Omolewa...
On Nigeria’s Failed Development Plans, Visions
We are now in year 2020 when lofty goals of some national development plans such as Vision 20: 2020 designed in 2009 ought to have been realised. What is your assessment of Nigeria’s development plans and visions since colonial era?
Generally, development plan is basic and essential to a healthy development of a nation as it helps to generate massive awareness about various areas that require important intervention for the nation to remain solid politically, socially and economically. Nigeria’s earliest development plan was launched by the British colonial government towards the end of the Second World War and the period of decolonization in the country when people were expecting significant changes in governance as well as in political, economic and social development of the country. The colonial government responded to the yearnings of the people by crafting the Ten-year- Development and Welfare plan and subsequently enacting the Colonial Development and Welfare Act. This initiative led to the provision of the colonial development and welfare fund with which to fund the implementation of the plan. It was the plan that gave birth to the establishment of the University College Ibadan as the first university in Nigeria. It also led to the introduction of a bold mass literacy campaign spread throughout all the parts of the country. The plan was a very elaborate one that was expected to lead to economic and social development to facilitate general welfare of the citizenry. The plan from 1945 was being implemented religiously until Nigeria became independent in 1960. The national government of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa decided to continue with the tradition of having development plans and introduced the first national plan from 1962 to 1968. The second national development plan, 1970 to 1974, was introduced immediately after the civil war under Gen. Gowon (retrd) and was proposed to address the issues and challenges that led to the Nigerian civil war of 1967 to 1970. Thus, the plan pledged to build a united, strong and self-reliant nation, a just and egalitarian society, and a free and democratic society. Thereafter, the third national development plan, 1975 to 1980 was launched while the country was largely still under the military rule. The restoration of democracy in 1979 with Alhaji Shehu Shagari as the President brought about the fourth development plan, 1980 to 1985. As a civilian government,
T. HE GREAT HISTORIAN, Diplomat, Educationist and National Development Advocate, Emeritus Professor Michael Abiola Omolewa interrogates Nigeria’s development plans since colonial era till date marshalling the need to mobilise all and sundry towards the realisation of the lofty goals encapsulated in those plans, as Nigerians remain hopeful and optimistic in the New Year the Shagari era was interested in ensuring that people were mobilized to support not only the programmes mapped out by the government, but also the programmes of his (Shagari) political party – National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
The plan had a massive education programme including the launch of the Open University system as well the re-introduction of the aborted Mass Education campaign. The fifth plan ran from 1985 to 1990.
It is interesting to note that the word Vision seemed to have replaced the Plan. But basically the plan and the vision were aimed at addressing the need of the people. Thus, there was Vision 2010 during the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha. The focus was that by 2010, there was going to be measurable and qualitative development. To realise this, a committee was empanelled in September 1996 to drive the vision. One of the major terms of reference for the committee was to determine why many years of political independent did not translate to consistent progress in all aspects of national development. Besides, the committee was charged to design a plan of action as well as timeframe for the realisation of a rapid and accelerated development of the country. The target was to build Nigerian citizen that was sufficiently knowledgeable, respectable and committed to the development of Nigeria. That was why the Vision 2010 was made up of people of 248 “sages” of diverse backgrounds and experiences in public and private sectors. There were technical sub-committees and working groups to galvanize the entire nation. At dawn of new millennium in year 2000, Nigeria and South Africa spearheaded the introduction of a continental development plan tagged the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) with its Nigerian variant, National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) before the introduction of Vision 20:2020 in 2009 during the administration of the late Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’adua. The Vision had the President as the Chairman of the committee in response to the complaint that the previous plans lacked political will to drive the process to logical conclusion. Members were also drawn from the National Planning Commission and several technical working groups were established including the Economic Management Team. It was an all-encompassing team including implementation guidelines, monitoring and evaluation strategies. It was a deliberate act to involve the private sector fully with the creation of the Business Support Group initiated by the National Steering Committee for the Vision 20:2020. This was to ensure that private sector helped to mobilize resources needed to translate the vision to reality.
