Systematic Revitalization of The Nigerian Economy for Sustainable Development and

National Stability: The Multidimensional Roles of Academics and Professionals

By

Dr. J. S. Oke mni

Lead Paper Presented at the 2nd International Conference on Business, Administration and Communication
held at Federal Polytechnic Ede Osun State Nigeria on 19th September 2023
 Abstract

This paper outlines Nigeria’s journey in development planning and discusses the concept of sustainable

development. Several challenges facing Nigeria in her quest for sustainable development were also highlighted.

Prominent among these are growing poverty levels, problem of access to quality education, huge resource

wastages and massive environmental degradation, despite decades of planning and public investment.

Academics and professionals, as major stakeholders in the development ecosystem, have roles to play in the

revitalization of the economy to achieve sustainable development. It recommends, among others, that

academics need to be more active and relevant in the nation’s research system and policy space. Professionals

also need to uphold high ethical standards in their training programmes and professional practice.
Introduction

Nigeria has a population of about 223.5 million people with an average annual growth rate of 2.42% in the last

three years (Macrotrends, 2023). This is projected to hit 400 million by 2050 to become the 3 rd most populous

country in the world behind India and China. The country is endowed with abundance of resources which could

be used for the development of the country and the citizenry. The productive oil and gas industry, located

largely in the southern part of the country, accounted for 6.33% of GDP by the 2 nd quarter of 2023 (Statista,

2023). The sector is also expected to contribute 21% of the projected revenues in the 2023 budget of the Federal

Government (Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, 2023). According to World Trading

Economics (2023) and OPEC (2023) Nigeria ranked as the highest oil producing country in Africa, 6 th in OPEC

and 15th in the world as of May 2023 with a production of 1.184 bpd.

Nigeria is also richly endowed with 44 types of solid minerals available in commercial quantities all of which

can find industrial use (NEITI, 2020). The enormous agricultural potentials (76.25% arable land, 267 billion

cubic meters of fresh surface water among others) are more than sufficient to drive the manufacturing sector,

trade, and investment.

Development Strides from 1946 to date

Development planning in Nigeria can be traced to the colonial administration when the colonial

government introduced the “Ten Year Plan of Development and Welfare for Nigeria” in 1946. As observed by

Ayo (1988), the plan focused on building a transport and communication system, while little provision was

made for industrial development. It can therefore be inferred that the colonial development plan favoured the

colonial masters at the detriment of the colony. However, the plan was prematurely terminated because of the

rapid structural changes and the introduction of the federal system of government in 1954.

The era of Fixed Medium-Term Plans which started in 1962 witnessed the launching of four

comprehensive development plans: The First National Development Plan (1962-1968), The Second National
Development Plan (1970-1974), the Third National Development Plan (1975-1980) and the Fourth National

Development Plan (1981-1985).

During the first National Development Plan, several important achievements were recorded, such as the

establishment of the first-generation Universities and the execution of such projects as oil refinery in Port

Harcourt, the Niger Dam Kanji and the Niger Bridge, amongst others. The Second Development Plan which

was initiated by the General Yakubu Gowon government shortly after the civil war, focused on rebuilding the

nation, fostering socio-economic development and national unity. The Third Plan witnessed massive public

sector investments and was set out to reduce the level of unemployment, increase per capital income, diversify

the economy, ensure more equitable distribution of income and the indigenisation of economic activities. The

sudden change in government in 1975 inhibited the implementation of the Plan. The Fourth National

Development Plan initiated by the government of President Shehu Shagari in 1981 was intended to further the

process of establishing a solid base for the long-term economic and social development of Nigeria. However,

the political instability and abrupt change in government frustrated the implementation of the plan. (Ogunjimi,

1997).

At the end of the four planning circles, the foundation for sustainable growth and development was yet

to be laid. The productive base of the economy and sources of government revenue were yet to be diversified,

while the economy did not have its own driving force and was therefore highly susceptible to external shocks

(Okojie, 2002).

Consequent upon the setbacks experienced in the implementation of the first four National Development

Plans, Nigeria incurred huge economic deficits and needed desperate measures to salvage the situation. This led

to the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) under the Babangida administration in 1986.

The Babangida administration introduced a three-year rolling plan, a 12-to-20-year perspective plan and the

normal operational annual budgets, which were to run simultaneously.

