It is the tradition of the Economic Intelligence Unit of the weekly British Magazine, The Economist, to make a global survey of values of life in countries. A month ago, the unit published the result of its survey for the year 2013 in 80 countries.
According to the survey, despite global economic crises, times have in certain respects, never been good, owing to decline in output growth rate.
On page 85 of The World in 2013, printed by The Economist, Nigeria is listed as the worst place for a baby to be born in 2013.
It was an article written by Leza Kekic on the verdict of the Economic Intelligence Unit. It earnestly attempts to measure which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe, and prosperous life in the years ahead.
According to the survey, Switzerland is the best country to be born in 2013, followed by Australia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Singapore, New Zealand, The Netherland, Canada, Hong Kong, Finland, Ireland, Australia, Taiwan, Belgium, Germany and the United States of America.
South Africa is ahead of Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, Morocco and Jordan, while Nigeria is below Kenya, Pakistan and even Syria, which is at present at war.
"Its quality-of-life index links the results of subjective life-satisfaction surveys — how happy people say they are — to objective determinants of the quality of life across countries. Being rich helps more than anything else, but it is not all that counts; things like crime, trust in public institutions and the health of family life matter too. In all, the index takes 11 statistical significant indicators into account. They are a mixed bunch: some are fixed factors, such as geography; others change only very slowly over time (demography, many social and cultural characteristics); and some factors depend on policies and state of the world economy.
"A forward-looking element comes into play, too. "Although many of the drivers of the quality of life are slow-changing, for this ranking some variables, like income per head, need to be forecast. We use the EIU'S economic forecast to 2030, which is roughly when children born in 2013 will reach adulthood", Kekic declared.
By coincidence, the same magazine on page 81, published the Economic predictions of Nigeria's Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Africa, Nigeria included.
In the article titled, 'Emerging from the frontier', Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria, Ethiopia and Angola will have a robust economy in 2013.
She used all the economic jargon, typical of World Bank officials, which had never worked so far, to project Nigeria's economic future in 2013.
Reading the two articles, I got addled and befuddled on who is credible and plausible.
If Okonjo-Iweala, whom we regard as our economic miracle woman here, could be so precise in her prediction, how come The Economist, was able to regard Nigeria as the worst place to be born in 2013? If she cannot convince The Economist, how can she convince us all here?
Anyway, time will tell whether Okonjo-Iweala's projection is a mere fantasy or day-dream typical of her or whether the findings of The Economist Intelligence Unit could be precise and exact. As they say, NAPOLEON IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
But morning shows the day. No American President has cared and loved Nigeria more than Bill Clinton. In and out of office, he has visited Nigeria several times.
In his 953 page book titled, 'My Life' which he wrote in 2004 after he left office, he revealed his hope for Nigeria while in power.
On page 856 of that book, he wrote, "I got up at four in the morning to watch the inaugural ceremonies for Nigeria's new president, former General Olusegun Obasanjo, on TV. Ever since gaining independence, Nigeria had been riddled by corruption, regional and religious strife, and deteriorating social conditions. Despite its large oil production, the country suffered periodic power outages and fuel shortages. Obasanjo had taken power briefly in a military coup in the 1970s, then had kept his promise to step aside as soon as new elections could be held. Later, he had been imprisoned for his political views and, while incarcerated, had become a devout Christian and had written books about his faith. It was hard to imagine a bright future or sub-Saharan Africa without a more successful Nigeria, by far its most populous nation. After listening to his compelling inaugural address, I hoped Obasanjo would be able to succeed where others had failed".
That was vintage Clinton on Nigeria in 2004. Has there been any improvement so far? We are now in 2013, a fresh year and the year should offer us new opportunities and new challenges. Certainly, 2013 should be a judgment year for Nigeria so as to avoid jumble and clutter in this country. Things cannot go on as they are now.
Our situation is near lamentable and our plight and agony were even mentioned by the Pope in his last Christmas message.
My hope for Nigeria is the same hope you have for Nigeria too.
May 2013 bring new light into our dark chambers of pessimism.
May 2013 lift us from the mid-night of desperation to the day break of joy.
May 2013 lead us through life's dark valleys into sunlit pathways of hope and fulfilment.
•Teniola, a retired Director in the Presidency, now lives in Lagos
