NIGERIA OF MY DREAM

A Nigeria of my dream is a nation where every citizen has equal access to basic and quality education that furnishes all with enlightenment and understanding of our identity as citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the roles expected of us to drive the nation forward. A nation with blossoming economic prosperity, creating an enabling environment for our small and medium enterprises, promoting and rewarding entrepreneurship and creativity, and providing unlimited job opportunities for our teeming population.

Nigeria, I dream of, is a nation where I can travel from Maiduguri to Lagos by road, passing through Kaduna to Abuja, crossing the confluence state, penetrating the hinterlands of the South, having nothing to fear but my vehicle running out of gas or experiencing technical challenges, as banditry and armed robbery have become a thing of the past.

A nation where every citizen has health insurance cover and health facilities are fitted with modern equipment, manned by dedicated teams of professional healthcare personnel, providing standard care to every citizen without discrimination. A nation where university undergraduates receive admission letters with their graduation dates, as no government policy clash can deter the progress of tertiary institutions.

And it's possible to have a Nigeria where leaders are not just competent and patriotic but also serve the best interest of the people, making policies that ease the commencement of businesses, bring inflation to its minimum possible level, create infrastructures that attract national and international investments, reduce unemployment, and foster appreciative Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Reducing unnecessary governance costs will make public offices appealing only to capable hands, retaining the brains we have in Nigeria from various disciplines, ranging from medicine, law, engineering, and arts, to halt them from draining.

This can only be possible when all citizens feel that the change we all envisage begins with us, as captured by Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister in 1957, in preparation for Nigerian Independence: "I want everyone in Nigeria to realize that this is no easy task, and it cannot be performed by the Federal and Regional Ministers and legislators alone. It is a task for every one of you because it is only by the personal effort of each individual that Independence for the Federation can become a reality in 1960. I am convinced, and I want you also to be convinced, that the future of this vast country must depend, in the main, on the efforts of ourselves to help ourselves. This we cannot do if we do not work together in unity. Indeed, unity today is our greatest concern, and it is the duty of every one of us to work so that we may strengthen it."

Education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world, as Nelson Mandela stated. Many problems we face today in Nigeria are directly or indirectly linked to the failure of our educational system to provide the needed enlightenment for all. This leads to social menaces, rendering youths into nuisances due to their incapacitation to contribute socially and economically to the growth of the state.

We have the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), responsible for providing education to every Nigerian child on a mandatory nine-year program (six years of primary education and three years for junior secondary education). This agency provides early child care development and education, stimulating innovation, creativity, and vocational instincts in children, which will trigger their career choices.

However, according to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 10.5 million children between the ages of 6-15 were out of school in 2021. Moreover, over 11,000 schools in the country have been forced to shut down since December 2021 due to security threats, temporarily increasing the number of out-of-school children. The ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), embarked upon since 14th February 2022, alongside the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and other bodies, led to the closure of all public universities for months.

To achieve my dream Nigeria in terms of education, we must make education a priority through policy and action, stimulating public-private partnerships with consulting firms and community engagement to monitor and ensure the implementation of UBEC mandates at every level of government. This synergy will check excesses in the system, speed up implementation, and ensure no child drops out of school.

The Almajiri system and other non-formal education systems must be carried along, equipped with necessary knowledge and skills to stimulate production, emphasizing vocational training for those who may not further their education to tertiary levels. When people are enlightened, it becomes tedious for individuals or groups with wrong motives to recruit them into criminal acts or peace-disturbing engagements.

Incorporating non-formal systems into the curriculum, training participants to acquire vocational skills, making them feel part of society, and enjoying government, private, and community presence in their lives is my dream. In Mongolia, having observed the reluctance of herders in distant rural communities to join the conventional education system in 2015, they designed a home-based learning method for them. The parents were trained to guide their children, and the necessary study materials were provided to both teachers (who were the parents) and the children. Implementing projects by promoting and piloting various community-based, culturally appropriate initiatives to improve education services and facilities at the local level. We can have similar projects that suit our local peculiarities, as the mission is to ensure every child is carried along as far as education is concerned.

While acknowledging the existence of Nomadic Education in the country's education policy and recent attempts to establish a few Almajiri Model Schools, I dream and believe in having a comprehensive attempt to educate every Nigerian child, for only with education can one attain their life dreams. As for tertiary institutions, thankfully, entrepreneurship has been introduced as general studies to every student, but deliberate efforts should be seen with policymakers being intentional in actualizing the scheme of entrepreneurship, not just in theory. This can be possible if the one-year mandatory National Youth Service could be restructured to contain only three or four months of intensive skills acquisition training. On top of that, the remaining stipends for the eight or nine months would be given cumulatively as start-up capital to each passing-out candidate.

