Good afternoon my country people.
This topic was formed from a lecture discussion where the lecturer asked the question "is Nigeria a failed project?" And it made me wonder, if we had the solutions to our problems why isn't anybody working towards making the country better?
It's no news that the country is getting way worse than it was yesterday, meanwhile people predicted it to be developed not long after it's independence. From the high illiteracy and unemployment rate to the devaluation of our currency, and the continuous corruption in the government sector. When the question was asked, of course, some students agreed that Nigeria is actually a failed project cause of the signs we see everyday. Meanwhile, some said Nigeria isn't a failed project considering the following points:
First of all, projects are of 2 kinds; the short term projects and the long term projects.
Short term projects are known as "Goals", and the way of solving short term problems or meeting a goal is through "Tactics".
Long term projects are known as " Objectives", and solution is through "Strategies".
They argued that it's possible that the solutions to Nigeria's problems are on the long run and are not solutions that'll bring up results today, but the thing is how long is this long term project going to last ?
Secondly, there's something in projects "Goal/Objectives congruence" . This refers to harmonization of goals. It's very possible that everyone is doing their work and is working towards different goals that aren't bringing forth general good fruits but individual selfish based fruits, and this is the number 1 thing you'd see in Nigeria. Hardly would you find someone who wants to work for the people, and also hardly would you find people who are ready to elect and listen to someone who's ready to help them. People have their head elsewhere. Take for example, elections, the general goal is to elect someone who would lead and help push the country upwards, but some people are focused on just getting into power, others are focused on stealing ballot boxes and making quick cash, and many others. So, in order for things to go smoothly while working on goals, one would have to synchronize the focus of everybody's individual want, harmonizing them in order to get general gains.
Thirdly, there may be visions, projects, objectives etc for the country, but poor strategies and tactics are used in meeting them, making it therefore slow, poor and inefficient. Again, I'd like to add that Nigeria may be working on old rules while alot of other countries are working on and implementing new and innovative ideas for their economic development. Take for example, the fact that many countries have accepted Bitcoin and are using it, while a few have even made it their legal tender, taking them further and further into the future. While in our country, only a few have Investments in Bitcoin, only a little above those few own Bitcoins, while after adding a little more percentage of Nigerians, you would now have the number of people that have heard of it. This is quite backwards.
Some of Nigeria's economic plans that may be seen as failed projects include; The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), The National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), The Vision 20:2020.
In conclusion, I'm going to be throwing the question to the public. In your opinion is Nigeria and failed project ? And reasons why you picked yes or no.
Thank you.
No, Nigeria is a failed state yet, a failed state is when none state actors, control the the institutions. Our case is more like civilian rule, that is been masqueraded under the illusion of democracy.
Though some people will hold the argument that we are sliding towards a failed state.
The project called Nigeria, can only make headway, when we begin to build strong institutions, as for now we have people that are stronger than our institutions, and That's not healthy for a country that wants to practice democracy.