Really, Nigeria has not done badly in the area of having development plans or vision. It appeared that the nation was aware of the saying that any nation without a vision can’t make much progress. Even in personal life, if you don’t have a plan, you will not know how to mobilize yourself in the right direction.
But why have the gains of these development plans/visions been elusive with little or nothing to show for the huge resources – human and material - expended in designing them? Does it have to do with the implementation strategies?
Implementation strategy has always been clearly defined in the plans and the vision. Indeed, plans of action and the timeframe were built in each of the plans and vision. I think one major problem that I have noticed from my historical analysis is that funding factor has been a dominant determinant of success or lack of it. During the Colonial Development and Welfare Plan, there was a specific amount of money that was set aside to assist with the implementation of the plan. For example, there was a dedicated fund for mass education. That financial provision helped government to employ competent and knowledgeable personnel who were committed to accomplish the goal listed in the Plan. In the North, people who were already familiar with Gaskiya tafi kobo movement such as Mallam Coomasie were invited to coordinate the work. In the West, Josiah Soyemi Ogunlesi; and in the East, Nathaniel Ejiogu were brought in as mass education officers. Major Arthur John Carpenter, a retired British military officer and education officer was invited to serve as the Mass Education Officer to coordinate the work at the federal level. Funds were voted to take care of advocacy, publicity, documentation, dailies (newspapers), and training of experts who later handled specific tasks towards the realisation of the overall objective of the plan. Now, if you have a development plan that is not marched by the necessary funding, there is going to be a ‘disconnect’ as the plan will be there without an effective funding base. Such a situation will leave the Plan floating! So, every plan or vision must always be accompanied by a very effective and efficient funding.
For instance, the Ministerial Education Strategic Plan which was developed recently, proposed a mass education programme that would cover the entire country. To that end, the government appointed an expert in mass education as Executive Secretary to oversee the entire process. The unavailability of funding has made it impossible to execute the laudable initiative proposed in the Plan. To achieve the goal of mass education, huge amount of money will be required in mobilization, material preparation, advocacy, monitoring, teaching, developing appropriate curriculum, sensitization of learners and the general populace.
How do we mobilise money in view of other compelling
issues of national importance?
Adequate funds can be mobilized by making sure that all the stakeholders make a contribution. A former Minister of Education once encouraged the use of the Each One Teach One method of getting the literate population to at least each one other person. The nation did not seem ready for that approach and the initiative was allowed to die. People must be encouraged to make a contribution. This is because it seems that anything that is free is not usually appreciated. Parents, workers, managers of industries, organized private sector, development agencies should be made to invest in mass education as this will lead to massive public enlightenment which will later impact on anti-social behavior. There will be programmes that will be addressing those circumstances and situations. Reading culture will improve, political education and awareness will increase as discussion, conversation, open forum and public engagements will reduce cases of violence and hooliganism that have characterized our political life over the years. Therefore, peace and stability will reign in the country.
What is your impression of the strategic plans targeted at the education since year 2000 for instance, when the Education for All was launched?
My observation is that the education sector has not fared fairly well even right from the time of the colonial period.
For instance, the accommodation that was provided for the mass education officer was nothing to write home about. Ogunlesi, for instance, was not allowed to stay in the central education ministry; as a result, the energy that was released by Ogunlesi was not marched by the expectation at the ministry itself. Also, there was the debate about whether those who were mass education facilitators should be paid officers or described as volunteers without receiving any payment for services rendered. It became clear that people were prepared to volunteer their time but not the wages and nobody was ready to do voluntary job. Mass education benefited considerably from the changes in orientation following the attainment of Independence. For example, it was discovered that a lot of money was invested in the universal primary education programmes in some regions. The idea was that once the people were literate right from the beginning, it was possible to sustain their interest at the post-primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Yet much more support was still needed to assist people embrace the concept of continuing education which would have made workers and the general populace embark on continuing education development such as attending conferences and seminars. There is also the important issue generated by the absence of continuity in the design and implementation of plans. It has been movement without growth as far as our development plans, visions are concerned.
In what way has the intervention by development agencies such as UNESCO that you served as the 32nd President of its General Conference (2003 to 2005) helped to power the realisation of these plans, especially as regards education?