It's already happening during the National Youth Service three-week orientation exercise, where a certain segment for some skill acquisition training majorly lectures on aspects such as agro-allied, automobile, beautification, construction, cosmetology, culture and tourism, education, environment, film and photography, food processing and preservation, power and energy, and ICT. Imagine having graduates intensively trained in these areas, with substantial capital being released into the economy. This coordination will give access to smooth transitioning from schooling to self-reliance, addressing the incessant rise of unemployment, creating job opportunities for their apprentices, and boosting the local economy.

We boast of having the highest economy in Africa; Nigeria had a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 173.5 trillion Naira as of 2021 and, according to the Heritage Index, has the largest GDP in Africa, followed by South Africa and Egypt. Yet, little or no impact has been witnessed regarding poverty reduction. Ideally, a greater GDP translates into an increase in individual income and a reduction in poverty, but due to persistent income inequality, the poor are somehow excluded from benefiting from economic growth. There is, therefore, a need to build new economic and political structures that work for all, not just the fortunate ones.

Creating an enabling environment (with stable power supply) will forever catapult production levels to greater heights in Nigeria, which will, in turn, promote small and medium enterprises. Many production facilities abandoned over the years due to the unavailability of stable power supply will eventually reopen, and international investors will find such progress enticing. Moreover, an intensive campaign to patronize locally made products is key and could be strategically achieved by increasing importation tax, giving favorable competitive ground for domestic products, and other economic measures.

Agriculture has been salvaging the Nigerian economy before the advent of the oil boom. This was regretfully lamented by Sarah Laurenz of Michigan State University in her July 19, 2017, article titled 'Farming Challenges in Nigeria': "Nigeria's main export is oil; however, in 1960, it was crops. The country was completely self-sufficient in food. They exported 47% of all groundnuts. It provided 18% of the world's cocoa, second-largest exporter in the world. Now it is down to 8%. The country used to produce 65% of Africa's tomatoes but is now the largest importer of tomato paste."

Intentional policies towards reviving agricultural productions through public-private partnerships will go a long way in enhancing and promoting agricultural practices throughout the Federation, reducing importation, and setting a course for unceasing exportation of produce. Nigeria has been blessed with land, and a seamless process of its allocation is key in propagating the gospel of participation in agriculture, as was the case during the 'Operation Feed the Nation' project of 1976, when people were encouraged to carve out land as big as they could manage, provided it would be put into agricultural production. This and similar approaches will encourage more participation in agriculture.

Moreover, one of the major challenges farmers face is finding markets for their produce, which often necessitates selling products at very low prices due to post-harvest loss linked to the complexity of storage facilities. Therefore, establishing Agricultural Commodity Exchange markets would serve not only as a platform for bringing buyers and sellers together but also ensure stable markets and boost agricultural production and utilization of inputs and other resources. Regular supply of raw materials for industrial use will also be sustained, achieving overall economic development. I dream that this will be achieved in the near future, Nigeria.

Nigeria is entangled in various crises, including Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast, banditry in the Northwest, secessionist movements of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the Southeast, and communal clashes in parts of the North Central, where banditry is gaining ground. These crises have led to the recruitment of more youths than anticipated into their agendas, largely due to the dilapidation of the economy and government negligence, which have made them vulnerable.

There's no doubt that military power is needed to subdue the warring factions, but starving the expansion of each terror organization is crucial to ending it. An inter-ministerial program that equips teeming youths with skills and empowers them will be helpful. As Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist and 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said, "With a gun, you can kill terrorists, but with education, you can kill terrorism."

Nigeria lacks social interventions for those with little or no school certification, which needs to change. I envision numerous vocational centers throughout the federation, dedicated to arming youths with crafts that can sustain their livelihood. Simultaneously, increasing the number of military and paramilitary staff will provide a safe and secure nation.

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) should be a right to every citizen, ensuring access to essential healthcare without financial hardship. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) made health coverage mandatory, but funding remains an issue. The availability of health workers is another challenge, with a shortage of doctors, nurses, and midwives.

I dream of an NHIS accessible to all Nigerians, regardless of their workplace or employer. To achieve this, we must address availability through intensive investment in health education, encourage investment, and review packages for health workers. We should also empower primary health centers, provide relative medical training for local patent medicine vendors, and consider social welfare avenues in secondary facilities.

Like every developing nation, Nigeria has its stories, but our love for the country should be non-negotiable. We should seek peace and strive to make our nation better. It's our collective responsibility to make our dreams for Nigeria a reality. Let's focus on our sphere of influence and do what's right. I call upon all citizens to institute Mahatma Gandhi's statement, "“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Let us therefore live according to the dream we conceive for this beautiful nation, Nigeria. In the other hand, making good leaders should remain an utmost priority for all, we should ensure we exercise our franchise in only voting into power leaders with descent traceable records of integrity and nation building spirits. As such, connecting our individuals’ willingness into national agenda that will set the course for Nigeria we dream of. 

Long live Nigeria