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Curtailing youth violence in Nigeria

2010-10-07T13:38:00.001-07:00

Introduction

Nigeria like most developing nations of the world is faced with myriad of problems and harsh realities which include poverty, unemployment, conflicts and diseases. These situations pose great challenges to the very existence of individuals in most developing nations thereby calling for the training of educated man and women who can function effectively in the society in which they live in. Available information by National Universities Commission (NUC) (2004) reiterate the massive unemployment of Nigerian universities graduates in the country. This problem is said to be traceable to the disequilibrium between labour market requirements and lack of essential employable skills by the graduates (Diejonah and Orimolade, 1991; Dabalen, Oni and Adekola, 2000). This obvious critical skill gaps inhibits the development of youths and the entire development of the nation.

The words youth and restiveness have gained notoriety in usage especially in the Nigerian context as related to matters of agitation by the youths in the Niger Delta region. With a region as rich in natural endowment that oils the wheels of Nigeria’s economy; the poser is, why are the youths in the region restive?.

The advanced learner’s dictionary defines a youth as “when a person is young, especially the time before a child becomes an adult”. This may connote looking at the bracket of between eighteen -twenty five years and young adults from twenty five-thirty five years. On the other hand, “restive” was defined as “unable to be still or quiet, difficult to control especially when one is not satisfied with something”

The above definitions show that youths have endowment of raw energy. They are always bubbling in spirit, with high hope, big dreams, aspirations and ideas of what their tomorrow will be. To achieving these, they must naturally not stay still or quiet; especially when they anticipate or see their future on a totally collapsing socio-economic landscape. They should work, if the basic needs of life must be met. Therefore, in this context, they would naturally be restive within an acceptable limit in a continuum, in order to lay a solid foundation for the realization of their tomorrow.

More than half of the Nigerian populations are under the age of 30 according to the National Population Commission (2001). Therefore it can be asserted that the economy of Nigeria is a youth economy. Expectedly, today’s youth will become in a short decade tomorrow’s parents, leaders, labour force and armies. However, the Nigerian youths are said to be confronted with poverty, unemployment, urbanization, lack of capacity and skills needed to move the economy forward. Poverty which is a force for HIV/AIDS is very common. This is because the youth faces unemployment and lack of necessary productive skills to keep body and soul together. This reality leaves them without any meaningful means of sustainable livelihood. To make ends meet, they simply indulge in prostitution and crime for both male and female.

These vices are perpetrated by a large congregation of youths because their welfare has been utterly poor no thanks to inadequate attention and meager investments on human capital development by the government.

Youth violence in Nigeria

Youth violence has reached unprecedented proportions in contemporary discourse on Nigeria’s emerging democracy. Beginning from May 29th 1999, when the country re-commenced democratic rule, Nigeria has recorded very bizarre experiences in the domain of violence committed by young people. These acts of violence embrace murder, religious uprisings, party clashes, cult clashes, shooting, stabbing, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, including armed bank robbery, theft, burglary, rape, rioting especially against government policies, vandalism, ethnic militancy and so on.

Omeje (2005) argues that in many international for a today, Nigeria is perceived as a conflict-prone society and the youths are at the heart of most violent conflicts in the country. Recent empirical studies suggest that the youths are prosecutors of 90-95% of violent conflicts in Nigeria. This is pretty similar to what obtains in most other conflict-ridden societies. What probably raises anxiety about the Nigerian situation is the sheer magnitude, complexity, frequency, ramifications and seeming intractability of most violent conflicts.

Every geo-political region of Nigeria is characterized by entrenched structures of violent conflicts, with the youths as the principal driving infrastructure. In the oil-producing region of the south-south, resource control and environmental conflicts waged by ethnic militias of the Niger Delta have become an endemic stigma on the oil-rich region and Nigeria in general. In the south-west, the youths are the principal protagonists of majority of the ethnic and communal violence that tend to be on the increase in the area in recent years. In the three geo-political zones of the old northern region, the enormous damage inflicted on different communities and peoples by the incessant outbreak of ethno-religious conflicts and disputes relating to land rights and the indigeneity problematique (community squabbles between “indigenes” and “settlers”) is common-knowledge. In the south-east, organized crime and political turbulence have compounded the problem of societal fragmentation and descent into lawlessness or criminal anarchy. Youth militias and community vigilantes have cashed in on the vacuum created by the dysfunction and legitimacy crisis of government’s law enforcement institutions and agencies to ostensibly substitute for the state’s function of law enforcement and crime control in a crude and jungle fashion.

On top of all these, there is the macro or nationwide problem of political violence, linked to electoral fraud, sponsorship and use of thuggery by many politicians and political parties, as well as the politicization of sensitive issues and primordial identities such as ethnic and religious identities.