The new democratic dispensation which began in 1999 brought in a new economic planning direction

which encompassed the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), for the period
(2003 to 2007). With the handover to another civilian administration in 2007, NEEDS-1 and NEEDS-2 were

harmonised to give birth to “The Seven Point Agenda”.

The journey continued with Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020 which was launched in September 2009 by late

President Umar Yar’Adua. This was an articulation of the long-term intents to launch Nigeria on a path of

sustained social and economic progress and accelerate the emergence of a truly prosperous and united Nigeria,

with an aspiration to place Nigeria amongst the first 20 economies of the world by the year 2020 in terms of

GDP size. The blueprint was an expression of Nigeria’s intent to improve the living standards of her citizens,

with a minimum GDP of $900 billion and a per capita income of no less than $4000 per annum. Fundamental to

the Vision are two broad objectives – optimising human and natural resources to achieve rapid economic

growth and translating that growth into equitable social development for all citizens. The Transformation

Agenda, introduced as a new face of Vision 20:2020 was a medium-term development strategy to hasten

Nigeria’s march towards becoming one of the twenty largest economies by the year 2020. It was a framework

for the actualisation of the Federal Government’s economic growth agenda between 2011 and 2015. (NPC,

2013).

The Federal Government, in 2016, also launched the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017 -2020

(ERGP) as a medium-term economic framework to stimulate the recessive economy back to sustainable growth

and development. This plan essentially introduced reforms in transport and power infrastructure, business

environment and education investment.

Despite the nation’s huge endowments and the long history of planning, there is no doubt that these

efforts have not yielded the desired development. Among the several reasons averred for this are lack of clear

vision, lack of committed leadership, lack of capacity for implementation, adoption of Western models, non-

involvement of professionals, poor co-ordination among government agencies, lack of political will and

unreliable planning data as submitted by Ake (1996), Ejumudo (2013) and Uche (2019).

Concept of Sustainable Development

 There has been a heightened global interest and discussion about sustainable development since the

World Commission on Environment and Development published her report on ‘our common future’. The

report took a wide-lens view of the challenges of sustainable development in terms of technology and social

organisation, the affluent and the poor, equity in resource utilisation and the evolution of appropriate political

systems. Several commentaries have evolved since then. Karpagam (2014) citing Barber defines sustainable

development as ‘one which is directly concerned with increasing the natural standard of living of the poor at the

grassroot level which could be quantitatively measured in terms of increased food, real income, educational

services, health care, sanitation, water supply among others’. Thus, sustainable development can be

decomposed into economic, social, and environmental components. According to Hanley et el (2013),

sustainability in development ultimately requires that ‘the average quality of life be spread equitably within the

present generation (intra -generational) and between the present and future generations (inter-generational)’.

To harmonise global efforts at sustainable development, The United Nations (UN) in 2015 formulated

the Sustainable Development Agenda as a global development framework. At the heart of this agenda are

seventeen goals put together as The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Fig. 1). These goals were crafted

as a ‘shared blueprint for peace, prosperity for people and the planet, now and unto the future’. This agenda also

defines sustainable development as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the

ability of the future generations to meet their own needs’ (UN, 2015).

Fig. 1 Source: UN (2015)

The agenda has three broad focal areas, and these are economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental

protection. To monitor the extent of achievement of these goals by member nations, the United Nations set up
performance benchmarks for their policies and programmes. According to the Sustainable Development Goals

Report of 2023, policies and programmes for achieving these goals in each country need to be ‘supported by

strengthened national institutions, greater accountability, effective regulatory frameworks and stronger digital

infrastructure’.

Sustainable Development in Nigeria

There is now a growing awareness that development is not just about national economic output. A

consideration of several other dimensions has evolved development indices such as quality of life index, human

development index, gender-related development index, social development index, human poverty index among

others. A further broadening of this global multi-disciplinary effort in development discourse has brought

sustainable development to the fore. The focus now is on the economic, social, and environmental sustainability

of developmental efforts. For Nigeria, attaining sustainable development has been a herculean task based on her

inability to improve the quality of lives of citizens and the perennial inefficiencies in resource management.

