncertainty which is not good for business and leads to skepticism on the part of the citizens.
Economic planning should be implemented in a manner so it will not lead to lop-sided development in the economy. They should be proper balance in the economy to achieve consistent economic growth. To achieve these balances, the federal, state and local governments should carry on sound agricultural and industrial developments in conjunction with the private sector.
More attention should be paid to Nigeria educational sector. Constant intermittent strikes by the Academic Staff union should be brought under control. These activities have devastated Nigeria education. Qualified administrative structure consisting of civil administrators, engineers, technicians, economists, accountants, agricultural experts and other personnel are built on a sound foundation of educational base.
It is very important for Nigeria government and private sectors to have before it clear objectives. These objectives should act as a compass in guiding various levels of government and private sectors toward achieving sustainable economic growth. These objectives have to be prioritized and targets set to realize the predetermined objectives. Armed or velvet revolution once again in Nigeria will be out-of-place, outmoded and unnecessary.