Why do we have widespread and frequent violent conflicts in Nigeria? Many recent studies tend to associate most of the macro- and micro-level conflicts in Nigeria with the problem of poverty. This may seem an over-simplification. Researchers argue that poverty translates into conflict in Nigeria through at least four causal factors or processes, discussed below;

Staggering and growing level of youth unemployment, leading to hopelessness, restiveness and feelings of frustration, which often precipitates or fuels violent conflicts; high population growth rate amid unsatisfactory economic performance compounds the problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria. There is a markedly unfavourable imbalance between Nigeria’s population growth rate and economic performance. Expansion of the economy to create employment opportunities for young school leavers and graduates has been rather sluggish. This heightens the risk and incidents of anti-establishment protests and frustration-related violence. The frustration and vulnerability of the youths make it possible for them to be recruited, inspired or hired for violence with relative ease.

Dysfunctional structural divide and discrimination at various levels of state and society, which impacts adversely on issues such as employment, promotion, public appointments, as well as group and community relations and land rights, often linked to the problem of indigeneity; poverty creates resource scarcity and negative competition, thereby predisposing actors to the desperation of hiding under convenient structures and opportunism to out-compete and liquidate potential rivals. Most conflicts often described or disguised as ethnic, religious or protracted historical animosities come under this rubric.

Promotion of violence as an economic opportunity; In the midst of mass misery and poverty, violence is seen and promoted as an economic opportunity by many subalterns and jobless youths. This phenomenon resonates with the greed versus grievance theory of Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler (2002). Based on their empirical analysis of civil wars in many developing countries, Collier & Hoeffler have argued that the greed of predatory and militant groups considerably overrides grievance in accounting for the emergence, proliferation and prolongation of violent conflicts. Availability of, and dependence on primary commodity exports, the scholars argue, substantially increase the risk of conflicts. Whereas most extractive export commodities have high risk of precipitating conflicts, the presence of obstructable or non-lootable export commodities (e.g. oil resources) seems to have greater tendency to increase the duration and intensity of conflicts when compared to lootable commodities or conflict goods (e.g. diamond and other precious stones).

Institutional pressure on public agencies whose roles and functions should ideally contribute to conflict prevention and management such as the police and other law enforcement and adjudication agencies; too often, the activities and malpractices of these agencies cause and aggravate conflicts partly because most of their employees work under very difficult and precarious financial conditions. In addition, there are pervasive patterns of domestic and cultural violence in Nigeria, such as harmful traditional practices (e.g. female genital mutilation and infibulation, widowhood rites, early marriage, caste segregation and oppression, etc), and the inexorable clash between traditional institutions and forces of modernism, which impact adversely on children and youths; domestic and cultural violence in Nigeria are often reinforced by structures of poverty.

Beyond the poverty-linked typology, it is pertinent to remark that at the root of the too many violent conflicts in Nigeria is the high incidence of state failure. The state’s abdication of, or perhaps inability to meet its primary social obligations, notably development provisioning and maintenance of internal order, as well as its unconcealed appetite for misrule, basically epitomizes what many scholars have often conceptualized as state failure. It suffices to say that Nigeria is marked by an unacceptably high level of functional failure of the state linked to the correspondingly high level of political and legal impunity, which encourages large scale corruption and insensitivity of public functionaries to the plight of the populace. The high level of youth violence and restiveness, especially the organized activities of ethnic militias who increasingly challenge or attempt to usurp the authority and functions of the state, could be seen as a response to the problem of state failure. The proliferation of small arms and light weapons, itself an expression of state failure, basically aggravates the situation.

Other major causes of youth violence may include;

Social and moral decadence: Youth violence appears to be the symptoms of the social and moral decadence of the Nigerian society in general. This decay manifests itself in the form of various social vices and ills epitomized by corruption, indiscipline, moral laxity and many other ills in the society (Okeowo, 1994:10; Ifaturoti, 1994:155). Therefore, since youths in Nigeria, who do not exist in a vacuum, observe this unhealthy social environment and the breakdown in societal values and norms, it is from what they observe and the signals they perceive that they, in order to achieve what they perceive as societal goals, emulate the behaviour of the society. Thus, the society in this way can be seen as the source of violence, for the youths merely reflect societal behaviour. In a society where persons who have achieved success through corruption are lauded, the signal sent to the youths is that corruption is an acceptable means of achieving success (Ifaturoti, 1994: 155). This is of course reflected in the violent behaviour of youths.

Influence of peer group: Peer group pressure and the age factor play an important role in determining youth involvement in violence. The average age group of youth is between 15 and 25 years. Many youths of this age grade are at their most impressionistic and they tend to imitate easily. Thus, they are more easily manipulated and influenced by their peers, who encourage them to commit delinquent acts on the grounds that it enhances their status and commitment in the society (Tamuno, 1991:144).

Culture of drug abuse: The prevailing culture of drug abuse has in no small way contributed to the upsurge in youth violence. Hard drugs such as heroin, marijuana and cocaine are often found in the possession of youths. Violent clashes often occur under the influence of alcohol and other mind disturbing drugs. Ifaturoti (1994:156) attests to the fact that abuse of drugs, such as cocaine, and over-indulgence in alcoholic drinks, such as gin and whisky, alter the state of the user’s mind and predispose it to violence.

