Nigeria is a blessed nation that has every good thing a nation can ever think of in life, talk of human resources, human potentials, natural resources, we have everything. Of all we have in this country, God was so faithful and merciful to that point that we don't seemingly have natural disasters, i mean, no tsunami, no earthquake, not even tremor, no volcanic eruption, no famine, talk of any problems facing the world currently, We don't have any. How come Nigeria is still backward all these while? well, i think we have a lot of human disasters which manifested in mismanagement and corrupt administration, but in my opinion, i think below are the major problems and if these are tackled, we are closer to success than ever.
1. COMPULSORY EDUCATION FOR ALL NIGERIANS
The North is major tribe in Nigeria and if the major tribe that cover such a large expense of land and span such great a population did not embrace education, how far can we go, believe me if three animals are tied together, One bigger and Two others almost of the same size, if the two plan of going to a direction and the other is not in agreement, they will remain in a single spot. When i was young, in the south west zone of this great nation, i remember the time where police are on the look out. Any child who refuses to go to school is in trouble, if you are caught, you may be lock up and your parents will pay heavy to bail you out especially if you are caught in a game house during school hour, you are in for it. I think in my opinion, if The Nigerian Government make Education compulsory for all children above the age of Two (2), i mean a compulsory education, it may look so hard at the beginning but i think the almajiris in the North who always beg for arm will reduce drastically, for once you are caught on the street begging, you are in for it, everybody will sit up.
Any Parents who doesn't want his children to be educated should be ignored and children Forced to school, indeed some may not develop interest but for those who pick interest, it's a plus for the nation. "EDUCATE THEM NOW BY FORCE BEFORE THEY BECOME TERRORISTS TOMORROW"
2.ALL COMPANIES TASKED TO INVEST IN YOUTH
In Nigeria, we've left everything for the government, i think in the advanced world, it's the private sector that plays the majority of the role in the nation building, assisting the government to carry its load. this is my suggestion: "no company deserves to be in Nigeria, if they cannot invest in the Nigerian Youth". So, i think the federal government should put a law in place that enforce this. No single company should sponsor the Nigerian League, rather, individual companies should sponsor individual team be it in football, rugby, basketball, baseball, lawn tennis etc. it should be that multiple companies sponsor the League, not a single company. Youth are the future of any country, if our footballers playing in the local league are not well paid, how will they give their best? some of them collects less than a fifty thousand naira per month and lots of club owner still owes its players up to three, four, five months salary. It's because there is no sponsorship. If we want the sport sector to develop, the government should relinquish that authority to the private sectors and this should be enforced such that every company in Nigeria sponsor a team with at least 1-10% of their income. No company is too small to participate, Biro companies, Biscuit companies, Soap companies, small companies, no matter how small should be forced to give something back to the youth of this nation, i mean they should invest in our youths. By that, Joblessness will reduce drastically.
3. DECENTRALIZATION OF THE NATION'S DEFENCE ACADEMY
This is a major problem in this country, the nation's defence academy is located only in the north, Kaduna to be precise. what is the problem with that you may ask? the northerners believed that they were born to rule, and though they are the least educated in this country due to the fact that they did not embrace western education, they however have largest personnel in the military. And do you know why? it was because the Academy is situated close to them, whether you have a degree or what as long as you are a northerner, the defence academy is your birthright. All the other zones finds it difficult to enter the defence academy though they may be a B.sc holder, Secondary school certificate holder and in the process Northerners have over 70% of military personnel in the academy.
This is what i think, the federal government should decentralilzed the nation military defence academy. Let the souths have their own Defence Academy, Let the south west have theirs, or they should do it in such a way that the Kaduna branch extended as a branch to other zones of the country.
The best is however that every zone have their own defence academy, be given flexibility to operate their own systems in accordance to the central military systems and laws. I tell you, there are more southerners who want to be in the nation's force, fighting to protect their country's properties and citizens, but the rigorous nature of getting admission and entry into the academy prevents a lot of them from Joining military. i think, if this is corrected, we have many people flooding the nation's military defence, less unemployment is observed, low level of indiscipline is achieved.
