By Fashogbon Moyinoluwa
“When we innovate, we create millions of jobs, we build
the companies that lead the world, we are healthier, and we make our lives more
productive”, this was written by Bill Gates on accelerating innovation with
leadership. Moving Nigeria
to the status of a First World nation is a
challenge any willing leader should love to take on. Blessed with natural
resources and a large population, Nigeria has the potential to
compete with other nations of the world in any sector, but we need first to put
our home in order by diversifying our economy, and restructuring our
institutions to cover up the loopholes that allow for corruption.
To move Nigeria from
being a third world country to a first world nation, a leader should in no
particular order, invest in education, increase the manufacturing capacity of
the nation, remove the hurdles facing entrepreneurs, provide basic
infrastructure that propel a nation’s growth, be dedicated to providing
statistics and information, promote mining and agriculture, make the environment
tourist-friendly, promote the numerous traditions we have in Nigeria and most
importantly, invest in and support innovation.
Every sector in
present day Nigeria
has decayed and the most delicate of all, which is the education sector has
suffered the most. Investing in education should be top priority in moving Nigeria to the
status of a first world nation. Taking a cue from first world nations like
Luxembourg, Singapore, and Switzerland which have 59.6%, 54.7% and 51.3%
respectively of people in high-skilled employment, according to the Human
Capital Index 2015.
A leader should
educate the population to the extent of attaining at least 99% literacy rate
and 80% of high-skilled citizens. This can be done by revamping the educational
system of the country. Firstly, all the syllabuses in Nigerian schools should
be reviewed, especially in the universities, in such a way that they should
meet up with the current international standards and subsequently set the
standards for syllabuses around the world. Also by improving the researching
capacity of our universities and making them more practical oriented than they
currently are. Then go ahead to remove the numerous hurdles students face while
trying to get into the universities by creating a system whereby students can
apply to as many universities as they wish in other to give them more options
and reduce the number of high school graduates lurking the streets. An educated
population can propel innovation and turn out good leaders, and this
combination is what is needed to move Nigeria to the status of a first
world country. Innovation makes a country competitive in the global market.
A testimony to the massive effect that the
availability of basic infrastructure can have on the economy of a nation or
state is Lagos State , Nigeria . The government of Lagos State
over the past couple of years have invested heavily on roads and good
transportation system and thus the state has experienced consistent growth
making it the fifth largest economy in Africa ,
if it were a country, according to Wikipedia. To move Nigeria to the
status of a first world nation there should be focus on provision of basic
infrastructure. This should be done by investing in a good transport system
that should not only connect people with their destinations across the country
but connect them as quickly as humanly possible, in other to save time which
ultimately benefits businesses in the country.
Also, investing heavily on power
so that the nation becomes a nation of light. To do this a pubic private
partnership should be started on electricity generation, as well as allowing
each state to generate electricity if it can, while holding on to distribution
and price regulation to protect the citizens. Furthermore, there should be
adequate security by making provision for state policing while putting them
under the watchful eyes of security agencies under the control of the Federal
Government. Adequate security would go a long way as it would lay to rest the
fears of tourists and foreign investors alike. Other basic infrastructure that
should be provided include, proper water supply channel and good drainage to
prevent flood.
Also, a lot of focus
should be placed on the manufacturing industries. Nigeria is nowhere near being a
first world nation when it comes to manufacturing. The country can barely boast
of competitive or prospering automobile manufacturing companies, electronics
manufacturing companies, aircraft manufacturing companies, among others. In
this regard, a leader should first create a fund that will be accessible to all
entrepreneurs who are interested in manufacturing, reduce or remove taxes on
start-ups, reduce taxes on foreign companies that have their manufacturing done
in Nigeria, increase taxes on imported goods and limit the amount of goods that
can be imported thereby forcing up prices of such goods and making them less
competitive. Also, invest in research institutions.
The political environment of the nation cannot be
overlooked when it comes to development and making Nigeria a first world nation. Nigeria claims
to be practising federalism but that is far from the truth. Every state in the
federation should become self-sufficient, the states should be given more
powers which will be checked by the Federal Government. States should be given
control of the natural resources embedded in their soils, they should trade
these resources and a percentage should be sent to the Federal Government. That
way there would be competition among the states and that would foster
development. Tourism is the main source of income and employment for countries
like Macau , Seychelles ,
Cayman Island , Tanzania , and many other nations.
According to UNWTO’s Tourism Barometer, tourists spent $126.2 billion in the United States
in 2012. Nigeria
being a nation occupied by over two hundred and fifty tribes provides a lot to
be seen and learnt from the history, dialect, delicacy and culture of these
different people. Investing in promoting the heritage of all tribes should be
of top priority, creating museums to house and showcase the history of the
people of each tribe, organising festivals for each tribe around the year,
advertising age-long festivals and the history behind them on international
media. Investing in beautification of the environment to portray the history of
the inhabitants, providing schools to teach foreigners the language of any
place or tribe they would like to visit, protecting landmarks and age long
sites. With adequate security, a stable political environment, basic
infrastructure and well beautified environment, Nigeria can tap into the wealth of
the ever growing world of tourism.
The role of statistics
in development can never be over stated. Government, investors, large
businesses, small businesses and tourists all need statistics that they can
rely on to make decisions on their relationship with the country. A leader
should invest in making sure that the National Bureau of Statistics is well
funded to provide regular statistics on the death rate, birth rate, national
debt, national resources, level of poverty, level of inequality, and other
information needed by all the stakeholders in the economy. This way proper
planning can be made which ultimately brings about progress and development.
*Moyinoluwa writes
from YABATECH, Lagos
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