Are we thinking about 2050?

In spring 2009, I completed a two-week internship at the London office of Goldman Sachs. I was one of 8 Nigerian undergraduates who joined students from top universities in Europe on Goldman’s Spring Internship programme.

One day at lunch, during a discussion about graduation plans, someone asked the essence of NYSC: “Why should your country take one year of your life at your prime? What will you do for your country for one year?” I replied, “Teach at a secondary school”.

Cedric, the Swiss marathon runner, was stunned. “Wonderful, your country thinks highly of you! In Switzerland, we serve as museum guards during conscription!” Everyone left lunch thinking Nigeria knew how to treat its young people.

In mid-April 2016, I read harrowing tales from survivors of insurgency in the North. Tears hugged my eyes all day. Seven years on, I still find it difficult to come to terms with the wanton rape, slaughter, death and disaster ravaging northern Nigeria. How did we get here?

Yet, Boko Haram might be the beginning of our troubles

Because in 2050, Nigeria will have a population of 400 million people, or so thinks the United Nations Population Division (UNPD). Yes, 182 million in 2015 and 400 million people in 2050. Struggling to conceive how many that is? Multiply the number of people on your street by two. Twice the number of cars on roads, two times the number of children in dilapidated classrooms. Twice the number of almajiris… Yes, everything na double double!

Unhealthy competition, our lot!

At the heart of Nigeria’s woes is unhealthy competition for political power especially at the centre – because it unlocks access to oil wealth and unprecedented lordship over our collective destinies. 182 million people, organised as three major ethnic groups and 300 others compete for too few rewards. The result is rivalry, nepotism and a zero sum game of national retrogression. Sadly, this game feeds into all spheres of national life. Admission spaces into Kings College, selection of permanent secretaries, that entry level position at the central bank, infrastructural projects to benefit from China’s benevolence.

At a micro level, citizens compete for sustenance. How? During former president Obasanjo’s tenure, power generation reached 4,000 MW. For a population of 100m people, that worked out to 40W/person. Under President Jonathan, we celebrated a Power Sector Roadmap and again hit 4,000MW. With 182 million people, that comes to 22W/person. Please define retrogression!

How do we put this great country on the path of the future it deserves?

But first, where are we headed as a country? First, we need to decide what we want to be. And clearly communicate the vision before we set about building. So anew, we need to ask what the end-game is. What is the future we see as a country? What is our global advantage, contribution, identity?

Are we trying to supply the world’s need of hide or leather, electric or completely knocked down cars, entertainment, robots or people? Will Nigeria become a manufacturing hub, an entertainment capital, a trade centre, a consumers’ market, a tourist attraction or an energy giant?

What infrastructure?

Because this determines the infrastructure we will build, or prioritise. Should we develop infrastructure around agriculture, manufacturing or banking? Will all roads lead to the ports, as with our colonial masters? Are we going to learn from Kenya and take bandwidth from submarine cables at the coast to the fringes of our territory? Should we localise gas and power plants around manufacturing hubs or build knowledge capital to solve the world’s needs of talent?

Strengthen the law

Are we ready to set up the governance sub-structure on which everything sane and sound rests? Central to any form of development is the supremacy of the law which is encapsulated in the enduring value of common good, the sanctity of contracts and the triumph of institutions. The law (and the institutions that serve it) is any society’s strongest security. It must always hold supreme.

Educate for development

I believe government will not need to bother about creating jobs when there is a functional educational system. Government creates an enabling system, opportunity creates jobs. And a good educational system creates solutions for society, be it industrial or social. Nigeria needs problem solvers across industry, education, governance, social order, everywhere. So, let’s teach math. STEM. Philosophy. Ethics. Life. Our proud culture.

Leverage the Nigerian Diaspora

I strongly believe that we need to tap deeper into the Diaspora. Nigeria’s accomplished Diaspora must offer more than remittances, which by the way have been invaluable. I consider Nigerians in the Diaspora strategic national assets. We have loaned them to the world. It is time to have them work for Nigeria. We cannot solve all our problems in one generation. Heck, we cannot solve all our problems! But we must solve our biggest problems; those that inhibit every Nigerian from living their lives to the peak of their powers.

I always dream of a reunion of the 2009 Goldman Spring interns sometime in 2052. The discussion is centred on entrepreneurship. Nadine, the shy Iranian says incredulously: “Can you imagine, Nigerian youth created the most number of $1bn-revenue companies in the last 30 years?” Everyone is astonished. Cedric shrugs: “what do you expect when a country entrusts great things to its young people?”

Babatunde Oladosu