Role of mass media: The mass media has also contributed to the upsurge in youth violence in Nigeria. The importation of violent films, which are shown on television and the everyday brutalities of Nigerian life, such as cult clashes, assassination and public violence, written about by the media with all the gory details and photographs, merge the frontiers of fantasy with reality for youths. It is possible that many of these delinquent youths merely act out what they have seen on video or television.

Ethnic nationalism and the formation of ethnic militias: The desire to wrestle the power coupled with other considerations have led to increased ethnic nationalism among the minority ethnic groups, while the larger ethnic groups are equally strongly attached to their peculiar beliefs necessitating increased nationalism within them. Sometimes their activities are carried out in a manner that has led to violence. The cases of Odua Peoples Congress OPC (Yoruba) and Movement for the Advancement of Sovereign State of Biafra MASSOB (Igbo) represent a good example of this perspective, while various minority ethnic groups such as Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Middle Belt Forum among others, have been challenging the activities of the dominant ethnic groups. These competitions have ended up in ethnic militant attacks and ethnic clashes. However, it has been revealed that the youths constitute the bulk of these ethnic militias (Akinboye, 2001:176).

Role of the Elites: The elites in Nigeria have promoted youth violence. They represent essentially capitalists who depend on the state machinery for survival (Joseph, 1999:16). They are also a major player in the ethnic game for exploitation and manipulation of non-elites, usually directed towards personal/elite groups interests, which mostly promotes division and hatred among people in pluralistic societies (Otite, 1990:210). These elites use ethnic and religious sentiment to achieve their political and socio-economic goals. For example, a Sokoto Prince Shehu Malami in his address to youth corpers posted to the state in 1986 publicly expressed that the Hausa race is superior to other ethnic groups in Nigeria (Kukah, 2002). The others too Yoruba and the Igbo, have the same belief. In many other instances, the elites often sponsor youths in ethno-religious, political and cult violence. Such situation sets an appalling role model for youths and increases their vulnerability to or penchant for violent crime.

Economic factor: According to Obateru (1994:132), poverty apparently accounts for the bulk of violence due to such problems as unemployment, inadequate housing, physical and social infrastructures. The current depression in the Nigerian economy must have worsened the situation of youths; this has rendered the youths idle and almost hopeless, hence they have become instruments of manipulation by the elites for ethno-religious and political insurrections.

Urban congestion: This has contributed to the promotion of youth violence in Nigeria, especially in the cities. A greater proportion of Nigerians live in the cities. The rapid rate of urban agglomeration was caused by the superior employment, education, health care and other attractions of the urban environment. Most of these urban migrants are youths (Ndegwa, 1992:92). Therefore, the increase in the rate of youth rural-urban drift complicates the problems of housing, employment and population in the cities. All these problems produce stresses and strains that can be later expressed in the form of riots, cult clashes, vandalism and so on. It is a truism that incidents of youth violence are not so common in the rural areas in Nigeria.

Family influence: Family influence plays an undeniable role in shaping the characters of youths. The quality of their family life is reflected in their behaviour. In families where violence is a way of life, a reflection of it is seen in the violent behaviour of the youth of the family (Ifaturoti, 1994:157). Elaborating on this fact, Renovize (1978), Oliver and Taylor (1971), Scott (1974), Levine (1975) observed that children living in violent homes are themselves more likely to become agents of violence as they grow up. These children naturally see violence as an instrument of inter-group relations

It is also possible for the frequently battered mother to transfer her suffering to her children in the form of harsh punishments for minor offences. Such children soon become resistant to even dangerous battering and gladly participate in street/public fight (Albert, 1994:71). They become threats to peace and harmony in the society as they are recruited into gangster organizations, especially if they are unrestricted by exposed to violent films. Moreover, because many parents do not pay enough attention to the children, youths disturbed by such family situation may indulge in delinquent acts as a way of either seeking the parents’ attention to rebelling against such parents (Ifaturoti, 1994:157).

Consequences of youth violence

Youth violence as abysmal as it may appear to be is not devoid of socio-economic and enduring consequences to both the nation and the youths themselves.

The World Health Organization in articulating the effects of violence and Health in its report of 2002, opined that the main victims of youth restiveness or violence, almost everywhere are themselves, adolescents and young adults. The resulting violence harms not only its victims but also their families. This summarizes the evil of “youth violence”, if not promptly addressed. They kill themselves for the benefit of political office holders and elites in the society who at the end of the day abandon them to leak their wounds. Other effects include:

Creation of unfriendly investment environment; it is in no doubt that youth violence could affect investment prospects of the country since one of the indices in investing in a country would be the guaranteed peace of the country. If a country is ravaged by violence it makes such a nation unattractive for investments both local and foreign. And violences by the youth, most especially in the Niger-delta region has greatly undermined investment opportunities in the South-south region.

Increased poverty; youth violence leads to destruction of lives and properties not just of government establishments but also o private individuals. This situation has greatly led to the impoverishment of such people affected by these crises.

Increased crime rate and insecurity; youth violence in time past, such as the electoral crises have greatly led to a high degree in crime rate. Other consequences of youth violence may include;

The erosion of values and traditions e.g. disrespect for elders and the traditional ethos.

• Collapse of communal life.

