TIME AND DEVELOPMENT

Okello Oculi argues that the population strength should be well channelled

Aman of destiny once spoke these words: ‘’The energies of the millions of men in the villages and thousands of women in the towns which are at present wasted in gossip, dancing and drinking, are a great treasure which could contribute more towards the development of our country than anything we could get from rich nations’’. Once when travelling from Zaria to a conference in Port Harcourt, we reached Akwanga Town at 9 a.m. and parked for breakfast in front of a mud-walled and zinc-roofed ‘’International Hotel’’ where white smoke rolled out from under triangles of cooking stones. Stretching our legs, arms, necks and chests we entered expecting being celebrated as the first customers, only to find that veteran devotees had arrive at 5 a.m. ; having left the previous drinking session around 2 a.m. at night. The geography of their faces boasted of puffed reddish eyes and loose skins strained by long companionship with alcohol.

In that land it is the women who go out at dawn to till the soil in a race against bites from a rising, often merciless, tropical sun. And yet, ‘’by virtue of their sex (those women) suffered inequalities which had nothing to do with their contribution to the family welfare’’, we learnt. As we debated the matter raised by those revellers, a wood-bodied truck bulging with baskets full of onions and tomatoes travelling from Katsina for Aba Town, showed out the consoling advice: ‘’WHY WORRY WHEN YOU CAN PRAY’’.

This advice always finds usefulness each time one confronts the tension at petrol stations in Nigeria of a chemistry of mixes between Time, Arithmetic, Petrol and the Wrath of desperate drivers. It is not clear if professors have supervised dissertations by doctoral candidates of Economics on Wasted Brainpower; Mathematics; Cardiac Medicine; Nutritional Value of Petrol Vapour; Demography; Political costs of depletion in Political Legitimacy and Loyalty of citizens, and the Elasticity of Humour and Tolerance in a people once cynically declared by the BBC to be ‘’the happiest people in the world’’.

It is not clear that when budgets are being drafted by officials in ministries of Finance and National Planning this cauldron of chemical ingredients is given due attention and respect. Mathematical calculations of heartbeats roused and depressed spent hourly along petrol queues; economic losses in the depletion of overheated engines, breaks, and tyres in motor vehicles; losses of sleep and brain decay, etc., continue to be neglected by universities and public intellectuals. Listening to interviews on China’s global television network, it is almost certain that some Chinese universities that study African economies have professors of ‘’Time, Petrol Shortage and Delivery’’ in Nigeria.

IN FCT’S AREA 10, THERE IS A SHED HEAVING WITH CREATIVITY. IN PLAZAS; AREA ONE AND AREA TWO, HOWEVER, ABLE-BODIED MALES WASTE AWAY TIME AND PRODUCTIVE WORK WATCHING OVER IMPORTS FROM KOREA, CHINA AND ELSEWHERE

Various scholars of African Culture, Morality and Ethics must have puzzled over the high frequency of petrol scarcity and increases in prices of food and other consumer goods whenever Nigerians are entitled to moments of celebration: including those linked to religious worship. Businessmen and traders who openly order God or Allah to fertilise their businesses with blessings and Divine Grace, easily resort to punishing God’s own children by charging high and extortionist prices as believers rush out to honour their Creator. Some of these business looters probably rush out to America to benefit from reductions of prices of goods during celebrations of nationhood, religious events and changes in climatic seasons in that country.

This is a matter of ‘’national orientation’’ – with ethics and moral values as vital elements in it – which should also concern ministries of Health, Commerce and Tourism because of the mental stress, depletion of purchasing power, time and choices by families and individuals to make purchases and visit unknown parts of Nigeria as holidays treats.

Max Weber noted that religious beliefs about how time and energy were used in Europe for buying tickets to paradise through building capitalist economic prosperity and progress. In contrast, while visiting Ogun Waterside in a study of governance in several states, I met owners of battered taxis huddled together as they waited for passengers who seemed never to use their services; and rows of women seated on stools watching over little biscuit packs and match boxes. No buyers came while I loitered around them. Time was not holding hands with development here.

In Dutse Alhaji on the way to Usman Dam in the FCT, groups of hawkers are mobile shelves for importers. Companies whose goods they shove into faces of potential buyers use them to avoid costs of owning shops and paying Vat tax. In those parts of Abuja where newspapers are hawked by hands as newspaper stands, predominantly young men – women newspaper sellers are rare in Abuja or Nairobi – consume long hours before a random sale is made. Youthful muscle-energy and persuasive talent consume vital time for low yield of development.

In FCT’s Area 10, there is a shed heaving with creativity. In PLAZAs; Area one and Area two, however, able-bodied males waste away TIME and productive work watching over imports from Korea, China and elsewhere. They could be usefully replaced with loan-based Creativity Sheds for textile weavers; wood craftsmen; skilled leather artists; creators of IT products; and food vendors. Energies of youths hawking in sun and rain; OKADA riders and NAPEP drivers will fall to urban rail transport. Work by Nigeria’s population numbers must be rigorously designed and engineered to carry development.