4. SPONSORING YOUTHS WITH IDEAS
Today, the movie industry is bitterly complaining of piracy every now and then, and who are the culprits of the piracy? They called them the 'alaba boys' in Onitsha. Everyday, we puts in Laws to fight them, oftentimes we called them jobless, we say they are nonentities. i think those guys are gifted, i think we should see the good in them, they have no works to do, they decide to use their brain to do something fake, fake sandals, fake phones, fake materials, fake things ... we keep blaming them, but the truth is this, if someone who has no money do fake things that works almost as the originals, i think if such a person is given proper training and sponsorship, if such person have money to execute all his ideas, i think such person can produce original effortlessly. They need proper training. We all can talk about the united states of America and how well they've gone far to become the most powerful country on earth, we've only forgotten that they knew how to make use of their enemies. They are the ones that trained Osama Bin Laden, they knew how to make use of their seeming enemies to their advantage rather than killing them. Let the private sectors and the federal government devise a means of sponsoring these youths who are creative.
5. INSTALLATION OF CCTV CAMERA ALL OVER THE COUNTRY
This looks so impossible, but i think it is one of the easiest things to do. The question is: how much will it cost Nigeria to install CCTV all around our country? i think this will ease the stress of running up and down tracking down the pipelines vandals, the PHCN equipment vandals and all evil perpetrators in Nigeria. You are a driver and you jump the traffic light even at night, we don't need to run after you, the next day you wake up, you hear knocks on your door demanding a fine from you. You are a graduate or a sensible Nigerian, you eat biscuits, sweets, gala and you drop the Nylon on the road, or the floor or you dump sewage in the drainage, the camera pick you up. i think, if CCTV can be installed and managed effectively by supermarkets like Shoprites, Yemyem and all major or minor retail outlets, i think as a nation, Installing CCTV cameras all over our country will help us a lot. Now, we can experiment with a state and see how successful it will be but i'm so sure it will work well in Nigeria.
6. PROPER REVIEW OF THE NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION TO FAVOUR THE MASSES
One of the major problems of Nigeria is its constitution. Our constitutions has so much laws but it lacks power. A law that is not enforced is a useless law. A constitution that supports or recognize one religion over the other is a biased and useless constitution. A constitution that provides immunity for corrupt government officials while in office is a useless constitution. A constitution that allows so much allowances for its national executives and legislative officials and its citizens are not enjoying the same is a useless constitution. A constitution that elevates those in public office above the citizens it claims to serve is a useless constitution. A constitution that only satisfy the belly of the senates and house of reps with toilet roll allowance, biro allowance, newspaper allowance, talking allowance, standing allowances, cloth allowance, car allowance among others and cannot provide the same for its citizens is a useless constitution.
7. INSTILLING A POSITIVE MAINTENANCE CULTURE
This too is a major challenge in this country, I remembered how beautiful Surulere National Stadium was when it was first built, i knew exactly how Ijebu-Ode National stadium was built, Abuja national stadium and Many More... Go and see how it looks now. its far below the standard it was when it was first built. Apart from that, our inability to maintain our national heritage is a problem. Where is our National Museum in Nigeria and if we have one, how many do we have? how many national theatre can we boast of as a nation? just one. You know it's easy to talk about Americas, do we know how many Theatres they have? the theatres they have is enough to rake in a box office of over 2.17 billion dollars for avatars. So, a film maker in America don't have to be afraid of piracy, there is enough platform to sell their movies to the world and make their money without fear of piracy. in fact, movies they release within a week, they have it pirated within a short time but they still make their money. Even the one we have is not properly maintained or renovated to meet the world standard. Our Roads too is not left out in this and a negative maintenance attitude is affecting our refineries seriously. i don't know why our refineries should not be functioning at all. the Question is this: 'when money was flowing in during the past administrations, what delays them from repairing the refineries? how much does it take to repair a refinery? is it as expensive as the money that built it? it's just negligence that is causing all these problems.
