How secure is our future?

We seem to have a promising future in Nigeria. After all, we are bursting with potential, given the developments coming up every day, and diversification of our economy (with emerging sectors such as media, entertainment and education), despite the recent slips into recession and the crises over crude oil prices and foreign exchange.

Even with the frustration over the tough business climate in the country, we somehow continuously strive to push through and hustle our way out.

A brighter future might be a safe assumption to hold. Maybe this is a prayer, or maybe some people are just so caught up with the fast-paced present (because really, it is a tough one to survive), we haven’t had the time to give enough thought to the future.

While it is also tempting to focus on economic drivers such as Gross Domestic Product, Foreign Direct Investment and the strength of our currency to determine the health of our nation, we should not forget about some of the social development factors which would inevitably determine the conditions of our living environment in the future.

We have an indisputably growing population in Nigeria: according to the National Population Commission, we are predicted to hit 223million by 2020 and according to the United Nations, about 400million by 2050; surpassing the United States and making us the third most populous country in the world. Imagine what our population density will look like given that we are equivalent in terms of landmass to the size of Texas, which is one out of the 52 United States.

We have quite a large active population: the proportion of the population that constitutes the labour force (age 15 – 64) accounts for 55 percent, while children between the ages of 0 and 14 years (our future labour force) make up 42 percent. That’s quite a young population, compared to most western European countries, such as the United Kingdom, which have aging populations and growing concerns over the availability of a workforce in their future.

Given these, we should be concerned about what it’s going to be like to live in a densely populated country. But that’s almost inevitable as population growth is here to stay, unless our government takes a note from China and imposes regulation to restrict the number of children per family. So we have to manage ourselves somehow and control what is within our reach right now.

We have a large active population now and in the future. Great! We should be able to work with this and start to prepare towards the future now. Did you know that 38 percent of children in the country are out of school (UNICEF)? This is 38 percent of the 42 percent or 22million children!

For those who are in school, the quality of their education is somewhat questionable. If a study carried out by the Education Rights Campaign revealed that 7 out of 19,125 teachers passed a literacy benchmark, should we not be concerned?

Furthermore, recent studies continue to reveal that the quality of teachers is actually a dire problem in Nigeria, as 60 percent of the children in school are actually not even learning. Another study carried out by the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) in Kwara State further revealed that there was little disparity between the teachers who had graduated from teacher training colleges and universities and those who hadn’t.

So this raises the question, “What is going on at the teacher training colleges and other institutions?”  What is going to happen to our children in the future if they are not educated now? Are we going to live in a safe and effective society?

If you were not concerned about this before, you should be now. If you didn’t think that this could affect you, you should start rethink? If children are not educated and mentored properly now, what will they aspire to in the future? What will crime look like in the future if we are already struggling with theft and kidnapping now? Do you think this will, even the slightest bit, escalate if, when you interview some children at various communities and ask them what they want to be when they grow up, they proudly say “Area Boy”?

So what can we do? We cannot rely on the government alone to solve this problem. As patriotic Nigerians, we all have a role to play. No matter how little it may seem, mentoring one child in a disadvantaged community could go a long way; volunteering time at organisations such as Teach for Nigeria could make that difference in the education of the children now, which would yield some benefits in our future. We all have a role to play now that will influence our future!

 

Oyin Egbeyemi

Oyin Egbeyemi is an executive administrator at The Foreshore School, Ikoyi, Lagos.