• Inter and intra ethnic clashes.

• Killing of youths, who are the main actors, increased level of orphans and drug addition.

• War.

Efforts by the government to tackle youth violence

Today the consequences of youth restiveness stare us in the face. The truth is that youth restiveness and social vices are devastating both to the individual and the society at large. In fact youth restiveness makes the youth to be disabled for their expected role as leaders of tomorrow. They destroy productive lives, and the future of the social fabrics of the society. The risk involved are too numerous to be taken for granted. It is therefore the responsibility of the Nigerian state and all stakeholders to look for ways of bringing this large army of unemployed youths into the main stream of society and making them economically and socially viable so that they can become creator of jobs and wealth for themselves and for others.

The Nigerian state has not been passive to the crisis particularly in the Niger Delta. Successive regimes have taken steps to address the crisis. However, the responses of the state and the oil companies to the agitation and demands of the oil producing communities have always ranged from double talk, unfulfilled promises and arm-twisting strategy (Ovwasa, 1999:93). State repression and violence have been a prominent strategy deployed mainly by military regimes in quelling the crisis in the region. Such repressive acts often involve the drafting of mobile police and the armed forces to the region, with the mandate to put such uprising under control to facilitate the smooth operations of the oil companies. Examples of state violent repression against oil communities include: Egbema crisis (1989-91); Oburu violence (1989); Umuchem

Massacre (1990); Bonny tragedy (1992); Egi-Obaji Mayhem (1994); Tai-Biara (Ogoni) Massacre (1994);Ubima tragedy (1995); Odi Massacre (1999) etc (Ekeng, 1996:140;Akinwumi, 2004:131; Ovwasa,1999:94; Raji, 1998:116).

The federal government apart from using force to quell the situation also responded to the demands of the people by setting up development commissions and boards. The peculiar development challenges in the Niger Delta however, were recognized well before political independence of Nigeria with the setting up of Wilikin Commission in 1958 to look into the problems of minorities. Based on the recommendations of the commission, the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) was set up in 1961 (ANEEJ, 2004:20).

However, the board failed to achieve its objectives before the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil war. Subsequent efforts at developing the Niger Delta include the establishment of the Niger Delta Basin and Rural Development Authority in 1976, the setting up of the Presidential Task Force with 1.5% from the Federation account allotted for the development of the region. Also, Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC) was set up. All these never made any meaningful development impacts on the area; rather, they created avenues for corruption and personal enrichment for individuals and groups at the expense of the poverty stricken masses of the region. However, the recent granting of amnesty to Niger-delta militants still remains to be seen as a onerous action that would permanently end militia activities in the area.

Tackling youth violence in Nigeria: the way out

Since youth restiveness in Nigeria revolves around poverty, bad governance, insincerity, ineffective corporate community relationship, underdevelopment, environmental degradation among others, ameliorating it would have to entail capacity building for the youth. This will include implementation of community orientated developmental projects and participatory approach in resolving issues and problems among stakeholders in the region.

The federal government needs to go beyond putting in place palliative measures and constituting agencies or commissions. The development needs of the region can be met through planned intervention policies, programmes and projects which are true reflections of the desires and needs of the people. Particularly the restive youth should be empowered so as to make a decent living from their environment.

Our development as a nation does in deed lie in our ability to develop our human capital. Development of human capital represents a sustainable strategy for transforming Nigeria into a viable economy. Without education Nigeria would not attain global relevance neither would we be able to create a good society with informed citizens. Government should consider education as a social service which it must provide to all Nigerians.

Dignity of labour upon which the Nigerian was known has been replaced by the craze for easy money. At the same time Nigerians have lost their sense of freedom and the symbol of achievement became defined by the extent of thievery that an individual exhibited. Despite the seeming gloom we can take another chance to make right the colossal mistakes of the past. This can only be done through an understanding of the many growth opportunities that stare at us daily. Global economy trends present significant opportunities for Nigeria to grow out of the mono-culture economy that has arrested the development of the nation. To strategically take advantage of these growth opportunities we must begin to look beyond natural resources as the major drivers of growth. Nigeria’s ability to emerge as a global economic force lies in its capacity to take advantage of the growth opportunities in such areas as: business enterprises, services, entertainment, leadership, entrepreneurship, management, sports, economics and finance, and brand exports. However, these areas of growth opportunities are driven by knowledge, ideas and innovation. Our possession of natural capital must therefore be seen as important to the extent that it catalyzes the development of the human capital necessary to take advantage of these opportunities.

References

Akingboye, O.S. (2001) “The Matrix of Ethnicity and Ethno-Religious Crises in Nigeria’s Nascent Democracy” in Agwoholobo, E.(ed.) The Humanistic Management of Pluralism: A Formula for Development in Nigeria. Lagos: Murtab Press for the Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos ALF Publication.

ANEEJ (2004) – Oil Poverty in Niger Delta, African Network for Environment and Economic Justice,

www.boellnigeria.orgdocument/Niger-Delta.

