By geo-political and global categorization, Nigeria is a third world country. The country boasts of a huge population, incredible ethnic diversity, rich cultural provincialism, unique human talent aggregation and a huge destination of natural resources.
However, despite the aforementioned, Nigeria is a third world country and the poverty capital of the world. It is a disturbing irony to be in a position like this and still her government has no blueprint on where the nation is headed to as a country.
Where is Nigeria?
With its natural endowment, Nigeria should be a first world nation like the United States and others. A first word nation has certain socio-economic attributes that qualifies it on the ranking. What are the variables of a first word nation? Does Nigeria have the indices or determinant of a first world nation? Are we making attempts to develop the features?
The answer is no!
The primary features of a first world nation are five fundamental values, these first world countries have the following and these are the qualifying factors of a first word nation
– Stable currency
– High standards of living/quality of life
– Equal opportunities for everyone
– Enabling environment
– Access to credit.
A country must have the above-mentioned qualities to be rated a first world. The qualities are referred to as the social support system. In Nigeria, none of these qualities exist. Not only does it not exist, no attempt is being made so far by the government to create these facilities as a necessary condition for the citizens to project social adequacy and government operations. The economics of our cohabitation is a wrong therapy for society as long as it has not exerted itself to clinch and establish the model similar to the first world countries.
Many organizations, especially the indigenous ones are run exactly the way Nigeria is administered with no equal opportunity or meritocracy, low wages which stifles high quality of life, no access to credit such that salary advance is prohibited and sometimes you are not even paid wages at all and no enable environmental is provided to express ones skill to the fullest. We are perhaps the largest single liability deposit in the world with premium nuisance value less to none.
My advocacy, therefore, will be that you must resist the temptation to allow your organizations to be managed like the situation expressed in the preceding paragraph. Many organizations are managed like Nigeria. Some homes are equally managed this way too and everyone is abused in the process. Our system kills human aspirations and orchestrates stagnation and redundancy. As long as there are no equal opportunities in social, political and economic engagements the system will continue to work against itself.
The multinational companies are managed differently because some of them come from first world countries where the system is different and the labour laws encourage human development and economic empowerment. These companies often adopt their homeland value system so they provide the values of a first world country for their staff. They create an enabling environment to extract talents, equal opportunities for human aspirations, good wages to enhance quality lifestyle and access to credit for all.
Nigeria can start now, develop a strategy to enhance a stable currency, high standards of living/quality of life, equal opportunities for everyone, enabling environment and access to credit. These should be our common aspiration right now. This country will never know peace save and until these issues are addressed fundamentally. The change mantra concept of the current government ought to have developed its roots from these values expressed herein. Our economic focus and political strategies must device a means to pull a workable social support system.
Evans Ufeli Esq is a Lagos-based legal practitioner and Executive Director, Cadrell Advocacy Centre
END
Be the first to comment