8. DEVELOPING A CREATIVE MINDSET RATHER THAN CONSUMING MINDSET
This is one of the major Problems in Nigeria. United States of America used over 2 billion dollars to build Fermi Lab. the Question is: 'looking at the whole thing, you might say, what is it to gain in the construction of the Fermi Lab? why can't the government use the money to build more houses, buy more cars, construct refineries? yeah, a consuming mind will say that. The Truth is: 'the US used Such amount of Money to build a project they don't know whether it will yield or not', how much is Nigeria spending on Creativity and Research? Where is our own Space station, Do we even have a rocket? All our professors have things to invent, but no money to further on their researches, Many youths have many things to create, but there is no enabling environment. I'm not saying that the government should do everything, the government can as well partner with Private Sectors to develop the research arm of the government. We can do it, Yes, We surely can; the problem is, we don't see the need. we are always concern with what to eat, drink, wear, cars to ride, house to live in and so on, we are not bothered about investing in Project which may not yield now but could put us in forefront of the world power in the future. We can do it. The United States Used Over 2 billion Dollars to build Telescopes that is effective in the study of the extra terrestial bodies. We may say, we don't need it, but that is what makes the advanced country stronger, that is what gives them edge over the others. they understand so much the electromagnetic spectrum to such an extent that they made transmission of voice easier through the construction of satellites, It was there researches that earn them that success. What are we investing our money on? We even import tooth Picks, Matches, Biscuits, Even Chalks. Is it that we don't have brain that can do these in Nigeria? Wow. Do you know why the US government spent that much on fermi Lab? Just to study the particles in an atom. that you may say is insignificant and waste of money for a consuming nations like us, but hey! that's what gives them edge over other nations.
9. KEEPING DATABASE FOR ALL NIGERIANS
One thing i still don't understand is how it was so difficult to keep the database of all the Nigerian. Is it that much a problem for us to execute? i don't think so. During the Nigerian general elections, our information were captured by INEC, all federal hospitals and some private hospitals as well as some state hospitals, Hotels, Airports and during admission exercise of any University, our information are captured on the school Database. Our Bio-datas are collected with our Demographic datas which comprises age, sex, name, address among others, our phone numbers e-mails and the rest were collected. the question is how come it was still so difficult for the federal government to collate the data of all nigerians in a central database such that we don't need to keep chasing offenders, we already know where they live. Once we capture them through CCTV, we track them to their home and justice is metted.
The information collected by INEC and SCHOOLS have our fingerprints captured on their database, so what is Nigerian government doing about all these? well, time will tell.
10. DECENTRALIZATION OF NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE
This has been going on for so long a time, i think it will be best if we decentralize our police force such that each state have their own police force operating under a state laws in affiliation with the central investigating bodies to enforce orders in Nigeria. Let's imagine Lagos state having its own police force, it will enable the state government to fully equipped it's police with all necessary equipment and ammunition to combat insecurity, injustice and disorderliness in lagos state. Let each state renamed their own Police, say for example, lagos state police force is LAPU (LAGOS STATE POLICE UNIT), Ogun state police force (OGPU (Ogun state police Unit)) and so forth. This will enable our police force and help them to operate with full potential with the help of the state governments, private organisations, and the help of the citizens. Let those who understand a particular zone be their inspector or police chief and we'll see tremendous improvement. We can do it and i'm sure it will work. However, let there be a central investigating body handling different issues on transport separately, religion violence separately, terrorism separately, and general offence. Let all these further be under a central investigating unit (CIU). Let everything be arranged in hierachy and in order and we'll see changes. Let EFCC still manned the crime Unit and let them work hand in hand with the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission (ICPC) to tackle corruption in it's entirety. Money Laundering is not the only Corruption in Nigeria, Lecturers sleeping with female students before they pass their exams and all related crime should be handled and investigated by ICPC.
11. ALLOWING PRIVATE PARTIES ASSISTS IN PUBLIC PROJECT
Nigeria is a country that i know of that if a billionaire want to renovate a road, he can be sued for it. I think in my Opinion that is causing a lot of set back to the development of a particular community. Let there be a law in place that allow this such that there must be a condition that guarantees efficiency without any negative influence on the community. Yes, i say people should be allowed to help in public renovations if need arise. Let's not forget that these people are Nigerians and if they want to assist Nigeria or Nigerian, it is still a nation building exercise.