Boer, W. (2000) “To Build a Nation Where Peace and Justice Shall Reign”, Unpublished report on OTI Conflict Resolution Initiative in Nigeria. USAID/OTI, Abuja, Nigeria, December.

Collier, P. and Hoeffle, A. R. (2002) “Greed and Grievance in Civil War”. World Bank research paper.

http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/workingpapers/pdfs/2002-01text.pdf

Ifaturoti, T.O (1994) “Delinquent Sub-culture and Violence in Nigerian Universities” in Albert, I.O. et al (eds.) Urban Management and Urban Violence in Africa Vol. 2. Ibadan: IFRA.

Joseph, R.A (1999) Democracy and Prebential Politics in Nigeria: The Rise and Fall of Second Republic. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd.

Levin, M.B (1975) “Interparental Violence and Its Effect on the Children: A Study of 50 Families in General Practice” Medicine, Science and Law 15 (3)

Muhammed A.Y. (2005) Youth Violence in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: Implications for Human Development in the 21st Century. Ilorin: Hamson Ltd.

http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/unilorin/publications/Youth%20Violence.htm

Ndegwa, P. (1992) “Africa and the World: Africa on Its Own in Africa Rise to Challenge” in Obasanjo, .O. and Mosha, F.G.N (eds.) Africa Leadership Forum. Abeokuta: ALF Publications

Obateru, O. I. (1994) “Planning the City to Mitigate Urban Violence” in Albert, .I.O et. al (eds.) Urban Management and Urban violence in Africa.Vol..1. Ibadan: IFRA.

Ovwasa , L. (1999) – Oil and the Minority Question, in Saliu, H, A (ed.) Issues in contemporary Political Economy in Nigeria, Ilorin: Sally and Associates.

Renvoize, .J. (1978) Web of Violence: A Study of Family Violence Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.

Scott, P. D. (1974) “Battered Wives” British Journal of Psychiatry 125:433-41

Tamuno, T. (1991) Peace and Violence in Nigeria. Ibadan: Longman.

Ogbeifun, B. (2007) Youth Restiveness in the Niger Delta: - Issues and Imperatives. A Paper presented to the National Union of Petroleum and Gas workers of Nigeria, Port-Harcourt Zone at MODOTEL, Owerri, Nigeria.

Assessing Development Plans in Nigeria: A Case of Vision 20: 2020

2010-10-07T13:21:00.003-07:00

Title

Assessing Development Plans in Nigeria: A Case of

Vision 20: 2020

Ugwu Julius Onwuma

Preface

The socio-economic development of any society is conspicuously linked to development planning embarked upon by the government. This situation is peculiar to all developed societies and underdeveloped society to which Nigeria belongs.

Nigeria has over the years embarked on various national and rolling development plans. In place, have been four national development plans and rolling plans including development policies such as Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), Vision 2010, National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS) and currently Vision 2020. These programmes were all initiated to facilitate economic, social, political and technological growth all geared towards improving the living conditions of Nigerians.

In spite of the nobility of these plans, they have significantly failed to achieve desired results as poverty remains pervasive, social infrastructure in a mess, health care still poor and power erratic as ever. Basically, these problems are typical of socio-economic indices in Nigeria.

Factors responsible for the failure of these plans to yield desired results can be traced to poor planning and monitoring of programmes, inadequate funding, corruption, poor accountability etc. these challenges are ubiquitous as far as development plans are concerned and they constitute the challenges NV 20:2020 is bound to face.

This study therefore, critically examines past development plans, reasons for there failure and it takes an incisive look at the vision 2020 and how the possible challenges it could be confronted with could be surmounted.

Table of Contents

Title page . . . . . . . . . . 1

Preface . . . . . . . . . . 2

Table of contents . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Background of the study . . . . . . 6

1.2 Overview of past national development plans in Nigeria . . 8

1.2.1 First national development plan (1962-68) . . . . 8

1.2.2 Second national development plan (1970-74) . . . 8

1.2.3 Third national development plan (1975-80) . . . . 9

1.2.4 Fourth national development plan (1981-85) . . . 9

1.2.5 National rolling plans . . . . . . . 10

1.2.6 Other national development plans . . . . . 10

Chapter Two: Critical Insight into Vision 20: 2020

2.1 Meaning of vision 20: 2020 . . . . . . 12

2.2 Strategic framework . . . . . . . . 13

2.3 Main Organs of Vision 2020 framework . . . . 14

2.4 Finance . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.5 Possible challenges . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter Three: Impact Assessment of Development Plans in Nigeria

3.1 Infrastructure development . . . . . . 17

3.2 Socio-economic development . . . . . . 18

3.3 Political development . . . . . . . 19

3.4 Technological development . . . . . . 20

Chapter Four: Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations

4.1 Summary . . . . . . . . .21

4.2 Recommendations . . . . . . . . 22

4.3 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . 22

References

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Nations all over the world fall into 2 divisions, developed and underdeveloped societies. This division is usually hinged on social, economic and political prosperity. Perceived developed societies are societies that boast of the best economies, politics, infrastructure, technologies and most importantly, standard of living. These societies in the present world order direct global economies and politics. In this envious class are countries such as; the USA, Britain, Germany, France, Japan etc. These societies are equipped with all the paraphernalia of development. But this situation does not suggest that they have stopped striving to be better developed or that they have ceased to make efforts towards the improvement of their economies, politics or technologies. Consequently, they continually embark on development policies and initiatives aimed at boosting their level of development.