The UN working through its specialized agencies such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) made it its duty right from its inception to empower all the countries to ensure that every person had access to education and appropriately educated through the right curriculum. UNESCO also has the mandate to ensure that each nation adopts the policy of sustainable development in education, and makes education and learning lifelong. In other words, once you start from the cradle to the tertiary education, you don’t end your education just like that. Rather, you broaden your scope of education so that you are able to develop skills and attitudes that would improve the individual as well as the general society. For instance, you must be encouraged to use your hand, heart and head, the 3Hs, and diversify your educational interest. A historian should acquire some training in political literacy and be involved in the political process, and be able to know what to vote for, who to vote for and how to vote. The historian also requires some knowledge of economic literacy, so that he does not have to depend on the salary but can also use the various skills and talents to make sure that he or she rises above poverty. Then you can move on to professional literacy. For instance, in medicine, the doctors need to continue training, get a new method of treatment. After this, there is need for social literacy, this will make one to be socially correct, they avoid anti-social behaviours because they know that it is not in the interest of the nation or the individual. Finally, the UN through UNESCO ensures that regularly, professionals, for example, in the field of Mathematics education meet from time to time to review progress in that area. UNESCO brought in experts as far back as 1949 that met in Denmark to explore strategies for an improved performance in mass education. The meeting shifted in 1960 to Canada. UNESCO further convened a meeting of the mass education experts and specialists who met in Tokyo in 1972, in Paris in 1980, in Hamburg in 1997 and in Brazil in 2009. In each of all these conferences, all the countries come together to report their progress in adult education, mathematics education, and in lifelong learning. So, the United Nations also sent its result and recommendation to each country for funding. It is when everybody is involved in development process that the nation can attract the talents and skills that are given to each person as a contribution to national development.
You have talked about the colonial and military era, but thank God in the last 20 years we have been operating under democracy, yet in the area of UNESCO recommendation especially budgeting for education, it has been a conflicting conversation among stakeholders, that virtually most governments don’t respect the recommendation, saying it is not a law. How do you think we can move beyond this conversation, and begin to face the reality?
The funding of education is a product of what is available on the ground in every nation. If a nation has only N10, and you need N20, no matter the recommendation, it is the N10 that would be distributed. So, what is in the best interest of everybody is to make sure that the nation’s economy is healthy. In other words, the available resources will have to take care of the health sector as well as the education sector, provide adequate security and uninterrupted electricity. Vision 2010 expected that Nigeria at 50 years would arrive and be counted as a free and powerful nation. And then, vision 2020 expected that by 2020 Nigeria would be one of the 20 largest economies in the world. Once Nigeria becomes one of the 20 largest economies, it means that the country would be operating like First world countries such as Singapore and the United States and that many of the challenges of the country would be solved. The economy will thus be able to take care of all the challenges. Related to that is the fact that once the economy is solid, and you are now able to get this education on proper footing, you will be able to have knowledgeable, efficient and dynamic people who will be able to offer leadership, not only at the national level but also at the international level. Vision 2020 states that Nigeria should be able by 2020 to consolidate its leadership role in Africa and establish itself as a significant player in the global economic and political spheres. It means there will be food security, adequate security for the people and the welfare of the people will be taken care of. Therefore, whatever the recommendation that is given to the nation, what is important and imperative is a strong economy and a strong desire to make sure that that economy is able to fund the human resources and manpower development requirements of the nation.
“Vision 2010 expected that Nigeria at 50 years would have arrived and be counted as a free and powerful nation. And then, Vision 20: 2020 expected that by 2020 Nigeria would be one of the 20 largest economies in the world. Once Nigeria becomes one of the 20 largest economies, it means that the country would be operating like First world countries such as Singapore and the United States and that many of the challenges of the country would be solved. The economy will thus be able to take care of all the challenges. Vision 2020 states that Nigeria should be able by 2020 to consolidate its leadership role in Africa and establish itself as a significant player in the global economic and political spheres. It means there will be food security, adequate ” security for the people and the welfare of the people will be taken care of