. Despite the abundant human and material assets, Nigeria’s development indices and quality of life

indices are not inspiring. According to UNDP (2022), Nigeria’s 2022 Human Development Index stood at 0.535

and ranked 163 out of 191 countries. This is a measure of the richness of human life rather than the richness of

the economy they live in. The Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is 0.257 with 63% of persons living in

Nigeria (133 million people) being multidimensionally poor (NBS, 2022). There are also wide spatial poverty

inequalities between rural and urban dwellers as well as between the north and the south. In a poverty

assessment report, World Bank (2022a) reveals that Nigeria was the largest contributor to poverty in Sub-

Saharan Africa (the poorest region in the world) in 2018 harbouring 18.5 % of people living on less than $2.00

per day.

Life expectancy at birth was 62.6 years in 2020 (61.2 for males and 64.1 for females). Literacy rate

among Nigerians aged 15 years and above was estimated to be 71% in 2018 (World Bank, 2022b). This

compares poorly with Ghana’s 84%, Cote d’Ivoire’s 93%, Kenya’s 85%, and South Africa’s 96%. It is also
reported that one of every five of the world’s out of school children is in Nigeria. Transparency International

ranks Nigeria 150th most corrupt nation out of 180 countries (TI, 2022). The state of the nation is also reflected

in the poor state of infrastructure and serious security challenges. These and other problems have over the years

stunted Nigeria’s overall national development and consequently impacted negatively on the country’s socio-

political stability.

The exploitation of the nation’s natural resources for decades has also resulted in a lot of environmental

devastation. The environmental degradation of the oil producing areas of Nigeria are largely through the

consistent flow of industrial wastes, oil spills, gas flares, fire disasters, and acid rains. All these have led to the

massive destruction of aqua culture, pollution of farmlands, loss of human lives and properties, loss of means of

livelihood and agitations for resource control (Fig. 2). The devastation is so acute that the United Nation

Environmental Programme after an evaluation submitted that the cleaning up of the Nigerian oil pollution

would cost billions of dollars and over a period of 30years (UNEP, 2011)

Fig. 2 Niger Delta Oil Pollution

Artisanal mining activities in some parts of the country has also led to land degradation, loss of farmlands,

pollution of soil and water as well as heightened security challenges (Fig. 3)

 Fig. 3 Artisanal Mining Site

Capital accumulation, according to Szirmai (2008), constitutes an essential ingredient of every

successful development strategy. In Nigeria, the incessant cases of collapsed buildings have further dented her

sustainable development scorecard. The Punch Newspapers on the 10 th of May 2023 reported that in 2022 alone,

there were 62 building collapses with 84 deaths. In fact, Odeyemi et al (2019) in a study also reported that

between 2009 and 2019, 56 cases resulting in 222 deaths were recorded.

The scorecard for Nigeria’s level of sustainable development is certainly not impressive. Sachs et al

(2023) in an assessment reported recently ranked Nigeria 146 th out of 166 countries in overall performance. In

the same report, major challenges still exist in 13 out of the 17 thematic areas while progress has stagnated in 11

areas.

Role for Academics and Professionals

Since the advent of knowledge economies on the global stage, academic and research institutions have

evolved as key players in the growth and development of nations. They have emerged as centres of knowledge

generation through their research and development (R&D) activities and agents of knowledge diffusion to

industry and government. The academic/research institutions, businesses/industry, and government, therefore,

constitute the Triple Helix in a National Innovation System that facilitates growth and development (Leydesdoff

and Zawdie, 2010). At the centre of this system are strong engagements among these three components by way

of regular interactions and collaboration. As the interactions and collaborations become more intense, the Triple

Helix model transforms from type A (Fig. 4) to type B (Fig. 5).

 Fig. 4 Triple Helix Model A Fig. 5 Triple Helix Model B
Academics and researchers play key roles in entrenching a systemic national development process by

their research activities and engagement with businesses/industry and agents of government. This is what drives

knowledge economies serving also as a foundation for the growth and development of national economies.