12. KICKING OFF A WAR AGAINST INDISCIPLINE PROGRAM
Yes, we really need this in Nigeria. People should be penalized if they refuse to treat government property with respect. People should be penalized if they are not taking care of their environment just like we used to do before. Unnecessary strike actions by a particular sector should be reviewed properly except it is a general strike and if need be that a sector should embark on strike, it should be fully looked into if it is a genuine reason for going into strike. For example, we see many people in an attempt to demonstrate how well they are displeased by the government, every single challenge, they embark on strike and why are they going on strike? government is not paying a particular allowance. well, you will say it is good they fight for it, yeah, i agree too, but i think solution to everything is not strike. A man who cannot do anything positive with a hundred thousand Naira will not do anything good if you give him a Hundred million naira. so, I say, though government should pay its workers well, yeah, it is good, i mean very good, but the truth remains, if the government gives every Nigerian 10 million naira each, you will see how useless a lot of people are, that money looks big, but i tell you, some people, in fact most people will squander it on things that are not sensible and if the government gives every Nigerian a 100,000 naira each, you will see some people become millionnaire in just one year. so, i say: 'it is not how much you are given that matters, it is how well you can utilize the little you have to do something great'. if you've been receiving a hundred thousand naira as your salary, and you are not doing anything creative, good with it to bring in more money, You will not do anything good even if your salary is increased to a hundred million naira per month. So it is not about the salary, it is about what you can do with what you have.
Over speeding should be punished when necessary. Yeah! the government should partner with private sectors to install speed limit detecting device on our road. These sets and measure the speed limit of every vehicles on Nigerian Road.
13. SPONSORING NIGERIAN ABROAD TO PERFECT THEIR SKILLS
A lot may see this as a waste of resources, but it's going to help us a great deal. I once saw the picture of Dubai taken in 1983 compared to the Dubai of now and what i saw amazes me, great difference: 'the 1983 picture looks like desert and the 2016 picture looks like paradise'. what transpired between 1983 to 2016? development. The same oil we had. while they channeled their resources to nation building we were busy embezzling our own and we see the difference. Today, Dubai is a force to reckon with. We've seemingly lost it, but i think it's going to help us a lot. The Chinese are people who don't seem to have any natural resources,
they however, developed their country by developing their human potentials and
see where they are today.
Brazil today is running on ethanol as fuel, why don't we send students who are willing to study to Brazil or Probably Professors, let's send them to Brazil to go and learn how they were able to turn ethanol to gasoline.
Let's send professors who will sign agreement that after the speculated time abroad, they will come home and when they come home, they will be sponsored.
14. FOCUSING ATTENTION ON ALL OTHER RESOURCES
We've depended so much on Oil and now, we've seen that oil was an opportunity we refused to utilize, i believe if we can divert our attention back to Our Cocoa, Our Palm Oil, Our Rubbers, Our nuts; if we can provide soft loans for our farmers with little or no interest, if we can industrialize our farming by practising mechanized farming, i think the sky will be our limit.
15. PERMANENT SOLUTION TO POWER FAILURE
Nigerians are highly gifted people, when we go to enabling environment to country like US or Great Britain or other part of the advanced world, we always perform excellently. When an Orange is squeezed we all know what comes out of it, Juice, orange juice. Nigerians are made up of excellence and greatness and that's what can come out from within us. If the Federal government will allow each state to freely generate it's own electricity, i think there will be a tremendous improvement in our power sector. Invite foreign investors, declare a tax free economy for foreign investors who are willing to solve this problems, only that they must invest in the youth of this country, employ Nigerians, let's allow them come into our country and develop each sector, in partnership with each state government, the government can however make it in such a way that a quota of the Megawatts generated by each state should go to the federal to assist states who are not willing to generate theirs.
16. SHIFTING THE NATION'S ECONOMY ATTENTION OFF THE OIL SECTOR
I'm happy at what is happening currently though it's painful, but i think it is good for us, i mean the recent fall in oil prices, the sad thing is that it's having effects on the exchange rate, causing a hype in price of the local and international commodities. Yeah! it's good that it is happening right now so that we can sit up. it is high time we developed the other sectors with maximum attention. Many a farmer needs soft loans to increase productivity, those in Oil palm business needs help to improve the product's quantity and quality. Those in Cocoa business needs loans to improve and increase its productivity. Gone are the days when these products
to be continued....
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