In contrast to these developed societies are underdeveloped societies. Underdeveloped societies are nations which compared to others lacks; industrialization, infrastructure, developed agriculture, and developed natural resources, and suffers from a low per capita income as a result. Some of these countries are; Republic of Congo, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger and Nigeria.

Nigeria as an underdeveloped nation striving to develop has over the years embarked on various National Development Plans (NDP) from 1962 when the First National Development Plan was conceived to present day.

Ikeanyibe (2009) describes development planning as a necessary tool used by many governments and organizations to set their visions, missions, goals, and effective means of realizing development through effective direction and control.

Since independence, Nigeria have had more than 5 National Development Plans and Rolling Plans with concomitant programmes and projects aimed at fast-tracking infrastructure development but still poverty is widespread and development indices are unimaginably low (Onah, 2006). This situation is not caused by the paucity of these national development plans but rather on poor planning, inadequate financing, corruption, political instability but to mention a few.

Currently, the democratic regime of President Goodluck Jonathan like every government that has come and gone has in place a national development plan christened ‘Vision 2020’, though originally established by the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua. A juxtapose at this policy document shows that it’s a viable document that is expertly formulated and well intended for socio-economic and political development if holistically implemented, but if allowed to suffer similar fate that befell past development initiatives then such a laxity would further aggravate the socio-economic ills presently been experienced and this would generally make living conditions worse for the populace.

1.2 Overview of Past National Development Plans in Nigeria

According to Eberinwa (2005) development planning in Nigeria can be traced back to 1946 when the ten year development plan for 1946-56 was initiated. However, this plan came to a premature end in October, 1954 when the Federal system of government was introduced. A second plan was introduced for five years from 1955-1960. But this plan was later revived and extended to 1962 when the first national plan of the Nigerian government was established.

1.2.1 First National Development Plan (1962-68)

The first Nigerian National Development Plan was an ambitious economic plan that was launched in 1962 with a six year target that envisaged the spending of about $1,900,000,000 on development and productivity enhancing projects.

The plan was designed as a coordinated effort between the federal and regional governments with emphasis on technical education, agriculture and industry; it also allowed a mixed economic system (Daily Defender, 1962).

1.2.2 Second National Development Plan (1970-74)

Postwar reconstruction, restoring productive capacity, overcoming critical bottlenecks, and achieving self-reliance were major goals of the Second National Development Plan. The replacement cost of physical assets damaged and destroyed in the civil war with the secessionist Igbo area in the southeast, then known as Biafra, was estimated to exceed N600 million (then about US$900 million).

1.2.3 Third National Development Plan (1975-1980)

The national economic advisory council created in 1972 coordinated and prepared the plan with consultations from the private sector. The objectives of the plan were welfarist in nature since they were aimed principally at improving the lot of the common man as it was centred on increasing per capita income, foster even distribution of income, reduce unemployment, economic diversification, promotion of balanced development, encourage indigenization of economic activities etc.

1.2.4 Fourth National Development Plan (1981-85)

This plan was formulated by a democratically elected government under a new constitution based on the presidential system of government. Secondly with a projected capital expenditure of about N82Billion, the Plan is considerably bigger than all its predecessors (Ohagwu, 2005). Okeke (2006: 146) in his analysis emphasizes that the plan for the first time involved the local governments. The emphasis was on domestic raw material for local industries and promotion of employment opportunities.

The Ideals of the plan however failed to meet the economic target thus leading to the country’s inability to settle her external debts. Consequently, the country was compelled to introduce Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986.

1.2.5 National Rolling plans

` In late 1989, the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida abandoned the concept of a fixed five-year plan. Instead, a three-year "rolling plan" was introduced for 1990-92 in the context of more comprehensive fifteen- to twenty-year plans. A rolling plan, considered more suitable for an economy facing uncertainty and rapid change, is revised at the end of each year, at which point estimates, targets, and projects are added for an additional year. Thus, planners would revise the 1990-92 three year rolling plan at the end of 1990, issuing a new plan for 1991-93. In effect, a plan is renewed at the end of each year, but the number of years remains the same as the plan rolls forward.

1.2.6 Other National Development Plans

Before the first national rolling plan in 1990 there was the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) between 1986 and 1989. During this scheme various reforms took place under it.

In 1996 vision 2010 was set up to look to look all aspects of the Nigerian society, helping to define for the country its correct bearing and sense of political, socio-cultural and economic direction (IDEA, Inc).

And finally National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS), a four year programme initiated in 2003. NEEDS, a home-grown programme aimed at tackling socio-economic challenges.