According to (NUC, 2023), there 259 universities (Federal – 51, State – 61, Private -147). There are also

173 polytechnics, 40 of which are federally owned, 49 state-owned and 84 are privately operated (NBTE,

2023). Additionally, there about 75 research institutes all funded by the Federal Government (Fatherprada,

2023). These research institutions have their mandate areas covering all sectors of the economy: agriculture,

health, economy, energy, industry, engineering, infrastructure and many more. Though academics/researchers

in all these institutions focus primarily on teaching, research and community service, their contribution to

knowledge generation and diffusion is largely measured by their published research outputs, conference paper

presentations, books publications, designs, and fabrications. While it is expected that the research activities of

academics would positively impact on economic growth and development, it is observed that in most cases they

are aimed at earning promotion. In fact, Duze (2011) concluded that ‘the publish or perish syndrome in

academic and research institutions compels researchers to conduct research on issues that are most convenient

but not necessarily relevant to national development’. It must be acknowledged, however, that academics face

challenges in form of inadequate funding, poorly equipped laboratories/workshop and poor infrastructure.

Academics, through teaching and/or instructional activities, are able to build capacity in diverse

disciplines that are needed for the nation’s economic growth and development and the professionals so trained

are employed in different sectors of the economy. Growth sectors of the economy like telecommunications,

ICT, tourism, oil and gas are populated by highly skilled workforce trained by academics in universities and

polytechnics. The recent introduction of entrepreneurship education into the curriculum has produced

entrepreneurs who drive micro, small and medium scale enterprises. For most economies, these enterprises are

the engine of growth and development.

 Professionals are found across all sectors of the economy. As an extension of their practice, they are

often involved in the implementation of government policies and programmes geared towards national

development. This applies to accountants, bankers, engineers, builders, architects, and several others. In most

cases, the quality of delivery that determines whether programmes and projects goals are achieved depends on

the conduct of these professionals. Even as consultants, their codes of practice demand specific responsibilities

in the performance of their duties. For example, government relies heavily on engineers and other professionals

in the built environment for the delivery of key projects that involve developing infrastructure in transportation,

housing, health, education, telecommunications, and other sectors of the economy. All these are crucial in

combating poverty, improving the quality of life, providing greater access to education and meeting other SDG

goals.

As part of their extension services, professionals are also involved in the training programmes of

academic institutions to the extent of making inputs into the curricula of several academic programmes. For

example, the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAN) through her Academic Committee enriches the contents

of Accountancy programmes in universities and polytechnics to meet the required professional standards.

Professionals in virtually all fields are also involved in the accreditation exercises of such programmes. In

addition, all professional bodies on a regular basis organize mandatory continuing professional development

(MCPD) programmes for members to upskill and recertify them for practice. This is an important contribution

to the nation’s human capacity building effort.

Conclusion
Several decades of development planning in Nigeria and the adoption of global development agenda at

different times have not resulted in the expected level of sustainable development. Despite huge resources

committed to all these efforts and substantial support from development partners, poverty levels are intolerably

high, youth unemployment is scaring, access to quality education is still a challenge while resource exploitation

has resulted in near irrecoverable environmental degradation.

 Academics and professionals in Nigeria have key roles to play in the process of reversing this trend. The

‘teaching, research and community service’ mandate of our academic institutions provide a veritable platform to

broaden and deepen their research activities and make them more relevant in revamping the economy as well as

address the challenges of sustainable development. Professionals in all sectors of the economy also need adopt

best of professional practices as the get involved in the planning, development and implementation of policies

and programmes geared towards the sustainable development of Nigeria.

Recommendations and Implementation Strategies

To enhance the roles of academics and professionals in revitalizing the Nigerian economy for sustainable

development and national stability, the following actions are recommended.

a) Academics need to organize their research activities around issues that contribute directly to economic

growth and sustainable development. To achieve this, academic institutions may set up short-term,

medium-term, and long-term research agenda and recognize/reward academics (through promotion and

funding) whose research focus and outputs fall within such agenda.

b) Academics need to intensify their research collaboration with businesses and industry to facilitate

knowledge sharing between producers and users. This can be achieved by broadening participation in

conferences, workshops, and seminars to include researchers from research institutes, business

operators, industrialists, and relevant agencies of government.

c) Academics and professionals need to be more involved in the process of policy development,

programme planning and monitoring and evaluation (M & E) during implementation. To achieve this,

government needs to hold wider consultations with key holders (including academics and professionals

in the process of policy development and program design. Accomplished and reputable academics and

professionals may also be engaged as technical advisers or consultants in key ministries, departments,

and agencies.
 d) Professionals need to ensure that members maintain high ethical standards in their practice. This can be

achieved by deepening the ethical component of their training for members and imposing heavy

sanctions on erring members.

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