CHAPTER TWO

CRITICAL INSIGHT INTO NIGERIA VISION 20:2020

2.1 Meaning of Nigeria Vision 2020

Igbuzor (2010) explains that the Nigeria Vision 2020 economic transformation blueprint is a ten year plan for stimulating Nigeria’s economic growth and launching the country onto a path of sustained and rapid economic growth to become one of the top twenty economies by 2020. The vision is anchored on the Nigerian Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and the seven point agenda of President Umar Yar’Adua.

The process of developing the vision included the formation of the National Council on Vision 2020; inputs from ministries, agencies, state and local governments as well as the private sector with the National Planning Commission playing a co-ordinating role. It also involved the analysis of 29 thematic areas and the participation of 12 special interest groups including the legislature, judiciary, media, women, youth, traditional rulers, religious groups, security, Nigerians in Diaspora, persons with disability, labour and the civil service.

The realisation of the vision is hinged on creating the platform for success by urgently and immediately addressing the most debilitating constraints to Nigeria’s growth and competitiveness; forging ahead with diligence and focus in developing the fabric of the envisioned economy and developing and deepening the capability of government to consistently translate national strategic intent into action and results by instituting evidence based decision making in Nigeria’s policy space.

2.2 Strategic Framework

The strategic framework encompasses the background, the Vision statement, the strategic objectives, the theme and Plan thrust, and the national investment priorities for the next four years. It also integrates the strategic framework for the national statistics and demographic data, private sector, financial sector and regional development strategies. The articulation of the strategic framework was premised on Nigeria’s Vision of becoming one of the twenty largest economies by the year 2020.

In line with the three key pillars of the Vision, and the theme, the Plan, seeks to engender accelerated pro-poor growth, achieve an average GDP growth rate of 11 percent, raise the GDP per capita from $1075, in 2009 to $2,008.75 by 2013, generate jobs to absorb the teeming unemployed and create new opportunities, improve the nation’s global competitiveness and raise the public confidence on the nation’s governance and political system, among others, in order to attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, and move the nation towards achieving its Vision by 2020. The plan has six main policy thrusts and programme thrusts in physical infrastructure, productive sector, human capital development, developing a knowledge based economy, government and administration, regional geopolitical zone development including the integration of state programmees and investment.

2.3 Main Organs for Vision 2020 Framework

The main organs of the framework for the development and implementation of the Vision 2020 plan are as follows: National Council on Vision 2020 (NCV2020) with the President as the Chairman. There is the National Steering Committee (NSC) consisting of about 70 members. The National Steering Committee is anchored by the National Planning Commission (NPC) and chaired by the minister. The National Steering Committee shall be supported by the National Technical Working Groups (NTWGs). The NTWGV2020 will comprise of about 20-25 groups of experts for the identified thematic areas drawn from both public and private. Also included as one of the organs is the stakeholder Develpoment committee, comprising of state governments, MDAs and other key institutions and the Economic management team, which is to serve as the think-tank to drive the visioning process.

2.4 Finance

Aggregate Federal Government expenditure during the plan period is estimated at N17,411.49 billion. Of this, N6,770.27 billion or 38.88 per cent is projected for capital projects.

2.5 Possible challenges

Arizona-Ogwu (2008) in his view thinks that Nigeria has faced numerous challenges in achieving sustainable development since independence in 1960 in spite of its abundant human and natural resources. From the time Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960 to date, repeated efforts have been made to define a suitable framework for socio-political and economic development. In this regard, not less than five national development plans have been inaugurated. It is still worthy to note that all these development plans had the intentions of doing the following: Developing a stable broad-based democratic system; Generating employment opportunities and meeting the basic needs of the people; Achieving food security by massively investing in agriculture ;Investing in education; Developing critical sectors of the Nigerian economy; Establishing an effective macroeconomic framework that attracts investment; Directing the formal and informal sectors of the economy; Promoting economic stability and sustaining non-inflationary growth and social justice; Nurturing independent and responsible media, labour unions, NGOs and other institutions of civil society; Developing an effective and efficient public service, judiciary and law enforcement system; Reorienting Nigerian society along the path of honesty, probity, God consciousness, mutual respect, trust, tolerance, gender sensitivity and co-operation; Ensuring sincere and committed leadership and an enlightened and empowered citizenry; and strengthening and sustaining Nigerian’s leadership role in Africa. All the above development plans were brilliantly formulated but suffered from deficiency of scope, poor implementation, budgetary indiscipline and general corruption.

CHAPTER THREE

IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF DEVELOPMENT PLANS IN NIGERIA

The impact assessment of the nation’s national development plans shall be anchored from the socio-economic, political, infrastructure and technological perspective of the country.

3.1 Infrastructure Development

According to Ajalenkoko (2008) the term "infrastructure development" has assumed a central importance in our fight to attain social and economic stability. The value of infrastructure cannot be underplayed. The World Bank estimates that every 1 per cent spent on infrastructure leads to an equivalent 1 per cent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which invariably means that there is a correlation between any meaningful inputs in infrastructure development which reflects on economic growth, indices.

Within the first two years after independence in 1960 made great strides and achievements in every aspect of our national life. But currently the Nigerian public utility and infrastructure services are remarkably weak for a country which is the world’s sixth largest oil exporter. King (2003: 8, 9) further points that Nigeria’s public electrical generating capacity is less than that of Bosnia, an underdeveloped Balkan country with approximately one twenty-fifth Nigeria’s population. Eighty percent of rural households in Nigeria lack an electrical connection, and one-half do not even have running water. Power outages are an everyday occurrence throughout the country, and as a result all significant businesses must purchase backup generators.

The transport infrastructure is extremely poor. The rail system, once good, now barely operates, so that almost all commercial freight must be moved by roads. Nigeria is well-known for expending large sums on infrastructure projects, only to fail to allocate recurring funds for their maintenance. (This is symptomatic of public procurement systems dominated by front-end rent-seeking.) As a result, road quality is poor and inordinate maintenance expenses are transferred to the private sector, in the form of repair costs for road-damaged vehicles. The same goes for waterways, a key transportation mode in the Niger delta. Lagos road traffic congestion is legendary.

3.2 Socio-economic Development

Bayo (2000) and Evbuomwan (1996) observed that in the 60s, Nigeria depended on agriculture for her revenue, which in turn, was used to provide life sustaining goods for the citizen.

The discovery of petroleum by Nigeria marked the turning point of Nigeria and by the turn of 1970, agriculture has been pushed to a distant background. Onwioduokit and Ashinze (1996) observed that it was in the 70s when Nigeria witnessed oil boom that brought about major shift from agriculture to petroleum. The bulk of the revenue of Nigeria now comes from petroleum. Since then, Nigeria has depended heavily on crude oil and this causes instability in the economy due to fluctuation in the price of crude oil in the world market.

Socio-economic indices are such that poverty and unemployment is pervasive. Social infrastructure generally is poor, especially power, which is unstable affecting; production level, employment generation, lowering investment level, income etc. These days importation is generally high as almost all commodities are imported by Nigerians with little exportation considered. GDP and per capita ratios are low and the standard of living worse than can ever be imagined.

3.3 Political Development

The Nigerian polity is one that has been plagued by inconsistent and bad leadership. The political structure in Nigeria had been a tussle for power between civilians and the military. The military held sway for over 25 years before power was finally transferred to the democratically elected government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. A dream Nigerians had clamoured for all their lives.

The democratic process in Nigeria has been quite pathetic as the government and its cohorts in the corridors of power have being indifferent towards the plight of the masses taking for granted social provisioning. But rather, they have been greatly concerned with carting away public monies in Ghana-must-go bags, stealing election boxes, rigging, fuelling political crises and indulging in all sorts of unpatriotic ventures.

In Nigeria today, entering political office is based on ‘cash and carry’ and little attention is paid to the electorates who are consistently denied the right to vote by ‘political hooligans’ who disguise themselves as politicians.

3.4 Technological Development

Technology in recent times, most especially the 21^st century has become a major feature in the discourse of societal development. It is a tool for accelerating development objectives as it involves critical and cautious planning through the use of sophisticated inputs.

The high concentration of technology by developed societies has been greatly instrumental to the development of these societies. The application of technology explains the sophistication of their economic indices.

Developing nations all over the world today including Nigeria are now alive to the relevance of technology to societal development. But in spite of this, the level of technology so far achieved is still poor to improve the nation’s state of development.

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.2 Summary

Considering the plethora of socio-economic problems Nigeria is faced with successive governments have made attempts to address these Undying problems through the perpetual establishment of development plans. Most of these plans to say the least have been considered laudable and purposeful. But their wholesomeness has failed to take away the nightmarish conditions inherent in the society today.

This situation as earlier emphasized in this study by Arizona-Ogwu can be attributed to deficiency of scope, poor implementation, budgetary indiscipline and general corruption. These factors are the major constraints that killed off the good intentions of development plans in the past and it is the challenges government policies, programmes and projects are faced with and the present Vision 2020 is not going to be any different. For it to succeed it will have to overcome these challenges.

4.2 Recommendations

Omoh and Umoru reports that the Economic Summit (NES) concluded that for the nation’s economy to grow between $800 billion and $900 billion with a minimum average annual GDP growth rate of 13-15 per cent and if the country must rank among the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020 the following must be done;

There must be consolidation of Nigeria’s leadership role in Africa as well as extend her influence on the global level.

Life expectancy index in Nigeria must rise from 46 to over 70 years, improved infant mortality as well as improved maternal mortality in the area of health by 2010. Participants at the conference added that the nation should be able to deliver 13,500MW of power, conclude and implement the gas policy at that date.

In the area of transport, the government must conclude a 100 per cent rehabilitation of roads at all levels, construct the East-West Rail Line and open up the Inland Waterways. And that security of lives, strnghtening of institutions of representative democracy and improvement of access and speed to justice must all be considered top priority.

Most importantly all these can be achieved if consistent emphasis is placed on adequate project and programmes monitoring.

4.3 Conclusion

The Nigerian 2020 contains series of objectives geared towards socio-economic, infrastructure, political development and technological advancement. These objectives are bound to improve the living conditions of the citizenry if efficiently implemented. The efficient implementation of this plan lies in the availability of funds and consistent monitoring of programmes and projects.

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